Research - Popular Music Theories

Popular Music Theory

Why is it important to understand music theory?
It is important to understand music theories because it allows people to understand the background of certain music genres. It also allows music videos to have a concept in which they can be created around. In this post I will be drawing upon the following theorist, Antonio Gramsci, Theodore Adorno and many more.

Popular culture
The term 'popular culture' originated by Theodore Adorno, who was a German Sociologist and Philosopher. The term popular culture refers to the understanding and ideas of the mainstream culture at the moment. The popular culture first came by in the 1980s. According to Adorno the lower classes such as middle class and lower are the ones who are more likely to be influenced by the 'popular culture', society is mostly made up of working class which then means that what they are likely to listen to is more likely to be the popular culture. In the music industry its where the popular culture and likes in todays society is mostly distributed, videos and songs are starting to be more similar.

I personally when thinking of the popular culture think of the genres that are mostly listened to within the people that I am surrounded with, so Pop music, RnB, Jazz, Reggae and lots more

Example of Popular Culture...
1. Chris Brown - Loyal

2. Kid Ink - Show me

Antonio Gramsci-Hegemony

Antonio Gramsci discovered hegemony. Hegemony is the barrier between the bourgeoisies and proletariats (upper class and the lower class) Hegemony reinforces leadership or dominance by one social group. The upper class controls what they want the lower classes to enjoy through the use of hegemony, the upper class believes that those lower in the hierarchy are not smart enough to appreciate the sort of music that they do. Hence why they give us music that all basically sounds the same and has 'the same audio concept' because we are to 'dumb' to know the difference.

Frankfurt School

The Frankfurt School, is a social and political philosophical movement of thought located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is the original source of what is known as Critical Theory. Theodore and Adorno belonged to the school. They believed that poplar culture was put in position to exploit the masses and maintain the power of the bourgeoisies. its clear to see in the music industry as songs are now simply made for the entertainment of purely the masses.


Theodor Adorno

Theodor Adorno was a German sociologist  who was known for his theory and ideas around popular culture. He believed that the popular culture is to manipulate the mass society, into being passive. He identified that in society true art is at the top of the hierarchy and popular culture is at the bottom with the majority of the people with those who don't understand true art.

The social Elites  - according to adorno are more likely inclined to listen to Classical music, jazz and music that is known to be soothing and pleasant to the ears.
whereas on the other hand
The masses - are more likely to listen to loud music, which all contain the same instrumental.



Birmingham School

The Birmingham school, was original developed by Stuart Hall, who was a cultural theorist and sociologist. He had theories that revolved around hegemony and cultural studies. He also came up with a theory around encoding and decoding which means how a product is created by the producer and how its taken in by the audience.


Dick Hebdige

Dick Hebdige, worked around theories on subcultures. He argued that due to consumption there was different readings of the same product. Unlike what previous theorist said he believed that the audience had a say in what they wanted or did not wants to listen to. Due to this the audience was able to group themselves as different and becoming a subculture.


Conclusion

From  this post  I have learned a lot about the different theories surrounding the popular culture, from The Frankfurt school to the Birmingham school. I personally believe that the popular culture is a myth and that people in the working class and lower have a say in what they want to hear. I will try In my video to follow the popular culture and make sure that my artist looks like typical female artist such as Beyoncé, Rihanna and etc, due to the fact that I will be creating my video to follow the popular culture it means that I will be mostly appealing towards the masses as they are the ones to be believed to found the popular culture. I have decided that I will be appealing towards the masses because the song genre which I have chosen to use will be most relatable towards the masses.

Research - Dyers Star Theory

What is a Star Theory?

The term star refers to the set of meanings and constructed around singers in order to sell their music to a mainstream or loyal audience, but mainly mainstream which is where they will be able to receive the most money.

Richard Dyer

" Star image is incoherent, that its incomplete and open"

" The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer" - I believe that what Dyer was trying to say is that for an artist to be down to earth in order that people such as fans could relate to and connect with but also gain a super capability that will make the fans idolise them and look up to them.

" The star  must be simultaneously present and absent for the customer"-  What Dyer is saying that people should be able to hear about their favourite artist all the time on the media etc, which then makes them able to be present in the fans life all the time, but also at the same time absent as the fan will not be able to physically reach them.

Difference between Performer and Pop Star

Performers = They are not famous and there to showcase themselves, but they are there purely for their talents, just to perform their music

Pop Start =  Pop stars images are created around the audience, they are created to please the audience and entertain them.

Dyers identified four elements to recognise a star....

