Conventions and Styles of Music Videos

Introduction
The idea of a music video is argued to have had its first step been in the year
1894 when two publishers Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern hired an electrician
and a group of performers to promote sales of their song The Little Lost
Child. Thomas then projected various still images on a screen at the same
time to live performances, which become known as the illustrated song.
In 1926, short films to music were beginning to be produced. A show was
produced by Warner Bros. called Vitaphone shorts featured many different
artist of the time. Later in the years, animator Max Fleischer created a new
concept of having audiences sing along to popular songs by following a ball
bouncing across the lyrics, which is a still a popular karaoke device today.
In the early 1930s, cartoons began to feature popular musicians performing
their hits live on camera during segments of the show. Blues singer Bessie
Smith began to feature in short films titled St. Louis Blues and numerous other
musicians began to do similar productions. These musical films gained more
popularity throughout the years, and by 1959 DJ singer J. P. The Big Popper
Richardson was the first to coin the phrase Music Video, according to the
Internet Accuracy Project.
Two Australian TV shows (Countdown and Sounds were significant in the
development of music videos. In order to gain material for the shows, Graham
Webb approached multiple people to ask them to produce footage to
accompany popular songs. This was an unqualified success and so Russell
Mulcahy (one of the people Webb approached) quit his job and directed fulltime. This became a very popular trend worldwide, and so in 1975 the rock
band Queen employed Bruce Gowers to make a music video for their new
single Bohemian Rhapsody on Top of the Pops. The song become widely
credited as first global hit for which the video was the central marketing
strategy.
Music videos become very important to the music industry from then on in.
They became a major source of income for not only the artists but also the
production companies. It also became important for visually representing the
artist. Through their videos, we would see who their target audience would be
and what colours or themes should be brought to mind to remind you of them.
The band Gorillaz are a good example, with their style being generally of an

animated music video, with strange and ape versions of each band member.
This became what repeatedly represent them on their album covers and other
music videos. Furthermore, music videos become methods of synergy with
other media outlets, would most commonly be through films. For example, the
recent Bond film Spectre contained a track by Sam Smith (Writings on the
Wall), which was played during the film and had its own music video with
multiple clips and references to the film. This technique is effective as it
merges the audiences of both Sam Smith and James Bond and so they end up
gaining viewers on both sides.
To see how much videos have changed over time, a good comparison to make
would be between Thriller Michael Jackson (1982) and I Bet My Life
Imagine Dragons (2015). Both these songs are narrative driven, though Thriller
is a bit more comedic. One key difference, disregarding the image and shot
quality, is the run time of the videos, with Thriller clocking at close to 14
minutes and I Bet My Life at 3 and a half. The technique of narrative has
become more refined over the years, making telling a good story with the
music easier. Another difference is that the story of Imagine Dragons song is
more interpretive, as it doesnt link with the lyrics much unlike Thriller. One
thing that both these videos do similarly is promoting the image of the artist,
as Thriller shows us that Michael Jackson is about funky dances and storytelling
in his videos, and Imagine Dragons are about interpretive narratives.

Purpose
As mentioned, there are quite a few purposes to the modern music video. One
of the main reasons is to promote the artist. Most of the really popular
bands have their image chosen for them by their record labels. Some are
based on a particular style of theme, such as Gorillaz mentioned earlier.
However, most artist nowadays now get their attention and viewers through
controversy. For example, Lady Gaga gained most of her audience through
making music videos that contained some form of controversy. Without this
she may not have gained as much fame as she has now. Most people agreed
when they were surveyed about it (see below).

It seems that most artists these days use similar techniques to gain their
popularity, such as Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj though they dont necessarily
need to use this. Another result of the survey showed that almost all of the
recipients like musical talent in their artist above other things like their music
videos and looks. When asked about they think artists need to be
controversial, majority said that they dont think they need to be as such to be
so well known, though it was a close result.

Another common device is to change your image. Artists will change (sometimes dramatically) what viewers remember or relate them. This is usually
done to change or widen their audience base. Two artists that did this are Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. Taylor went from having look described as a country girl to what she is now, and Justin from being a cutesy boy-next-door to
being more controversial and focused on his looks. Though this did increase
their audience, which almost everyone in the survey agreed with. However,
everyone was indecisive when it came to them saying whether or not they like
it when artists change their image.

