Davina Okoronkwo
“Discuss the different purposes for music videos covering a range of examples from different era’s and genres”
Within this essay, I will be exploring the styles, techniques and conventions used within music videos and see how different videos compare and contrast with one another. Additionally, I will look at why and how music videos have changed within time eras, and what significance it has had during the years. The first music that was made and televised was in 1979. It was titled ‘video killed the radio star’ by the Buggles and it shocked and awed the audience during the time period. The song will always have significance, due for it being the very first music video released to the public. Russell Mulcahy is the music videos, writer, editor, director and he is very remembered for the involvement he had into this music video. The video was shown on the 1st of August 1981, shown on MTV. The video was a very illustrative video, with no specific meaning to it. Within the video, there are many editing techniques and visual aspects that are used, which may have added to the overall success of the video. The video was very extra-terrestrial, random and over the top. Additionally, includes editing such as black and white filter, videos on top of other videos, match cuts, dissolves etc. The costume was very outrageous and unusual. The originality of the video and song brought many people to view the video and caused a lot of attention when first released. In the chorus of the song “Video killed the radio star” is repeated throughout. I interpreted the lyrics to do with during the time this song came out, there started to be a drastic change in music. You could no longer just be an average singer and artist but had to look and be creative to really get out there. Relating to them doing the very first music video and essentially ‘killing’ all competition. It shows how important this movement was and it was something never seen before. The purpose was to give audience a new feel and experience as it had never been done before. They created visuals that the public had never seen before, leaving people wanting more leading to an increase in fan base and viewers overall. However, continuing in the time line, the lyrics and conventions of music video’s changed. Many artists would sing/ rap about love or lust and luxuries an example of this being Destiny Child’s – Say My name. Destiny child was a popular female girl group formed in 1990. Their genres of music include R n B, and pop. Say my name was one of the bands best-selling and popular songs. The song was written by the band mates as well as Rodney and Fred Jerkins also produced Rodney Jerkins. It included the conventions such as close up shots, color coordinated costumes and background, and also various cuts. It also had techniques such as lip syncing. Lip syncing is when someone mimes lyrics without sound, which is used in many music videos. All the girls in the video were doing so during the video clip. Additionally, within the music video there are males and females together relating to the sexual appeal the video may give some people. Additionally, the bright outfits are very eye-catching to the audience may make
Davina Okoronkwo audience want to continue watching. The video was very colorful, and original different to other videos made in the time era. The hook of the song goes as follows, “Say my name, say my name If no one is around you Say baby I love you If you ain't runnin' game Say my name, say my name You actin' kinda shady” This relates to the fact the females feel their male lover is cheating, and what’s him to say her name to prove her thoughts wrong. This triggers audience to feel sympathy for the characters, and many may even relate to the video. It compares to ‘Video killed the radio star’ as they both used editing techniques, got mass attention and various awards including a 2 Grammy’s for Say my name, and a MTV video music award and MTV MJ vanguard award and 10 other awards for Video killed the radio star. However, there are major differences between the two both very legendary songs/ videos. Video killed a radio star is a very interpreted song, and doesn’t actually have a meaning behind it that the audience knows, but can be analyzed to mean a variety of things. However, Say my name has a concept behind the lyrics and audiences understand it’s about love and heart break. Additionally, the editing and styles are totally opposite. In Video killed a radio star, it’s very extraterrestrial with various edits included and not bright lights and backgrounds , however Say my name, is very bright with minimal editing in the video. Following this the audience for Video killed a radio star is a lot older than ‘Say my name’ as I would think that would be 18-30 whereas ‘Say my name’ would be 14-25 due to the lyrics and the beat. It shows how unique and varied songs can be bust still be very successful. The 20’th century was a decade in which hip hop dominated the era. Many songs which were mainly about love, sex, romance and wealth. This same topic of songs continued to the 21st century as the basis of most successful/ popular songs being about romance and love. A good example of this is Sorry by Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber is a 22 year old Canadian singer that has made many successful songs, thus he was awarded for his accomplishments. In the song he talks about how he made mistakes and is hoping for forgiveness relating to the song title ‘Sorry’. The song was produced by another artist called Skrillex and directed and choreographed by Parris Geobel. The music video is a dance video, and just consists of females dancing a routine. The video doesn’t show the artist face at all, but just the women dancing. The conventions of the music video includes jump cuts, brightly colored outfits, etc. The chorus goes, “Yeah, is it too late now to say sorry? Cause I'm missing more than just your body Is it too late now to say sorry? Yeah I know that I let you down Is it too late to say I'm sorry now? I'm sorry, yeah Sorry, yeah Sorry
