Research- Music Video Channels

Why are music channels important?

Music channels are important because its one of the many ways that artists are able to provide the audience and fans with their latest work. Music channels are there to showcase new and old music videos from all sorts of artists.

Music channels today

There are many music channels on today’s TV to suit the tastes of most peoples needs, over the years many channels have been created that all host a specific type of genre and reach a specific type of audience.  Such as...

- Kerrang = which is a channel that promotes Rock music, due to that its evident  that theirs main target is to those who are interested in rock.

- Kiss = a channel that promotes pop music and mainstream music, they also have a radio channel which allows them to further reach all sorts of people in all sort of situations.

 

Music channels (MTV Case Study)

MTV is one of the worlds most known channel it has other similar channels that offer different types of things , all the other MTV channels are known as sister channels. MTV has sister channels because it will allow them to  gain a genre of different audiences, as all the channels will have a specific theme for a specific type of person. As music videos are getting easier to obtain, and also music videos are not as entertaining as they used to be, with the constant use of the same techniques and ideas it means that MTV will have to create more content for their channels hence why they have begun to add shows that are not related to music  that they believe will appeal to their audience and keep them entertained. 

Examples of TV channels

• Kiss
• Choice
• Channel AKA
• Flavour
• Smash hits
• Magic
• The Vault
• Bliss
• Capital TV
• 4Music

 

 

What genres are underrepresented and why?

I Personally think that the Gospel genre is being underrepresented in music channels as its not showcased as much as hip-hop, pop and RnB, there are no channels in UKs TV that allows the gospel culture and music to be explored. The reason for why gospel is being underrepresented is maybe because religion is not on peoples mind as much as in the past, songs about the gang life and they urban settings have started to get reaction out of people, which has led them to enjoy it more and loose interest in the gospel music industry.

Another Genre which is not getting appreciated as much as before is Jazz, back in the day people would listen to jazz in their radio, but now in music channels it has no platform, due to the music becoming more and more modern each day, jazz now longer is being listened to by a large audience but only by loyal fans hence why its not played in music channels as much as before.

Advantages of having so many channels

• People are being given more of a choice
• Channels offer variety  of shows
• Creates relationship between artist and audience
• It helps establish a fan base
• Videos being played helps the artist and institution to get more money 

Disadvantages of having so many channels

• Music Channels are no longer specific, as they include lots of shows that do no correlate with music.
• The internet has effected music channels in a way that now its easier for people to obtain the music video before its actual release.
• The internet has made it easier for people to watch music videos on the go, any time they want rather than staying at home.

 

Conclusion

I would like my music video to be playing in most of the popular channels such as mtv, kiss, smashits... This is because I believe they have a mainstream audience and they will help with the distribution of my video. Also these channels will allow my music video to reach all sorts of people as really everyone watches these mainstream channels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research- Media Institution

What is a Music Institution

 

Music video institutions are companies who help produce and fund music videos for their signed artist, that is watched by fans.

music institutions help an artist financially they are able to provide the artist with the necessary funds needed to create a music video of their choice.

institutions also help artist gain popularity in the music industry as they will be able to collaborate with other more popular artists in the music industry, which will help them get a reputation in the music industry

If a music industry is world wide known it can help the artist gain global popularity as their music will be able to be distributed on  a global scale.

The four Leading institutions:

 

1. Emi

One of the UKs most leading music companies. They own record labels such as Angel, Astralwerks, Blue note, capitol.

 Emi produces Artist on an international scale such as...

 

The Beatles

Pink Floyd



 

          

 

2. Sony 

Sony provides music labels for international superstars. Sony was formerly known as BMG Music Entertainment and changed its name to sony music, entertainment in October 2008.The Sony Industry offers hip-hop, country, classical, gospel, pop and rock recordings and labels.

They offers artists from all sorts of genres such as...

 

Shakira

Kelly Clarkson

                             

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

3. Universal

(UMG) Is the worlds largest music content company, the recorded music business discovers and develops recordings artists and then markers and promotes their music across a wide array of formats and platforms. They offer artists such as...

Adele

Kanye West

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  4. Warner

An international institution, which owns many record labels in the music industry such as  Asylum, Atlantico, Corldess, East West Electra, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rhykodisc and warner bros. Its one of the companies that helps artist achieve long term creative and financial success by providing consumers with the highest quality music content available.

The artist that they have to offer are...

Ed Sheeren

Paramore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

I am planning to create a niche music which is within the niche genre, I would personally pick to work under Sony's management because they work with different types of genres, they have artist that I will be able to work with and already have a loyal fan base to start off a fan base of my own.

 

 

 

 

Research- What is a music video?

What is a music video?

