AS1: Task 2: Understand the Styles and Conventions of Music Videos

Understand the Styles and Conventions of Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin - Six Key Conventions:

Goodwin's six key conventions consists of different forms of music videos, such as:

• Digital/Stop Motion Animation


• In concert - "live footage"


• Studio based

The six key conventions also consist of different styles of music videos, such as:

• Narrative based


• Impressionist


• Surrealist


• Pastiche


• Parody


• Homage

In 1992, Goodwin released a book entitled: "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" and he identifies the six key conventions in this book.

Key Features - Goodwin States:

• Music videos convey genre characteristics


• There is a correlation between lyrics and visuals - through illustrating, amplifying and contradicting


• There is a correlation between music and visuals - through illustrating, amplifying and contradicting


• The record label will demand lots of close ups of the artist. The artist may develop motifs which are displayed across their work - these are visual styles.


• There is frequent referencing to visuals which include viewing through screens, telescopes and many more. The female body is also focused on quite often.


• There are intertextual references here - references to films, television, other music videos and many more.

Convention 1 - Genre Characteristics:

Andrew Goodwin states that there are different music genres that use key conventions in their videos. Some examples of this would be from music videos that centre around women walking around the pool side in bikinis. This is seen in various music videos to date and this relates back to some of Goodwin's key features under frequent referencing to visuals.

Most artists present themselves through their characteristics and the Spice Girls are a perfect example of this. The Spice Girls were made up of Mel B, Melanie C, Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton and each member had their own nickname; Mel B a.k.a "Scary Spice", Melanie C a.k.a "Sporty Spice", Victoria Beckham a.k.a "Posh Spice", Geri Halliwell a.k.a "Ginger Spice" and Emma Bunton a.k.a "Baby Spice".  Each member's characteristics were presented in their debut single "Wannabe" in the music video. Goodwin's first convention was used in the music video as the members made it clear to express their individuality and characteristics.

Another example of characteristics being presented in music videos would be by the rapper Nelly. When Nelly first debuted his music career, he would always wear white tape across his cheek and this would always be present his work.

A popular music video of Nelly's is when he duets will Kelly Rowland in the song "Dilemma"- in the video, the audience can see the tape on Nelly's face.

Convention 2: Relation of Lyrics/Music to Visuals:

Goodwin states that there is a correlation with a music video and its lyrics and visual images. These can be seen through:

• Illustration
• Amplifying
• Contradicting

The pace of editing can also be used to represent these three different ways of relating to visuals.

Illustrate: The music video can use a variety of images and to illustrate the music video and its genre and lyrics. This is the most common relation to use for music videos. An example of this will be shown through Vance Joy's "Riptide".

Amplify: Most meanings are amplified through the use of repetition. Each meaning is repeatedly shown to us so that it is able to stay in our minds for a long time. An example of this is The Script's "Hall of Fame".

Contradict: This happens when we choose to ignore the entire meaning of the song. An example of this would be Eric Prydz's "Call On Me". We can see how the music video promotes women's bodies to the audience instead.

Convention 3: Relation of Music to the Video:

Goodwin states how his third convention uses visuals in a music video and how they will almost always have a connection to the pace of a song. In this case, the music can be edited to suit the pace of the song by illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the beat. Shown below are a few examples.

Arctic Monkeys: 'Do I Wanna Know?':

The music video for 'Do I Wanna Know?' demonstrates the use of sound waves up until 1 minute, 36 seconds that are able to match the beat of the song and the lyrics - this is where we see the use of illustration.

After this scene, the audience is shown a pair of legs that begin walking to the beat - as well as the placing of tyres that match the beat of the song, which is a great example of illustration through visual images, so I believe that the video was a success and matched the song.

Each visual wee see within the video is an example of how the video has been created and edited to match the beat of the song. 

Nirvana: 'Smells Like Teen Spirit':

The pace of the music quickens around 57 seconds as we see the band's drummer drumming along to the pace of the music and he continues this all throughout the video. This video is proof of Goodwin's theory that the music video would almost always have a connection to the pace of a song - there is a correlation: as the pace of the music quickens, the band is seen playing their instruments a lot faster to match the music's pace. This is another example of how the video was a success - the video is example of amplifying. The video had shots that were repeated - this is shown here again when the band starts paling their instruments to match the speed of the song. 