Davina Okoronkwo Yeah I know that I let you down Is it too late to say I'm sorry now?” This again relates to the artist apologizing, for upsetting his significant other and wanting to fix things. The lyrics are very relatable as many audience members may feel they have been in similar situations, and felt they have done wrong and want to alter things. When in comparison to Destiny child- say my name there are certainly some similarities. This is as, both of the songs relate to leave and an idea of hurting/ doing wrong to someone. Additionally, both of the fellow musicians where both popular in their era and known for classical hits. Nevertheless, due to the music made by the two the audience range are different. Justin Bieber being known for his pop love songs and sharp looks has led to many young females to love him and his music. His fan ranges from around 12-25, which is what the audience for the song would be too, however ‘Say my name’ would be for people a little bit older. Following this, Justin Bieber is a good example of successful popstars in the 21 st century which contrast to popular popstars in 1979 such as the ‘Bee Gees’. It shows how much the generation has changed and how different styles and artists have also evolved. The decade 1970 was when the world saw the rise of a lot of music genres and styles. Nevertheless, there was one genre that dominated the era, disco. A popular music group of the 70’s where called Bee Gee’s. The Bee Gees were a pop music, additionally formed in 1958. The success of the trio lasted many decades, and where a favorite for many for a few years. Their periods in which they were the highest population where 1960- 1970’s. They also didn’t have any writers on their work and wrote all their songs themselves. Their top songs are stayin’ Alive and how deep is your love. 13 December 1977 is the date the song was released. Additionally, it’s from their hit soundtrack Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The significantly popular track was also nominated for numerous awards and won a Grammy. The music video lasts 4 minutes 2 seconds and the video itself is a very simplistic video. The video itself is just the 3 men walking up and down and it cuts to different locations and scenarios. It shows how a music video can be simple, but very effective. The music video contains angles and shots from various perspectives, so the audience get different views of the bandmates, making it more appealing. Personally, I feel the audience for the video is between the ages of 25-60 as. This is due to older and experienced audience would enjoy the song and video more than a younger audience would. This is due to the lyrics, video and beat. A younger audience would most likely want a more visual and explicit music video with alternate lyrics, whereas the music video for stayin’ alive is really the opposite. It’s a lot more subtle and toned. Nevertheless, as time went on the videos became a lot more detailed, edited and explicit to suit the new craze in generations. In general the 80’s was a big year for diversity, and change within not just music and videos but society in general. Women where more independent and free both in physical appearance and sexually. Following this many things started to change too within the music industry. From around 1983 there started to be a peak in the rock and heavy metal music. Heavy metal was a different type of vibe and lyrics but many
Davina Okoronkwo seemed to enjoy the style change. During this time we saw the rise of many popular rock bands such as present day legends Guns N’ Roses. Guns n Roses is hard rock band from Los Angeles. The group consists of the singers titled, Axl Rose, Slash (guitarist) Izzy (rhythm) , Duff (bass) and Steven (drums). They have made various album’s and sold millions of record worldwide, thus making them one of the world’s most renown and top selling bands of all time. They have many popular songs including, ‘It’s so easy’, ‘November rain’, ‘Welcome to the jungle’, ‘Paradise city’ and ‘Sweet child O’ mine’. Sweet child O mine was made in 1987. Additionally, it was featured on their debut album Appetite for Destruction. It was written by the band members themselves without external writers. The "Sweet Child o' Mine" video which was also a live performance contains the band rehearsing in the Huntington Ballroom, Huntington Beach, which had all the crew members. The video was extremely popular on MTV, leading to the success on mainstream radio. The convections of the video included long shots close up shots, and shots from various different angles. Additionally, it was a black and white video and did not