kyneila2media

1. Andrew Goodwin’s Music Video
Theory
"Music videos ignore common narrative as they are
essentially advertisements. As consumers, we make up
our own meaning of a song in our minds: a music
video can anchor meaning and gives the record
company/artist a method of anchoring meaning"

2. Conventions
• Goodwin explains his theory through by six
different conventions within a music video:
1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the
lyrics.
2. Thought beats: seeing the sounds (the relationship between the music and the visuals,
which illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.)
3. Genre-related style and iconography present.
4. Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a
recognizable brand image.
5. Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
6. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous
videos.

3. 1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which
illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
This convention explains how
Goodwin noticed a music video's
visuals either had a complete
similarity or direct contrast
to the lyrics of the song.
For example, in Jessie J's 'Price Tag'
the lyrics of the song say
"... it's not about the money"
however in video the artist is stood in
front of a tree with money and the
jewellery and clothes she wears suggest
money is not a problem for her.
This shows how the visuals contradict the lyrics
in this particular song
An example of when the visuals amplify the lyrics is in
Adele's 'Someone Like You' where seen in the screen shot
below the lyrics say "..for me, it isn't over" and Adele, the
artist, is seen to be looking very emotional in connection to
this. This makes the audience sympathise with her as a
result - the directors intention.

4. 2. Thought beats: seeing the sounds (the relationship between
the music and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict
the music.)
Goodwin identified that the visuals within a
music video may be edited in time to the lyrics/
change in pace of the song. He also stated that
these visuals are commonly repeated within a
chorus to emphasise the repetition in lyrics and
beats.

5. 3. Genre-related style and iconography present.
• Goodwin recognized that most artists have a trend of repeating certain
actions within their music videos in order to establish this as their
'trademark' action and therefore making their songs recognizable due to it
reoccurring often. This represents the style of the music the artist is
representing and is a marketing strategy in order to be remembered in
later years. Genre is also shown by location like, for example, songs within
the rock genre are often filmed near a stage to convey a gig.
• Example of iconography is seen below where JLS reveal their chest in
many of their videos:

6. 4. Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation
of a star image to promote a recognizable brand image.
• Goodwin identified that it is a common feature for record labels to use
close ups of the artist/vocalist in order to promote the sales in the single.
This convention is used in order to show the artist throughout the video
but is most common with female artists as provocative angles are often
used to sexualize the artist following Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory
causing a fetishish from the audience towards the artist
• This is evident in Beyonce Best Thing I Never Had:

7. 5) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to
females.
Goodwin recognized that many music videos included voyeuristic angles of women in
order to entice a male audiences interest in the artist and also the lyrics to which
these shots represent. This is used to sexualize the artist and cause a fetishist
connection for the male audience.
In this example we can see the artist, Rihanna, walking in a
supermarket. The shot is taken of her back and therefore
not showing her face which makes her a sexual object, in the
shot her legs are a focal point and again this conveys her
sexualised qualities. Lastly, we can see to the right of the
frame a man (Drake) looking at her to encourage the male
audience to do so and this removes the possible guilt they
may have when classifying the artist as a sexual tool.

8. 6. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present,
especially in humorous videos.
Goodwin recognized that it was not uncommon
to recognize either the visuals or lyrics of a song
to be a direct reference to another media text.
This is used to engage the audiences and
provide them gratification if they recognize the
link.