1. ANDREW GOODWIN’S MUSIC
VIDEO THEORY
“Music videos ignore common narrative, as they
are essentially advertisement. 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. How to analyse music videos?
Andrew Goodwin identified 6 key aspects of music
videos that we (as the audience) should look out for
which are:
• A relationship between the lyrics
• Thought beat – seeing the sound
• Narrative and performance
• The star image
• Relation of visuals to a song
• Technical aspects of a music video

3. A relationship between the lyrics and the
visuals, which illustrate or contradict the
lyrics
The convention explains how Goodwin noticed a
music video’s similarity or direct contrast to the lyrics
of the song. “It's not about the money money money
We don't need your money money money we just
wanna make the world dance forget about the price
tag” The lyrics say that not everything is about the
“money” however, we see Jessie J standing in front of
a tree made out of money therefore, this is a
controversial idea
An apply to when visual apply to lyrics is Rihanna
“Shine bright like a diamonds” the light between
Rihanna’s hair while she sings matches the idea of
her shining bring which matches the lyrics “ Shining
bright like a diamond we’re beautiful like diamonds
in the sky”

4. Through beats – seeing the sound (the relationship
between the music and the visuals which illustrate or
contradict the music)
Goodwin identified that the music visuals within a music video may be edited for the specific
purpose to match the lyrics/ change in pace of the song. He also believed that these visuals are
commonly repeated within the chorus to emphasise the repetition of the lyrics and beats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgqUJOudrcM
Calvin Harris “How deep is your love” is an example of
a song that visuals match the beat this is presented
through constant editing of the models setting as well
as her movement of body language.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I
The song “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger”
by Kelly Clarson is off beat, the editing does not suit
the beat which makes the song unsuccessful. During
the chores the editing represents the star person
and the cross-cutting shows people dancing which is
not effective.

5. Genre-related style and iconography presented
Goodwin recognized the most artists have a trend of repeating certain actions within their music
video in order to establish this as their “trend mark” and therefore making their song
recognisable due to its reoccurring often. This represents the style of the music.
Sia is an example of a Pop signer that uses iconography throughout her music videos. She uses the
similar wig with similar colours to highlight her star persona as the wig matching the one that Sia
used to promote the album. Moreover, Sia uses performs an interpretive dance in her all her music
videos which is also very iconic.

6. Multiple close –ups of the main artist or vocalist: the
creation of star persona to promote a recognisable
brand
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. The convention is used in order to show
the artist through the video but is most common with female artist for the purpose of male gaze
Britney Spears “My Prerogative” is an example of multiple close –ups for the purpose of
the Male Gaze theory this is due to her body language as well as her dress codes which are
very controversial.

7. Voyeurism often plays a major part especially in
representation of female
Goodwin recognized that many music videos use voyeuristic angles of women in order to entice a
male audience interest in the artist and also the lyrics to which these shots represent. This is used
to sexualize the artist and cause a fetish connection for a male audience.
Beyoncé “Partition” denotes the sexual theme in order to entice a male audience this is
showed through her dress codes which are erotic, camera shots of close – ups on to
Beyoncé's bodies which could be viewed by some as sexual objectification. On the other
hand Beyoncé represents female stereotypical image of how men view women.

8. Intertextual reference to other media texts may be
presented, especially in humour video's
Goodwin recognized that it was not uncommon to recognize either the visuals or the lyrics of a
song top be a direct reference to another media text. This is used to engage the audience and
provide them gratification if they recognize the link.
The song my Katy Perry
“Thinking of you” is a good
example of intertextual
reference to the movies “Dear
John” and “The Notebook” both
of the movies are romance
gender which match Katy
Perry’s theme successfully.
Although the movies are from
different generations they are
were very widely recognisable
due to their audience and
effective critics. Katy Perry
references this movies through
the key ideas that the audience
loved about the movies.