A music video is a short piece of visual movie which assists the song being played in the background. Music videos are used by the artist to portray their thoughts and opinions, as well as for entertainment, marketing purposes allowing the soundtrack to be promoted and raise the purchase of the new album.

Purpose of a music video
The purpose of a music video is to entertain and make the audience aware of a specific subject, most artists use music videos to promote brands, singles and upcoming albums, this will help them gain popularity and gain a larger profit. Keeping the audience entertained is one of the main purposes though as its evident through the use of Mise En Scene, the dancing, the singing and the format of the narrative.

Classic Conventions

Music Videos tend to contain a number of different elements, the conventions of a typical music video are...

• Dancing - Beyoncé, Single ladies, Beyoncé is known for her eccentric dance moves and her upbeat songs, in one of her videos Single ladies she is surrounded by two dancers who are dancing alongside her and within the beat of the soundtrack, due to the dancing being catchy and eye catching, fans and other viewers have been copying her dancing and creating it into their own allowing the dance and video to gain more viewers, thanks to this Single ladies was able to gain 420,463,659 views on YouTube.

• Glamorised - Fergie, Glamorous, Artist enjoy to showcase their glamorous lifestyle in their videos, through the use of  Mise En Scene which allows the audience to grow an obsession with the artist and idolise them, due to the fact that they have what the audience can only dream of having.

• Special Effect - Kanye West, All of the lights, through the use of editing and improved technology over the years, artist have been including special effects in their videos, wanting to keep up with the latest trend, artist have decided to use technology to their advantage and make their videos more interesting.

 

 

• Narrative - Rihanna, We found Love, the use of narratives has been popular in videos recently one of the ones that stands out, is Rihanna, We found love, showcasing the ups and downs of a relationship. Artists use narratives allows the audience to gain an insight on the artist lifestyle and also can be intimate for most viewers as they are able to relate.

                               

•  Lyrics - Michael Jackson, Earth Song, Lyrics are use to evoke emotions from the audience, because it allows the audience to relate to the song in a deeper way, also words stick to peoples minds which will then get the song to be stuck in the persons mind allowing them to eventually fall in love with the song. 

    

 

• Performance - One Direction, Best Song ever, songs that include performances are used to entertain the audience.

                               

 

• Symbolic - Justin Timberlake, Not bad thing, love is something that people are mostly interested and evoked by, most songs hold a symbolic meaning behind love, which is used to evoke the audiences feelings.

                              

 

 

 

Synergy

The music industry as a whole has a relationship with a number of different other medias and for different purposes...

 

1. The radio

The music industry has been teaming up with radios since the beginning as it was a way for music to be played and broadcasted on the go. It has been used  by music companies to release their new single and let people know about their upcoming album.

2. Television



Television over the years has also become a very important part of the distribution of music, MTV a world wide know channel has been purposely created to showcase music videos, and showcase upcoming artist and their talents, over the years other channel similar to MTV where created allowing more and more music from all sort of genre to be created and showcased to the world.

 

3. Print Media



Magazines have also started to showcase famous Artists, such as Beyoncé who has recently become the first black woman to appear on the front cover of the September issue of Vogue Magazine, This has allowed not only her popularity to increase but also has allowed her talent to be showcased, over the years magazines only based on certain genres have been created as there is now Rock music based magazines which showcase rock bands and lots more.

4. Film
Films need soundtracks, the more popular the soundtrack the more popular the film and vice versa, the music industry and the film industry has been working very closely alongside each other, films such as ‘The Body Guard’ which includes songs from the famous Artist Whitney Huston has allowed not just Whitney Huston to become more popular and gain a bigger fan base, but it has allowed the movie to  be advertised in her music video which has allowed them to then gain a fan base and viewers before the movie was even released. Same thing goes for the recently released ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’  where they used artist by the name of Ellie Golding, The Weekend and Beyoncé to sing and create a song for the soundtrack has allowed both the artist and the film to gain credit and notice by the world.

 

 

5. The Internet
Ever since the internet was created it has been used to download and stream music and music videos, the internet has taken over lives quickly and drastically allowing people to access things pretty fast and on the go. The music industry has used this to their advantage allowing apps by the likes of YouTube and Spotify  to be created where it is easy to get hold of whichever track you want and their video. Artist are able to share their thoughts and feelings through the internet where they have a loyal base of followers who will be able to know when and which music video is being released. The internet has also allowed Artist to start release campaigns on social media where they have countdowns or create hash tags about their new single, for example Justin Bieber recently released a new single called ‘What Do You Mean?’ after weeks of campaigning about it and getting other celebrities to also join in this allowed him to start buzz around his new track so that by the time it was released he would already have anticipation and people willing to view it.