Despite disagreeing with how artists use controversy to gain popularity and
preferring to see talent rather than looks and music videos quality in artists, almost every single person said that music videos are effective at promoting the
band/artist.

From 1964 to 2006 the main source of watching music came from Top of the
Pops. On this show, the various top charting artists came and performed their
hits live. They also had a Christmas special that featured the top hits of the
year. In 1981 the channel MTV (Music Television) launched, which became the
way of watching the music videos that were produced. Though there was no

guarantee that your favourite artist/music video would show, the channel became incredibly popular. The channel is still around today, but isnt as widely
watched as it was at its peaks.
One recent development that has greatly affected the impact of music videos
is the invention of YouTube as an outlet. Music videos have been uploaded for
many years, since close to its first introduction to the internet. However, only
recently has it gained an immense amount of popularity due to the song
Gangnam Style by Psy. This South Korean artist had next to no popularity until he released his song in 2012. Within months the video became the most
viewed video on YouTube, being the first to reach one billion views and now
currently has two and a half billion views. The appeal came, not from the song,
but from the video, due to its unique style and memorable dance that caught
on like fire.
When looking at the income that come of music videos, there are a large
amount of ways that it is extended. The video can make people want to buy
their single or entire album, as well as their merchandise and tour tickets.
Sometimes people base this on their music, but majority of people do this after
watching the video alone. Music videos, very recently, have also become a
platform for advertisement, for companies such as Beats by Dr. Dre, Pepsi and
various car brands. A good example of a case of this is Lady Gagas Telephone music video. It contained advertisement for: Heartbeats Earphones,
Virgin Mobile, Diet Coke, HP Envy Laptop, Plenty of Fish dating site, Chevrolet,
Polaroid, Wonderbread and Miracle Whip. Today however, the most common
product that has been advertised throughout hundreds of videos is Beats by
Dr. Dre. You can see this advertised in songs by Eminem, Nicki Minaj, Lady
Gaga (again), Snoop Dogg, Will.I.Am, Pussycat Dolls and many more.
The method of using music videos for advertising has become very popular as
making money through the music and touring just isnt enough for some small
time bands.
One increasingly used method in the music industry, mentioned earlier, is synergy. Film is the most popular, due to there being very large amount different
audiences that can be merged and increased by it. A few artists that have done
this are Metallica (Mission Impossible), Sam Smith (Spectre), Adele (Skyfall)
and Fallout Boy (Big Hero 6). This is a clearly effective technique, as we can see
from Ellie Gouldings song for the film 50 Shades of Grey (Love Me Like You
Do), as she has almost a billion views on the video for the song, as opposed to
her other videos which average at about a hundred million and rarely skewing

higher. It became her second song hit number one as well as breaking the record for the number of streams within a week, which was 2.58 million times. Finally, it also sold more units than some of her previous songs, with it selling
172,368 in the first week where her previous number one Burn sold 116,857.
Another use of synergy in music is TV adverts. Many major hits are used as
backing for adverts to make the product more memorable by associating the
product with the song. You are more likely to find that more of the mainstream
songs produced by the major companies (which will be talked about later) due
to them tending to be higher in the charts and therefore are heard more.
Finally, a popular method of synergy is to feature other artists in your songs.
This involves having another artist have a verse or two (or some cases the chorus) in the song, which has become very popular for rap artists. This, much like
with film synergy, mixes and therefore increases audiences. There are many
examples but a prime on is the artist Disclosure, who features other artists in
many of his songs including: Magnets (Lorde), Latch (Sam Smith), White
Noise (AlunaGeorge) and a lot more. In each case, the videos gain a lot more
views than the songs without features from other artists. For example, Latch
had 175 million views as opposed to Jaded which had 7 million views.