have any colors within the video. The song came from a poem AXL Rose wrote about his girlfriend Erin Everly. Thus, leading to the song being about love and romance. This can be easily compared to modern music videos of today. A good example of this is All of me by John Legend released in June 2013. The song was co-written by Toby Gad and also co-written with Dave Tozer. The video has similar conventions. This is due to the video also being black and white too. Not only that but the song also has various shots long, close ups etc. Just like the classic song by the band, ‘All of me’ is about love and romance too. Additionally, the song features his wife Chrissy Teigen being intimate together. This implies that again just like ‘Sweet child O mine’ the song was written or influenced by a significant other. Although the two genres of music contrast each other the songs both have a few things in common. It shows how music can be from very different groups or families yet have something to relate to within it. However the song lyrics in general where somewhat different from one another. The intro of ‘Sweet child O’ mine’ goes, “She's got a smile it seems to me Reminds me of childhood memories Where everything Was as fresh as the bright blue sky Now and then when I see her face She takes me away to that special place And if I'd stare too long I'd probably break down and cry” Whereas ‘All of Me’, “What would I do without your smart mouth? Drawing me in, and you kicking me out You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down What's going on in that beautiful mind I'm on your magical mystery ride And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright” Both of the songs use different approaches to convey how much they love their partners. In ‘Sweet child O’ mine’ uses visual imagery and past tense to represent
Davina Okoronkwo their love for their significant others. They compare her features to ‘child hood memories’ which is stereotypically the sweetest and happiest part of someone’s life. This can refer to how happy and sweet the love is between the two. Nevertheless, John exclaims how captivating and enticing the love if for him and how he couldn’t be without it. However again the audiences for both musical pieces would be quite differed. Following this, I feel with ‘Sweet child O’ mine’ being quite old school and rocky it would interest an older audience such a 30+, whereas All of me would have a much younger audience being around 18-50. Although within in 1970- 1980 pop and dance pop had appeared and started to influence people, in the 90’s it started to grow even more and became a huge trend. Rock also continued in its success did not take pop off its pedestal. There were many huge starts that contributed to the success of the genre within the year. Including Michael Jackson ‘the king of pop’ and Britany Spears ‘the princess of pop’. This being said Britany Spears made one of the bestselling songs and legendary songs during that year titled ‘Baby hit me one more time’. Britany Spears is an American singer. She did many TV roles before becoming a singer and being signed. ‘Baby one more time’, which was also Britney’s debut single, was released in 1998. The song was a huge success leading to its numerous awards including Much Music award, MTV Europe best song and even being nominated for a Grammy. The song was written and produced by Rami and Max Martin. The song has many different conventions and techniques used too. The song is based within a class room, where it then swaps locations. It later goes to the hall where there are lockers, next to outside scenery. The conventions include many different shots such as long, close up, mid-way etc. The main technique used in this video, and what Britney herself is known for is lip syncing. Not only did the song include the artist herself as the main star of the video lip syncing, but she also did a dance routine throughout the video too. The fact that the song is about love/ romance and has an element of dance, means it has some similarities with another very popular song. The song being ‘kiss kiss’ by Chris Brown featuring T-Pain. Chris Brown is an American Pop/ RnB Singer that is also very known too. The song was written by both him and T-Pain. It was released on the 10th of September 2007, part of Chris’s second album. The song was directed by him and Erik White, who also directed his chart topping ‘run it’. The song is very upbeat and is a very danceable song, which may attract people to want to listen. Just like the other music video, this one is based within a school/ educational environment. The conventions and techniques used are similar as well. This is as long shots, close ups, and various shots where used as well as the artists both lip syncing. Additionally, just like ‘baby one more time’ the song also has dancing/ routine throughout the video that will intrigue an audience to watch the video. Again this shows how very different music genres such as, Pop and RNB can somehow have a lot in common with one another. Nevertheless, they aren’t altogether so identical. This is due to both have very different reasons for attraction. Many people may watch Britney and be attracted to watch it, as she was a young heart throb and has very pretty looks. Meaning many young females would look up to her and she would have a younger fan base of supporters.
