Diversity Of Music Videos - Miss Miller

Diverse music videos are music videos that do not follow the codes and conventions for their genre. Two famous directors that are known for their unique work when making music videos are Chris Cunningham and Michael Gondry. 

Chris Cunningham is a British video artist who primarily directs music videos for less popular ambient music and electronica acts such as Autechre and Aphex Twin. Chris has also created art installations,directed short movies and has too part in various film jobs such as model making, prosthetic make-up and concept illustrations for films such as Nightbreed, Dust Devil and Alien 3. The best known music videos directed by Cunningham are: Aphex Twin - 'Windowlicker(1999), Madonna - 'Frozen' and Björk - 'All is Full Of Love'. When referring to diversity of music video, Cunningham is quite extreme with this and his music videos are kind of known to be quite strange. 




Madonna - Frozen 

Dark costume

Birds flying away

Madonna came to work with Chris Cunningham after she watched the music video Aphex Twin "Come to daddy" in 1997. Madonna belongs to the pop genre , however this particular video is unconventional to it because of the dark and mystery involved within it. A convention that is see in the video is through mise en scene, costume and make up. We see Madonna dressed in a black dress and black wig to convey her mysterious character in the video. Black connotes mystery, darkness, evilness and powerful which could imply that she is all these things and is in power of the land she is in. This is unconventional to the pop genre, as costume and makeup are generally materialistic and they make an effort to look nice, whereas in Madonna's frozen video she is just dressed in black which may seem unattractive for the audience.

The element of Goodwin's Theory that is evident in this music video, is that the lyrics and visuals match. For example, the lyrics "Love is a bird, she needs to fly" mirror the visuals as we see crows fly away from her when this is said. The use of this could suggest that she is referring to herself as the crows and how she needs to fly away from love. This is conventional to the pop genre, as songs are usually about love or heart break which is shown in the lyrics above.

Black dog

The style of  the video is concept based, with the concept of love being negative, passive and consuming. This is shown through miss en scene;iconography and costume. We see the concept of love being negative through the setting and colours used in the video, which are isolated dark places and dark clothing. Also the iconography are animals such as crows and dogs represent how love can be dark, consuming and how partners can control you through the use of black dogs. This concept of love being negative is unconventional to the pop genre, as pop songs are usually happy and the relationships in them are fine, whereas in this video it is seen in a negative light. In this music video, the artist is represented as mysterious through the dark setting and costume as you can hardly see her face and everything looks quite dull. Also she is represented as possessed, through her body language as she floats around weirdly like she's some mystical dark force on the desert.Lastly, the artist is also represented as creative as she uses props such as animals to convey meaning to her song, which draws audiences attention as they figure what their use are. 

Men in the car

Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
Another music video directed by Chris Cunningham is 'Windowlicker' by Aphex Twin. Chris has worked with Aphex Twin many times and this is one of the most known music videos he has worked with. Aphex Twin belongs to the genres Electronic, acid techno, ambient, ambient techno and techno ambient dance genre. These genres are usually lively and what audience who like them can dance too. The song belongs to the electronic, techno ambient dance genre. The style of the video is narrative based as in the first 4 minutes we see scenes of two men driving in car then pulling up to chat to two women. This style of the music video is unconventional to the genres, this is because they often include a concept of a club scene as it portrays the beats included in the genres. However this music video involves a narrative which is unconventional because it does not make the audience want to dance straight away. However, the video is diversified by including a narrative, so that it takes a different introduction to the video and not starting off the song straight away so it grabs the audiences attention differently and gets the video talked about. A convention that is evident in the music video is that the artist is seen dancing around. This is conventional to the genres as dancing is a part of the genre because the up tempo. When referring to Goodwin's theory, we see the element of promotion of the label or artist in two different ways.

Label Logo

Firstly, the label is being promoted as we see the labels logo on the umbrella that the artist pulls out whilst dancing. The promotion of the artist is evident as we see the artists face photoshopped onto the females faces in the music video.
This is conventional to the genre as DJ's or electro artist may want to expand on their audiences so they advertise their label or themselves to attract more audiences.

Women with his face 

The artist is represented in many ways; he is charming through dancing (seem impressive to the female audiences and actors in video), promiscuous as we see clips of him with females touching him sexually, superior and flashy as we see his limo push over the men in front of him and also vain because of the photoshop of his face onto the women's faces. 

Artists face on tv 

Aphex Twin - Come to daddy
More videos that Cunningham has directed for Aphex Twin, is the music video for ' Come to daddy ' which includes weird themes that are unconventional to the genre. Firstly, Goodwin's theory is portrayed with the element of promotion of the artist which is evident in the video throughout. For example, like the windowlicker video, we see the artists face photoshopped onto the children's faces. This could link in to the representation of the artist as being quite vain as he frequently has his face photoshopped on other peoples faces in his videos. Also this is used to promote himself even more, as he stands out which makes him more rememberable because he is forced to be the centre of attention. Also, the artist promotes the label again, by having credits at the beginning of the music video and the logo seen then too. This gains more publicity for the label as people will remember the logo because they saw it at the start of the video. The style of video for this music video is primarily concept based. This is evident through the narrative of the children with the artists face on terrorising the old woman and man in the van because they were influenced to by the artist who is seen on the TV. The concept of this is how children are easily influenced by the media and also to show how children can be rebellious. A conventional convention seen in this music video, is through the editing in which we see flashing images within the video. This is conventional to the genre as it mirrors the club, dub step scene which grabs the audiences attention and makes the video more exciting. 

Artists face on the childrens faces

The artist is represented in many ways for example he is represented as creepy and weird because of the use of children with his face on theirs and the way they were 'worshiping' him in a way and doing what he says. Furthermore, the artist is represented as scary as we see him on the TV in a weird form which it looked like he was masked with some sort of gunge. Also, he is represented as rebellious through the rebellion of the children in the video.  