Producers
There are three types of producers within the music industry: major, independent and self-produced.
Major Producers are companies that effectively own the artist and get the final
decision on what their image should be. They have a very large budget and
earn a lot of money as a result. These are artists that are likely to have advertisement in their videos and have their music used in adverts. They also tend to
be higher in the charts and more popular. Justin Bieber and Katy Perry are two
examples of artists that are owned by these. Def Jam Records and Capital Records are their producers, respectively. This is reflected in their videos, as most
of them are high budget mega productions with a large amount of effects.
These artists dont get much say in what their image is as their producers are
the one that do that. As a result, the videos can be controversial in a lot of
cases, with the men being topless and the women being scantily clad. In Katy
Perrys Roar we see all these conventions in action: there are a lot of effects
(both visual and special); such as some of the animals and the tiger spirit, her
attire is controversial; with it being very minimal and consisted of leaves, and
contains many rare live animals including a live tiger.

Independent Producers are smaller in both budget and influence. Their market
isnt as big as major producers, but they like to experiment with their productions and are prepared to use less experienced directors that specialise in creativity than results. Artists can become high charters but it is a lot less likely, and
are very unlikely to have their music featured in methods of synergy. A few artists that have become quite popular such as: American Authors, Ellie Goulding,
fun, Charli XCX and The Weekend. This is reflected in Best Day of My Life
(American Authors), in which there are no special effects at all, and the narrative is more artistic than focused on image. We are shown a man having a
drinking spree with a strange monster in a bar whom he just met. They monster is just a costume and is the pinnacle of unique things in the video. Though
it doesnt provide a clear image for the band, it shows that they are more minimalistic than other artists. This video is the prime example of what independent producers are about. This video didnt get many views compared to the
major artists, but it was more artistic.
Occasionally, artists may decide, whether its a free choice or budget limitations, to self-produce their work. This method is a good source of gaining fans
and trying to catch the eyes of major producers. Though this can be cost efficient, and lead to a more artistic production, the quality may not be the best.

References
First Music Video https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwjwibv8wvLKAhXIThQKHUx2BX8QFggfMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMusic_video&usg=AFQjCNEoNIDrTsOYbcgBp4mPfmMXpZnkYg&sig2=irX9SzqeHHUZR29eQRvABQ&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU
Survey - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/62ZVT22
MTV https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwj-urnPxPLKAhUJVBQKHYPDAasQFggfMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMTV&usg=AFQjCNHP20Dv9Mf30J2a843rs7XqMY08hQ&sig2=oJpRYXNC9wjHNcECKFtvg&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU
Top of the Pops https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwizoPXhxPLKAhWBuRQKHd7sDrQQFggfMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTop_of_the_Pops&usg=AFQjCNH5oE904lyrSz_JJtC2JULutiMRA&sig2=SbVVYuZYUx4LSRaNqHjzXg&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU

Lady Gaga Product Placement

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwi974WCxfLKAhWENxQKHTFBAOsQFggfMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fblogs%2Fnme-blogs%2Flady-gagas-telephone-video-how-many-products-can-you-spot&usg=AFQjCNETBiGU003SAY79jBhBzjmfmLpXGw&sig2=Xt_6wARzXtMaAA-VHroqA&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwi974WCxfLKAhWENxQKHTFBAOsQFggmMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fadage.com%2Farticle%2Fmadisonvinenews%2Fmiracle-whip-plenty-fish-tap-lady-gaga-s-telephone%2F142794%2F&usg=AFQjCNGb0FYFGhWP0M-ZNM0ZqpVUbEqaDg&sig2=L62vKA5VC1q0Rdqlx631Wg&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU
Love Me Like You Do
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwjtmOeixfLKAhUF7BQKHWAuBigQFggfMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLove_Me_like_You_Do&usg=AFQjCNEfiZjbje9rb8y0hhv9ISuBlsDQ8g&sig2=RrOvmtS4y0_UL7KFQb3kzQ&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU
Burn
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwiS1snMxfLKAhWKWxQKHW2UBN8QFghUMAg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBurn_(Ellie_Goulding_song)&usg=AFQjCNFYTalpQJyQhTcYtGGBGf2MKnaXWQ&sig2=ih5Zo84_WoGrFmRTQmdB4g&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU
Justin Bieber Record Label
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF8#q=justin+bieber+record+label
Katy Perry Record Label
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF8#q=katy+perry+record+label

Independent Artists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indie_pop_artists