1. Stars and Constructions

Stars are constructed in a way that will make them stand out to the audience. An example is Beyoncé who is now one of the biggest stars worldwide, you are now able to buy into her, she has merchandise all over the world.

 

2. Industry and Audience

Stars are manufactured to make money, the industry takes care of the stars and in a way own them to they are moulded into products for the audience, to entertain them.

Pop stars, are products of their nature, are quiet clearly the product of their record company

In the company there is someone fresher and younger to choose from, another way to produce a star with long lasting appealing, who once their band is established can cater to a fan audience for decades.

 

Britney 200s

Britney 1999



Britney 2015
 

3. Ideology and culture

Stars represent culture values and attitudes and promote a certain ideology. Audience interests in these values enhances their 'star quality' and create their star persona.

social networks give pop stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music. For the audience this means that they will be able to draw close to the artist as they will be able to get to know the artist better, and develop their thinking in a similar way.

4. Character and Personality

The star is a construct, but the construct that has a foundation of realism. Stars provide audiences with a focus for ideas of what people are supposed to be like. stars may support hegemony. For example starts from the lights of Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez provide the audience with the idea of the ideal woman strong independent, voluptuous encouraging girls to be more like them. This links to hegemony as they are trying to create an ideology for how all girls should look.  

Control

At the peak of their career stars don't hold somewhat of control on what they want to be seen as by the audience all the control Is kept on the management and industry, so that they can see how to turn that artist into a star. Later on once they gain success and are older and know a bit more about the industry, the artist has more of a say on what he/she wants the audience to see them as. For example Jay-z who is now a star he now own his own company and has a big input on how he presents himself to the audience and fans.

Conclusion

This theory is important because it enables the audience to tell the difference between the star and a performer, Also the industry will be able to create a star by using these theories. In my video I am going to present my artist as a innocent young lady who is simply looking to have some fun. So I have chose to create a performer rather than a star because I want my artist to be down to earth, relatable person that her fans can truly connect to rather than someone who they wish they could be.

Research - Star Image in music videos

What is Star image?

Star image is the way an artist is presented in their music video. Star image changes throughout the years as the artist grows older their image may mature aswell. Music videos have played a big part in how star image have developed over the years,  fans have been able to see the growth and developments of their favorite artist through the use of music videos. The role of the music video is to allow the artist to showcase their image, ideas and beliefs  through moving images.

Star image impact on career

Music videos can help boost an artist career,  a music video will be able to make the artist fame increase and allow the artist to build a close relationship with the audience.

Star Image

Selena Gomes is a perfect modern example of how star image motif, changes throughout the years, she started off as a child star, in Disney Channel and then became a pop star.

 When her career started off she was still young , she was looked at by young girls, who aspired to be like her, this meant that her she had to portray innocence At the start of her career she was just a young girl, her posture showcases innocence, her hair and makeup is light and minimal, emphasising. her sweet, blameless and childish persona.

In this moving image of Selena Gomez, we can see how in the space of one year she has grown, her hair is shorter showing maturity and also she is dressed in a sophisticated manner, even though, the make up is still subtle, its clear to see that she is wearing a lot more makeup than she was previously and the way she is staring at the camera in a flirty manner.

In 'Come and Get it' we see the change in Selena Gomez, we see her in a more mature light, her body movements are slow and sensual, which is evident in the way in which she tosses her hair around. Her hair is longer and fuller, representing growth not just on her as a person but as an artist seen by the lyrics which she uses 'if you want it come and get it'. Her makeup seems heavier, with a smoky eye and a red lip making giving her an edgy look. The red lips signify love and danger and passion giving an insight on new person that she has become. Throughout this video Selena showed the world her new Image.

 

Lately her sexuality has been showcased more she uses her female assets to an advantage. The latest video she is seen in a shower all wet, with wet hair and naked, even thought we are able to see only her back its evident that she is fully nude. As Selena grows her fans also grow too. Her content may seem relevant to her and her fans as they would be at an age where they too are going through similar things. This means that her target audience has changed to a more appropriate mature audience. The lyrics in the song are sexual but in a overt manner. The way in which she represent herself its sexual but in a subtle way she showcases her natural sexuality with the lack of makeup.

 

ONE DIRECTION

Another star image that has drastically changed over the years is One Direction, they started off as innocent group of teen boys, as seen from the images they all have an innocent simple goofy persona, which was what the where known from when they where in The Xfactor, which allowed them to gain a popularity from young girls.

In 2012 the developed and their popularity grew. As well as themselves grew as well, the way that they have been styled compared to the previous images is clearly more co-ordinated, as the fans grow older as well the way that the band starts to look needs to also mature, but they still seem to be keeping that quirkiness that they have been known to have as seen from their movements.

