Andrew Goodwin Has identified the following features of music videos:
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video, dance routine/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc).
At least one of these six points are used in a music video and Andrew Goodwin has put this into six easy points so you can easily understand why artists uses these. I am also going to explain each point in more detail and give you an example of a music video which uses the points above.
1. Andrew Goodwin has said that each different music genre has different style of music videos, and this is very true because for example metal songs, usually have their live shows as their music video and this is a very good, because but not only does it have the song but it shows the audience that would be watching the video, how good the band is live and it might encourage them to go to see them in concert, therefore promoting and making that certain band more popular. Here is an example of a band that uses live performances as their music video: Here is Pearl Jam and this is the song alive and as you can see it was performed live in front on an audience.
2. There being a relationship between lyrics and visuals means that when the artist is singing the lyrics, the visuals in the music video match the lyrics. This is a good way to make the audience understand what the artist is saying and plus it relates to it better. for example Nelly Fertado - Im like a bird. In this music video you can see birds, and plus in the video she fly's relating to the lyrics that she sings in the song. Here is the video below: gfgfgf
3. There being a relationship between the music and the visuals means that the scene matches the pace and tone of the music, for example if it was a slow, relaxing song the takes will be longer, and if it was a fast beat the takes will be more quicker to match the song. For a fast beat the track Kanye West - All of the lights, as you will be able to seen the beat matches up with what comes up in the music video such as the lyrics and the footage of him and the other artist's singing. Here is the two songs:
4. The record label company of some artists demand a lot of close ups of the artists. This may be because they want to show the audience the artist's emotions in the music video, also to make them seem more glamorous and have them gain popularity in the celebrity industry. In this Girls aloud song, as you can see the way the video is shot is to make them look attractive and a part of a band. gfgfgfgf
5. For the fifth point suggested that theres is frequently reference to the notion of looking. Music videos are often set to look for grabbing peoples attention for example women dressing provocative to grab viewers attention. Also there are references of being watched.Music videos make being voyeur acceptable it allows us to watch things that we possibly couldn't watch in real life for example Rihanna - We found love shows us this:
6. There is often intertextual references in a lot of music videos that bring artists release. This means that in the music video the artist relates the song to a film. This is also a good way of promoting that particular film and song. Also it could gain more popularity depending on what the film is, and who the artist is.