6. Audience Impact
Music Videos have big impacts on the audience, music videos give the audience more of an insight on the artists thoughts and feelings, it allows the audience to develop an understanding on the artist and to relate to him/ her. Videos are often anticipated by the audience which then allows the video to either be received well or badly.

 

 

7. Technology advancements
The advancement of Technology is causing an impact on the audience and artist. With phones and tables and computers being advanced, it’s easier than for the audience to just listen to music on the go without the need of the music video, this has created a barrier between the audience and the artist as the artist is not able to express his or her feelings towards the audience using moving images. But others may say that the advancements in technology has allowed the artist to create videos which really portray his thoughts and feelings due to the big verity of editing techniques and cameras.

 

  

Conclusion
Personally  I believe that the future of music videos is going to be a positive one, as there is more channels dedicated to music videos have been created, that has allowed for there to be a platform for music videos, also the better the technology gets the better and more advanced music videos are going to get, and soon possibly there will be more music videos that will allow audience interaction similarly to Trey Songs music video which allowed his fans and audience to pick which of the female characters they wanted in the video.

Research- Genre Characterstics

What is it about the different music video that allows you to identify the Genre?

Every song and video belongs to a certain genre, each video has that certain characteristic which is mostly ever found in that genre, the characteristics helps identify which of the genres the music belongs to, which supports Goodwin’s theory and statement ‘music videos often reflect their genre through the use of specific characteristics which makes them conventional’.

What is Genre?

Genre is a specific type of music, film, or writing. Your favourite literary genre might be science fiction, and your favourite film genre might be horror. In music, genre refers to musical style such as jazz, salsa or rock. Examples are rock music, indie music, rap music, hip hop, trap, RnB, underground rap, jazz music, house music, gospel music, classical music and lots more, which are known as mainstream

Now in the modern day it has been popular to  combine two different music genres together, this is called hybrid genres which Is when a blend between two or more different genres. such as Jazz and Finish folk from Vartinna, the deep forest project where the vocal from west Africa where fused in with sounds from the western parts of the world.  

As well as mainstream music there is also niche music, which is the sounds that may not be listened to by a large crowd, but rather a small group of people. A mainstream Genre would have to be pop which is designed to please and entertain the mass media, meaning the large population. whereas the niche genres such as indie rock and etc, is mostly there to satisfy the true fans of the artist and those who truly enjoy and listen to that sort of music.

Rock Music-   Everdescence, Bring me back to life

Mise En Scene - Dark Clothing, leather clothing, dark makeup 

Depressing - the scenery is monochrome

Passive Aggressive

Strong - the music holds a strong beat, also the excessive use of guitars.

Dark Lighting

Male dominated

Target audience would be 18 + they enjoy listening to loud music.

Indie Music – Passenger, Let her go

Mise En Scene - simple clothing, very relatable not over the top, casual jeans and a top

Very Low key lighting - Calm relaxed atmosphere

Simple - Low budget, suburban locations

Mainly performance and slight narrative here and there

It can be very intimate - The artist cares about wanting to build a relationship with the audience rather than showcasing his wealth.

The target audience of an indie genre is mostly 16+ young people and young adults, who enjoy slow heartfelt music.

 

Underground rap- Devling, London City

Mise En Scene - low budget clothing, very urban fashion ( tracksuit)

Busy, urban  setting - showcasing the street lifestyle

Low budget

Notion of looking when it comes to girls- the girls are always in the picture dancing or in the background.

Pop Music - 5 seconds of summer, she looks so perfect

Mise En Scene - modern places
High tempo
Fast/ sometimes slow - when the song Is emotional unlike rock etc, the beat is more likely to be slow than fast
Repetitive - the themes are repetitive (romance, heartbreak)
Notion of looking for both girls and boys
Performance based
Cheesy lyrics

RnB- Rita Ora- Body on me

Mise En Scene
Modern sexual costume, showing the woman’s assets
Skin showing, notion of looking
Teasing the audience (during the chorus as she has just a British flag on her and nothing else on)
Sexual lyrics ('I just want to feel your body on me')
Performance and Mostly Narrative based
Intimate setting ( their houses)
Mixture of low key lighting and high key lighting

The audience reaction

Each individual has their own reaction to a specific genre, they react differently towards different kind of genres all because of their feelings towards it whether positive or negative. Younger audiences may like the pop, hip hop and RnB culture more just because of the fact that it’s more up to beat, pleasant to the ears, high tempo which will help reflect the mind of young adults and teenagers. Whereas older audiences may like softer and slower music still enjoyable and relaxing such as country music, jazz or even classical.