In this video for Story of my life, they seem to be going against their conventional upbeat/ fun songs, and getting more emotional. Also their costumes show their maturity with tighter clothing, scruffier clothing, scruffy hair and makeup making seem more and more like men.

In their most up to date video, lyrics start to get more emotional and personal five years into their career and obviously their loyal fans have also grown more mature, as its clear the boys now have become more mature looking and also more attractive.

Sexual Star Images

Here Macklemore is using two individuals to showcase his ideas of same sex relationships.

                  

Jessie J was first introduced to the world with this single, where she showcased her power as a female whilst trying to portray a man.

 

 Political/morals reasons

Kanye West used his fame to let the world know about, things that are happening in other countries. This song and video describes the hardship and struggle that people are undergoing in Sierra Leone.

Michael Jackson was known for his political opinions and made sure he showcased his feelings about the government through the use of this song.

 

Conclusion

Star image is important because that is how the audience is going to view the star for a long time. Star image is also how the fans and the rest of the world is introduced to the individual. Due to my artist being a young lady in her early 20s I plan to represent her in away that will allow her to gain a following from people 16 + I want her to have strong morals and values, which I am looking to represent in my video. I also want her image to be represented in a way which will show her class and maturity in certain strong subjects.                

Research - Mulvey's Male Gaze

What is the Male Gaze?

The male gaze shows females as sexual objects through the use of the camera who in this case is taking the place of heterosexual male. There are three ways in which women are looked at...

1. How men look at women

2. How women look at women

3. How women look at themselves

Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ 1975

Laura Mulvey is a theorist who noticed how women were being represented in the media she discovered how the camera is being humanized into a man that lingers around the female assets soaking all her sexuality up and receiving satisfaction from it.

 

The particular genre which I believe excessively uses the Male gaze theory would have to be the RnB and Rap industry, to an extent also house music. Its very obvious that in those genres the lyrics are mostly about money and girls, so its obvious that they would use girls in their music and flaunt them, by using camera angles to showcase their assets.

Example

 

 

 

In these vidoes its clear to see the Mulvey gaze being used as the females in these videos are enhancing their assets in front of the camera. The first video, shows a lot of sexual references and Falloch based objects. The second video although the women are not necessarily showcasing themselves in front of the camera the camera still lingers around their body movements. Also the costumes of the women in the backgrounds, wearing bikinis and half dressed sexually dancing. Finally the final  video showcases both women and Falloch movements and also the lyrics are metaphorically relating to sex, the way in which the women are represented as they are dancing and simply by the way the camera showcases their body images is very over sexualised. Overall all of the videos above show  the male gaze theory into action.

 

Criticism of the Male Gaze

Ever since the theory of the male gaze people have built criticisms around it.

People say that the male gaze only includes the heterosexual male gaze, but excludes all the other sexes, for example the female opinion or the homosexuals view.

Feminist say that the male gaze undermines female empowerment, it doesn’t talk about female empowerment. On the other hand this may not apply to all women due to their conflict views, as it ignores the fact that some women might like to be looked at.

Others may say that the male gaze does not apply in modern day as now there is men also dancing topless, and the male gaze does not include that.

The male gaze does not include social opinions and religious culture.

 Conclusion

In my video I am planning to use women and the female asset, but I am not looking to extenuate their assets for the audience but merely to just because it will fit the narration behind the video. I am planning to represent the female characters in my video as fun, independent and strong. And I personally believe that using the 'male gaze' theory will not allow me to get the sort of reaction that I want from my viewers.

 

 

 

 

 

Research - Intertexuality of music videos

Intertextuality

What is intertextuality?

Intertextuality is when something in a music video is a representation of things that are happening in reality, celebrities like to make fun of the government and usually make a mockery of those in the government in their videos, and other celebrities also like to make fun of other celebrities.  Goodwin mentions that intertextuality in music videos is one the characteristics which is identified within all mainstream music videos.

 Examples

George Michael - Shoot the dog

 

 

 

The point of this music video is to mock the government, he made the intertextuality by the use of the world leaders and mocking them.

 

- The music starts when the cartoon George leaves the males toilet, referring to the scandal that happened in 1998 when Geroge Micheal was caught in the toilet. 

Eminen- Stan

 

Eminem's videos all more or less contain some sort of intertexuality but especially this one as its all based around a real story, based around one of his fans who committed suicide. He made a video dedicated to him and his life story which he described in the letters that he sent.

