Andrew Goodwin’s Theory

1. Music videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics.

2. There are frequent references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the female body

3. There is succinct relationship between the music and the visuals

4. The record label which the artist is assigned to tends to have certain demands. They often include lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist will have a visual style which recurs across their work

5. There are often intertextual references to films, T.V programmes, other music videos etc. Audiences enjoy knowing the ‘in joke’.

1. Music videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics.

Typical genre characteristics are what we see in nearly every video of a genre. They are redundant conventions of the videos.

For example – in a rock/metal video, you can usually see the band performing their song in the video, usually on a stage with close-ups of each band member and their instruments.

Another example is in pop videos they usually show the artist doing a dance routine with backup dancers around them.

2. There are frequent references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the female body

Voyeurism is commonly found in rap/hip hop videos and videos that have females as the lead actor. Voyeuristic treatment is the sexualisation of the female body, given by the clothing they wear and the actions they perform (Such as their ‘dance’ moves).

References of looking refers to eye contact between the artist and the camera (the viewer) which is common in videos trying to convey a message, as they are telling the viewer personally. It can also be referenced through the use of ‘looking’ props such as televisions, cameras, mirrors etc.

3. There is succinct relationship between the music and the visuals

The most common example of this is the performance aspect in most rock videos, as their instrument playing matches the instruments in the music. It can also be found in equalisers from electronic videos.

In the video for ‘Could this be’ by Noisia (right), the speed of the jet reflects the tempo of the music. It’s slow during the intro and speeds up when it “drops”. These tempo changes are commonly found in electronic genre videos like Drum&Bass.

Lyrics also tend to match the video a lot of the time. A classic example is House of Pain’s “Jump Around”, which often features the actors in the video jumping up and down with the beat of the tune.

4. The record label which the artist is assigned to tends to have certain demands. They often include lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist will have a visual style which recurs across their work

A good example of a recurring visual style is Lady Gaga, who wears unique and over the top costumes in all of her music videos. This style ensures her videos get a lot of attention and are memorable, helping her success as an artist.

Close-ups are also important in remembering the star’s image. You feel like you are much close to them and their face is much more identifiable as it is in more detail. It’s used in conjunction with voyeurism to bring out the ‘beauty’ aspect of female stars.

5. There are often intertextual references to films, T.V programmes, other music videos etc. Audiences enjoy knowing the ‘in joke’.

Intertextual references are when the music video makes a reference to another form of media in its video.

The video to Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s ‘Californication’ is one big intertextual reference to video games, as the entire video consists of a video game starring the band.

The Beastie boys spoof 70’s – 80’s cop shows with the video for their song ‘Sabotage’. Paying homage to something that would have been a part of everyone’s lives from that era is a good way to gain interest.