Skrillex: 'Bangarang' ft Sirah:

The music video for Bangarang depicts at 1 minute, 9 seconds what seems to look like a miniature bomb and a few seconds later the bomb is being fired at the ice cream van and explodes. This demonstrates how the music video has been edited to suit the music video as it correlates to the lyrics because the word "bang" is used in this scene (and is also featured within the title).

Throughout the rest of the video, we see how the lyrics and the video link with each other. each time we hear the word 'bang', there seems to be an explosion.

Convention 4: Develop a Style:

This next convention of Goodwin's states how the record labels will begin to demand the development of a motif that regularly occurs across all music videos by the artist. One of the demands is the requirement of visuals and close ups of the artist.

Stars such as Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and various others all have their own motif which is expressed throughout their music videos.

Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

This picture of Nicki Minaj demonstrates her in the era of her album 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'. During the release of this album, the public would often see Nicki dressed in peculiar outfits that consisted of vibrant colours and at the time this suited her image and personality. Some people would often think that Minaj wouldn't dress appropriate for her age - therefore I think that there were some weaknesses when it came to Minaj's public image.

Katy Perry: Roar

This is a still image taken from Katy Perry's music video for her single 'Roar'. Katy Perry's motif here is expressed through the use of nature in her surroundings and in her outfit. She makes sure that her style is represented within her music videos. Perry's likeable outfit made her and her video a success.

Lady Gaga: Poker Face

Lady Gaga is widely known for her dress sense, especially when she first debuted. Gaga has a bold visual style that she clearly makes her own - this includes moments when she wore an entire dress made of meat, performing in a bikini made from seashells and wearing 10 inch high heels. Due to this, the audience definitely are aware of Lady Gaga's "unique" style. 

Convention 5: Frequent Notion of Looking:

Andrew Goodwin has stated in his fifth convention that in music videos, there is often frequent referencing to the notion of looking i.e. with screens within screens and telescopes, etc and the expressive treatment of women's bodies on camera.

'Video Phone' by Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga focuses a lot on both women's bodies as we see right at the beginning of the video. At 1 minute 50 seconds, there are two men that appear to have cameras on their heads which relates to the lyrics of looking at a video and the notion of looking through screens in the video. I'd say there are both strengths and weaknesses to this video, this is because both Beyoncè and Gaga have used their bodies in order to attract the viewers (this is a strength to get more views), yet at the same time it promotes objectification (this is a weakness).

In 'What's My Name?' Rihanna appears to be looking at the camera consistently throughout the music video. Drake also seems to be looking at Rihanna for a long period of time as she enters a shop at the beginning of the video. We see how Rihanna's body is often the focus of the video which is often the case in numerous music videos that involve women today - this could suggest how the labels would want to produce what sells and the majority of the time it involves women's bodies rather than the music (they would see this as a strength), which is shown in "Video Phone" above.

Convention 6: Intertextual References:

Finally, Goodwin states how music videos are often filled with several intertextual references aimed towards other music videos, films, television shows, etc.

Jennifer Lopez - 'I'm Glad':

As seen in this music video, we see how the video is a replica of the film 'Flashdance'. Sometimes recreating a video to this extent could often be seen as either a success or a failure (people may not understand the referencing behind the video or may not know what film it is from) - in Lopez's case it was a success.

Ariana Grande - 'Almost Is Never Enough' featuring Nathan Sykes

'Almost Is Never Enough' features parts of the film 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'. I would say there are strengths to this video because parts of the actual movie are included letting viewers know about the movie. This is great because it promotes the movie as well as promoting Grande's song.

Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX - 'Fancy':

Fancy includes an intertextual reference to the popular 1990's film "Clueless". Like Jennifer Lopez, Iggy Azalea's replica is a clear demonstration of the film. Due to many people having watched Clueless, the film is known as a classic and should become familiar when shown through Azalea's video. This video was indeed a success.