 

Advantages

Intertextuality makes the audience aware of things that are happening in the society

It also entertains them and makes them laugh

Disadvantages

People might feel offended

Other people’s personal problems and opinions are being portrayed by someone else without consent

People especially other celebrities want to be the ones to tell their own stories

 

Influences opinions, fans will start to believe and think in similar ways

 

spreads negativity

 

 

Conclusion

Personally I don’t see the use of intertextuality in my video as I don’t have a particular event that I believe will fit with the narrative of my video. I personally believe that intersexual reference does serve its purpose when used respectfully in a way to entertain the audience rather than to mock others. I feel like the use of intertexuality allows the message to get across easier because people will be able to refer to the message by remembering the intertexuality.

Reasearch- Diverse Music Videos

Diverse Music videos

What are diverse music videos?

Diverse music videos are music videos that include aspects that will not normally be included in mainstream music videos, they are mostly concept based. Diverse music videos are mostly used in the niche music genre as they are the ones that like to mostly experiment with their videos. It’s mostly understood by a specific niche audience who are loyal fans of the artists.

 

 

 

 

  Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham is a director, who works with artist and companies to create projects that will influence the audience. Cunningham is known for his divergent music videos he has worked with many artists and businesses in his career and has created many conflicting videos.

Examples of his works

He has worked with artist from Madonna to Apex Twins covering all kind of music genre

Video One

Madonna – Frozen
When Madonna released her comeback debut frozen in the early 2000, she decided that she wanted the world to see her differently she did not want to keep that same image that she had in her previous career. So she decided to work with Cunningham to create a video which will show a different side to her.

The editing in this video is spectacular. I believe that what this video is trying to portray is freedom as it’s a new era and new album Madonna was looking to free herself from all the criticism that she was getting before, also she was ready to express her inner spirit animal which is a mixture of all those animals used in the video.

 Video Two

Bjork - All is full of Love

Bjork and Cunningham have worked alongside each other, many times before together they created videos that inspired and confused people, such as all is full of love, a video that expresses the love of a robot couple. In an interview Bjork stated that she first started working with Cunningham because friends would encourage her because they believed that the two would create great things, which proved to be the case as later on the went on to win great awards.

 

I think that this video is so confusing and sexual, but executed in a smart way, the songs title is all is full of love, I believe that In the video Cunningham tried to show the audience that love is found everywhere even in something as ridiculous as Robots who are not meant to have feelings and emotions.

Video Three

Apex Twins – Come to Daddy

Cunningham is known for working with artist that is not mainstream such as the Apex Twins, who are a rock band. Due to the fact that they are not mainstream  Cunningham is able to experiment with his ideas and creativity, because the artist are less likely to get criticism or loose a following, as they will have loyal fans. Hence why he created ‘Come to daddy’ a very complex yet intriguing video in my opinion, I believe that this video Is not something that I would enjoy watching on tv or anywhere else.

 

 

                                                                  

     Michael Gundry

 

 

 

 

Michael Gundry is another well-known director, he is not as popular as Cunningham but has also worked alongside many mainstream artist, and worked on many videos, From Daft Punk to The White Stripes.

Video One

Daft Punk – Round the world

Daft Punk is a very well-known band who has worked with many popular people like Pharrell, Gundry executes his videos in a direct manner and also is very cleaver about what the video contains, unlike Cunningham, Gundry’s videos, have a lower budget and include more performance than narrative which is clear to see in this video.

 

 

I like this video because I think it Portrays the title of the song well as it’s called Round the world and the dancers are walking around in circles repetitively. It’s nice and simple and doesn’t confuse the audience, even though it might get a bit boring.

 Video Two

Gary Jules – Mad World

This video is very simple and low budge compare to all the other videos that have been mentioned, everything has been taken in one shot, which reflects the mood and tone of the song.

 

 

 

Video Three

The White Stripes- The hardest Button to Button

It’s clear to see that Gundry enjoys the effect of repetition, as he’s doing in this video, the concept around Star image motif is shown in this video as, the white stripes are not a very well-known band, and Gundry showcased their talent and them as artist in this video.

 

 

 

Advantages of diverse music video on the industry and audience
Diverse Music videos…

-          Create Hype around the artist, for example Madonna when she first did her comeback video everyone was shocked, surprised and excited.

-          Its unique,  and it shows individual element, in the mainstream category artist seem to have the same kind of videos which are glamourized for the audience, but diverse music videos allow the artist to show a different side to themselves that allows the audience and their fans to see that the artist is also an individual.

-          Very captivating, and memorable ‘Come to Daddy’ is a prime example even though it might make the viewer feel uncomfortable, they will still carry on watching it, just because of the fact that its different kind of video, the audience would be interested to see the ending. Because of that it can end up being very memorable and people will carry on watching it.