In conclusion

Looking at the different genre types and characteristics has given me an insight on what I would like to do for my video, and the characteristics that should be included that will help me with my video. I personally have decided to go for the pop genre, because that is what I am the most comfortable with. I have decided to create a pop video with a pop soundtrack I want the main artist to be female,  I am deciding to follow the pop conventions and I have decided to be performance and narrative based, but also I want to be able to create a bond between the audience and the artist by following some of the conventions in the indie genre. I will try and make the atmosphere more intimate. Overall I believe that the researching about the different music genres has allowed me to gain an understanding on the different types of genres and the fuse of genders that will make a video effective and enjoyable. 

 

 

Research- Goodwin Theory

The Goodwin theory

Andrew Goodwin  a media theorist developed theories around the music industry and their videos, he believes that all music video no matter what genre, involves these 8 things...

 

1. Genre Characteristics

When a music video often reflects their genre through the use of specific characteristics which makes them conventional, for example …

 

Rock is often known to be dark, passive aggressive, the theme used throughout  the video is mostly black and white, its known to be exhibited by a band which is mostly overpowered by the white race, the costume used in the video is most likely to be leather dominant.

 

In the pop music, the video is most likely to be cliché, with mainstream ideas which are exaggerated and unrealistic for the viewers, the costume is stylish and the video is most likely to include young people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.Relationship between lyrics and visuals

A connection is shown through the visuals relating to the lyrics, either being illustrative; explaining the lyrics linking the video and lastly contradicting; being the opposite visuals to the lyrics heard.

 

 

3.Relationship between music and visuals

visuals show a connection to the actual music, these are also illustrative, amplifying or contradicting. For example if the music is upbeat the movements and the setting of the video is also going to be upbeat, whereas if the song is slow paced the movements are going to be slow and the setting is going to include low lighting to convey the  mood of the song.

 

4. Star Image Motifs

The Music video is more likely to include lots of close up shots of the artist. This is most likely to be requested by the record label in order that the viewer feel like they are getting to know the artist more and to make them more popular and identifiable. Artists like Sia take this theory on board and made this her own by not ever showing her face in her videos this allows hype and anticipation to grow around her as people will be expecting her on the next video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Notion of looking

Particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body women are seen as a sexual object, which relates to Mulvey’s theory on women, when the camera glazes over the women’s assets. Many music videos in the hip-hop genre contain this asset of the notion looking.

                               

                                    

 

 

6. Intersexual Reference

In many music videos you will find that there is often links to other films and other famous topics or

other music videos. Eminem is an artist that is known for his intersexual reference in his videos, many of his videos involve Michael Jackson and Britney Spears being made fun off.

7. Performance, Narrative or Concept based

• Performance Based – When the video does not include a narrative but includes a lot of singing and dancing, and involves the artist showing off their skills.
• Narrative based- when the video foretells a story, where there is characters, there is a beginning and an ending.
• Concept based- concept based is when there is a relative concept or theme throughout the video, this mostly happens in niche genres with non-mainstream artist.

8. Technical element

All videos include some sort of technical element such as…     

- Cinematography - low angles/ high angles

- Editing - all videos have some sort of editing especially as the technologies have developed in away in which it has allowed editing to be more efficient.

- Mise En Scene

- Sound

 

As a group we decided to take it upon ourselves and analyze the Will Smith- Miami, we used the 8 elements to the video and used a grid to help us identify it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We individually then analysed our own video, I picked FKA Twigs-Glass Patron



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

looking and analysing these two different video has allowed me to see how Goodwin's theory really does somehow tie in with every genre. Both analysed music videos featured one of Goodwin's characteristics the main one that is identified to be the star image motif, where in both the videos the main characters are the main focus of the video. Overall the music video that mostly applies to Goodwins theory is Will Smith 'Miami' which includes more aspects of the theory.

Positive things about the Goodwin’s theory

- Easy to apply to all videos and music genres
- Allows to breakdown music videos

- Allows you to Analyse lots of media ideas such as cinematography, editing, Mise En Scene

Negative things about the Goodwin’s theory

 

- Very reliant on mainstream music and popular culture

- The validity of his theory might be question as people might ask if this is really his theory or if it’s just thoughts that can naturally come to someone.

Conclusion

 

This information shows me that my music video should contain some of these elements if I want it to be successful and for the audience to enjoy it. As past videos have shown not all music videos contain all the points the points that Goodwin has provide but they do contain each a characteristic. Due to my research I have decided to take in account Goodwin's theory when creating my music videos. I have decided that I would like to take in account his relationship between visuals and lyrics, due to the fact that the song that I am thinking of using is a slow song, I have decided to allow the images to accompany the lyrics. Also the star image motif, I have decided that I would like my main artist to be the centre of attention in the video. So I've decided that I will use my main artist to tell the story that will be portrayed in the narrative.