Davina Okoronkwo On the other hand, many guys may find her appealing physically or lust after her causing them to watch the video too. Whereas, many may watch ‘ Kiss Kiss’ as it has a sense of humor to the video. Within the video Chris plays two guys a stereotypical ‘nerd’ or smart guy with classes, high waited trousers and a striped shirt and also a ‘jock’ bags jeans, muscles etc. Furthermore, many younger females may be attracted to the ‘jock’ or lust after the character played too. Both have very different audiences and different reasons why people may watch the video, which didn’t affect views as both are highly viewed and successful even to the day. Britney’s ‘Baby one more time’ audience would be around ages 15-30, same range as ‘kiss kiss’. As years went on and a new millennium came many things where changing in the music industry too. RnB now took over dominating the music industry. From popular female singers such as Mary Blige to very successful collaborations from music artists, such as ‘kiss kiss’ previously spoken about. A music collaboration is when two or more artists come together to make a song. The 2000’s was full of iconic and memorable collabs such as Beautiful liar by Beyoncé and Shakira (2007), Lose control by Missy Elliot , Ciara and Fat man scoop (2005). However one of the most iconic and legendary collaborations of 00’ has to be Lady Marmalade. Lady Marmalade is a song made by Christina Aguilera featuring Lil Kim, Mya and Pink. Christina Aguilera is an American Singer, actress and TV personality. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. The original song was released in 1974; however Christina’s version was released in 2001. The song was a huge success, which lead to it being number one for 5 weeks straight. The song is also for the movie Moulin Rouge about a young writer from France. The fact the song was such a huge success was due to many reasons. Firstly, the song features many pop idols and legends that many would want to see their cameos such as Lil Kim and Pink. Additionally, the song is from a movie so when people watch the movie and sees the film they are bound to look it up or search the music. However one of the main reasons for the success has to be the sex appeal linked in with the video. There are many conventions featured in this video. The females in the video are wearing very explicit and sexual lingerie, with different backgrounds and sceneries behind them. There are a wide range of shots and camera angles being taken, long shots, short etc to attract the attention of the viewers. They also had very excessive hair and makeup in the music video too. The techniques used where such as lip syncing. The video consisted of the women walking around and dancing in lingerie and having fun. There can be found similarities between this piece and a recent song by Robin Thicke called Blurred Lines. Robin Thicke is an American singer, songwriter producer and musician. Blurred Lines was written by himself without help. The song features not only him but legends Pharrell and T.I. It was released on the 26 th of March 2013. Similar to the previous video, its conventions just include females dancing in stylish customers and walking around, while they lip-sync. Again this song was very popular again for various reasons, but lasted as number one on the charts for many weeks. There were many reasons for the songs success too. Just like the previous songs many cameos was included, also including models leading viewers to want to watch it. The songs are both similar in many aspects listed but also to their sense of both promoting something. Within ‘Blurred Lines’ one of the models can be seen carrying the beats pill and holding it around. It shows the product to the audience and makes them to also want to purchase the product. Product placement
Davina Okoronkwo is an advertising technique used by companies to pitch their Products in a nontraditional an unusual way very subtly. Product placement can be on any platform such as within a movie, YouTube video or regular ad. Unlike advertisements they usually don't have a specific time the product is shown for and can be briefly shown or showing on multiple amount of times. Just like as advertisements the main goal is to increase potential customers leading to a gross in sales. They know that they show their products and so in a subtle way and it looks appealing or is it one by one by a specific celebrity generally a lot of attention and views. Thus leading to customers. Additionally big companies may also ask entertainers or musicians to promote their products in which they will give them some sort of profit the bigger the company the more money gained. Following this as a company seems that a musician is Doing well they might want to use them for promotion or further endorsements within the future. All of the following can be huge motivations for artists and all have some aspects of financial gain within them. Product placement and