Disadvantage of diverse music videos on the industry and audience

-          It can be offensive and inappropriate; people might end up complaining and taking it to heart causing negative hype to be created around the artist.

-          Might not gain as much success, because it’s not something that people are used to watching they might not find enjoyment, in watching it.

-          It could eventually ruin your reputation; Madonna could have ruined her reputation by deciding to work with such a risky director.

Diverse Music Videos should stay away from mainstream music culture?

I believe that diverse music videos should stay away from mainstream music culture because if the main stream music culture then decides to pick up the concept of diverse music videos, then eventually there will be no diverse music videos to look at as everyone will have, that same style of music videos. But on the other hand artist are able to express themselves through diverse music videos they are able to showcase a side of themselves that the audience does  not usually see, diverse music videos on mainstream artist could draw the artist closer to their fans.

Conclusion

Studying diverse music videos, has opened up a new door of ideas for me, and has allowed me to see that I am able to exhibit my ideas in lots of other ways, I am thinking of using a bit of the repeating technique that Gundry used in my video also. I will definitely include one or two of the features that are shown in diverse music videos because I feel like it will give my music video that unique element that other videos won’t have.

Research - History of Music Videos

The History of Music Videos

How have modern day music videos changed from traditional music video?
Modern day music videos are all based around the concept of entertainment, artist entertain their fans and other by glamourizing their life, showcasing their other talents in an extravagant way, whereas in the past music videos where just to allow the audience to connect with the artist.

 Timeline

1920-1940

Many films where accompanied by moving images, especially animations. These were not considered as music videos, just basic editing of imagines to film, musicals which was a big genre of film during this period.

1929- Bessie Smith – She appeared in a short film, it was the first film that ever showed music performed by an artist.

1940- Walt Disney released Fantasia, an animated based around famous piece of classical music. Not quite a musical, but heavily rely on musical narrative, it’s a genre of music associated with a film. This is how Disney found their fame.

1950-1960

1956- Tony Bennet- his video involves him walking In Hyde Park London, for his song ‘Stranger in Paradise’, the single and video was distributed on US and UK televisions only, leading to Bennet claiming that he made the first ever music video.

1964 – The Beetles- Key moments this video arguably set out the basic visuals and vocabulary for today’s music videos, influencing a vast number of contemporary musicians at the time to create similar moving images to accompany their music videos

1966-1968 – The ‘mokees’ was a TV show. Each episode included a specifically made film segment that was created to accompany their songs that was used in their TV Series.

1966- The Birth of the top of the pops

The importance of the TOTP to promote a single meant that artists have to compete for air time as TOTP had a limit on number of performances it showed.

1967- These Videos used Techniques borrowed from films such as effects, dramatic lighting, camera angles and rhythmic editing.

1970-1980 NEW ERA

1975- Queen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Created to replace a live performance on TV, the Beatles had created videos, however queen were the first to rete a video specifically for that song to be played on TV. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was the first made on the video format; therefore the title of first music video would be accurate.

1979- The key developments of the modern music video were a video recording with editing processes. High quality videotape recorders and portable video cameras enabled many pop acts to produce promotional videos. Quickly and cheaply rather than using filming equipment which was expensive.

By mid 80s, releasing a video to accompany a new single had to become standards. Artists were using high quality budget to create these, for example ‘The Jackson 5’

1981- MTV launch, the first video to be aired is the ‘Buggles’ Video Killed the radio star, In the early mid 80s artists started to use more sophisticated effects in their videos, and added a storyline or plot to the music video

1984- Michael Jackson, Thriller. A short film a music video that has beginning, middle and end. Jacksons Thriller took the music video format to another level

TOTP started to censor video content, so another approach was produced a video that would be banned or edited so using controversy and publicity to promote the release. Early examples of this tactic were Duran Duran’s girls on film

1980s- Madonna owned a great deal of her success to the skilful construction and seductive appeal of her videos.

 Although many see MTV as the star of a golden era of music videos and the unparalleled success od a new art form in popular culture others see it as it as shattering the death of the true musical artist because physical appeal is now critical to popularity to a degree.

 

How have music videos changed over time?

Over the years music videos have changed, at the beginning music videos where created for movie purposes, not all with the thought of it being its own mini movie, but over the year’s music videos have developed their own concept. The audience has developed people now expect music videos, whereas in the past music videos where a privilege to the fans. With the different Genres that there are now artist use music videos to express their feelings and showcase themselves.

Conclusion

It is important to know about the history of music videos because they allow an individual it gain knowledge on how the music video came about and the original concept.