promotions started becoming more and more during the 2000’s and now many artists use the technique. Whether it being their own product or a brand many celebs may use their music videos as a way to showcase the product knowing it will have a large viewing audience. They know that promoting something will make many people view it, or may even watch the video itself for the product itself. This happens with various products whether it ranging from headphones to a brand new sports car. Additionally Thicke also used the song to promote his album too called blurred lines. By the hit song and album being named the same many people would too want to check it out. Nevertheless ‘Lady Marmalade’ used the same technique. Knowing that the movie would be launching soon, and they would want to cash in views they needed an eye-catching and iconic video that would do this. The current video is a great example with many streams worldwide. Personally I feel like the major purpose for the two music videos was on a promotional basis. They both had very big projects working on so needed a way to get views, in which they knew music videos would be a great way to do so. They get the more people watching and seeing the product they pitched or promoted leading to an increase in potential customers and sales. There are many different forms in which people can promote a product such as television advertisements, Cinema, and even social media app YouTube. YouTube is a huge unsuccessful video sharing app founded on 15 February 2005. It was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. The app was late or sold to Google on October 16, 2006 for roughly $1.65 billion dollars. Not only does it allow people to stream online but it also allows people to gain money and make a financial living through the use of advertisements. This is done through monetisation. Monetisation is the way in which the app allows people to gain money from Britain advertisements between their videos. The most subscribers or use a person has means that the more people are going to see the adverts or product. This means people with more views on that video or more subscribers will end up making a lot more money than those with less viewers. Following this this is a good motivation for musicians or others to upload good content that many people would watch as it's all lead to potential financial gain. In conclusion, music videos have really changed and adapted since first video ever made, The Buggles- ‘Video killed the radio star’. Not only to changes in appearance of a video and conventions such as lighting, sound costume but motivation and
Davina Okoronkwo purposes have varied a lot from previous years. A lot of modern day music videos and production are solely marketing schemes to either promote an upcoming album or even products. Whereas in previous years was just to catch attraction of an audience. However there are still some similarities within music video lyrically as top songs being about love romance or wealthy, this being the same even till today. As each era moved on the style of music and music video either changed or developed in a way and this will continue to happen in the future. Additionally different trends have rocked the music scene whether it being very colorful environment, songs incorporating dance routines or girl’s using g their sexual appeal each has been popular in its own way. All in all each music video has its own purpose and a different reasoning to why certain things are done but all comes down to potentially increasing in audience views leading to some kind of potential sale. Bibliography: Unkown (2017) ‘The Buggles’, in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buggles (Accessed: 26 January 2017). TheBugglesVEVO (2010) The Buggles - video killed the radio star. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8r-tXRLazs (Accessed: 26 January 2017). jamsjamsjams (2010) Aludders. http://www.slideshare.net/jamsjamsjams/conventions-of-music-videos-2935597 (Accessed: 26 January 2017). Neil (2016) Free Harvard reference generator | Neil’s Toolbox. http://www.neilstoolbox.com/bibliography-creator/ (Accessed: 26 January 2017). Unkown (2017) Wilkipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destiny%27s_Child (Accessed: 26 January 2017). DestinysChildVEVO (2009) Destiny’s child - say my name (official video). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQgd6MccwZc (Accessed: 26 January 2017). Bieber, J. (2015) Justin Bieber – love yourself Genius. https://genius.com/Justin-bieber-love-yourself-lyrics(Accessed: 26 January 2017). Justin Bieber (2017) in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber (Accessed: 26 January 2017). BieberVEVO, J. (2015) Justin Bieber- Love yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyEuk8j8imI (Accessed: 26 January 2017).
Davina Okoronkwo Gambaccini—MusichistorianPaul (2017) ‘Bee Gees’, in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees (Accessed: 26 January 2017).