Michael Gondry
Michael Gondry, born in Versailles, France started as a filmmaker by making a music video for the band Oui Oui, who he was the drummer for at the time. Now Michael makes films as well as music videos, which vary form different genres. Unlike Chris Cunningham, Gondry is quite mellow with his diversity with music videos, this is evident in the two music videos, "Come into my world" - Kylie Minogue and "The hardest button to button" - The White Stripes. 

moving in time with the beat 

The Hardest Button To Button - The White Stripes
The music video ' The Hardest Button To Button' is a unconventional music video that belongs to the rock genre and was directed by Michael Gondry. However, the style of the video is primarily performance based which is conventional to the rock genre. This is evident as we see the artist playing the guitar as well sing in font of a microphone stand. This showcases the artists talents and informs the audience with more of the talents the artist has. 
When referring to Goodwin's theory, the element of the music and visuals matching is evident in the music video. For example, we see as the artist and his companion play on their instruments, they mov forward in time with the new beat. This is unconventional to the rock genre as you don't expect them to be organised as the genre is known for being energetic especially when expressing yourself. A genre convention in the music video is the use of instruments, to be precise electric guitars and drums. These musical instruments are conventional to the rock genre as these are what makes the sounds for the genre to fit in because they are quite edgy and loud. The artist is represented as talented through the use of instruments, and also quite mysterious because of his dark clothing. But also mysterious because he seems to be quite laid back and chilled out as theres not much going on or insight into them and also because he is performing in public places such as the subway and park which makes him relatable to the audience. 

Come Into My World - Kylie Minogue
This music video belongs to the pop genre and is also directed by Michael Gondry. The style of the music video is narrative based as we see Kylie's and other characters daily routines and lives e.g the woman throwing stuff outside the window. This could also link into the concept of her world being repetitive in the music industry or having a normal life despite being famous, which creates a relationship with the audience as they can relate to her every day lifestyle within the video. The genre convention that is unconventional to the pop genre within the music video is Kylie's costume. This consists of jeans and a T-shirt which does not seem as glamorous or outgoing as costumes in the pop genre usually are. The use of the dull, normal clothing could support the explanation of how she wants to convey herself as normal so that the audience can relate to her within the video. However a convention that is conventional to the pop genre is the upbeat, repetitive music within the music video. This is conventional to the pop genre as they usually include music that is repetitive and upbeat so that audience can dance to and remember the song. There are several ways in which the artist is represented in the Come Into My world music video, for example Kylie is represented as girly through her costume of a pink t-shirt. Even though this is a regular top, the pink colour conveys the pop genre as costumes are usually in bright colours so that the artist stand out from everyone around them. Moreover, she is represented as confident and vain as we see her walking in the streets proudly and because there are 4 clones of her which may convey her as vain. Lastly, she is represented as creative through the clones, even though this is a sign of Michael Gondry's work. The element of Goodwin's theory that is evident in this video is when the lyrics and visuals match. This is evident when the lyrics 'come, come , come into my world' link in with the new replica of Kylie come out of the laundrette and go around the street again. This matches with the lyrics as we see the replica's coming out starting her day again, showing us her world by her going round in circles implies that its her cycle. 


In summary, Chris Cunnigham's diverse music videos from my research are portrayed as dark, mysterious and odd. This is because the settings are usually in low key lighting abandoned places, for example in the madonna video it was set in a desert and the Aphex Twin video Come to daddy it was set in a underground rough place. Whereas in Michael Gondry's music video, they are set in high key lighting places that are usually in public e.g Kylie's setting is of a busy street that looks local to her character in her video and in The Hardest Button To Button video they are seen at a park. This shows that Cunningham relies on making the audience not feel apart of the video but makes it interesting to watch, whereas Gondry adds elements of realism through the use of public settings so that the audience can some how relate to the video. Both videos promote their artists, but in different ways. In the Aphex Twin videos the artist is promoted through the use of CGI of his face on the characters involved for example the girls in the limo with him in windowlicker. In reference to Gondry he promotes the artist differently by replicating them within the video for example Kylie is seen doing her everyday things more than once and in the White Striped video they are replicated when performing around the park and subway. The ways in which both directors promoted the artists in their videos may differ, however they surely do make the music video look more interesting by introducing their artist more than once. 

The reason why some artist choose to make a diverse music video is because they want to: try new things to stand out, be creative, show a true representation of themselves, create a buzz around them to increase popularity, widen audiences and attract niche audiences and become more rememberable for trying something new. However the disadvantages to making a diverse music video are: due to the oddness to the artists usual stuff, it may decrease fans because they don't like or understand the new material, it could be a risk to take as it could become a flop due to the change, existing fans may lose interest and plus it might not get as much publicity. Out of the two diverse directors (Chris Cunningham and Michael Gondry), I think that if I were to make a diverse music video, I would ask Michael Gondry to direct it for me. This is because I believe with a diverse music video made by him, it wont be too crazy and wild that the fans would lose interest because they do not understand the video. Whereas, Cunningham's work is too creative and weird that may only attract a niche audience due to its craziness. However, I dont think Im going to make a diverse music video, because with the Indie Pop genre its important you have as many conventions, so that the target audience understand the song and visuals which may be a narrative. 

Censorship - Miss Miller

For decades, music videos have faced censorship due to artist beginning to craft visual companions to their music. Censorship of music is the practice of restricting free access to musical works. This involves censoring explicit themes such as weapons, strong language or violence that could be deemed as offensive or a threat to audiences or people in power (e.g government). A prime audience that are protected by censorship are young children, so that they are not influenced to do what 'bad' or offensive activities are shown. Music videos may include nudity or drug abuse and this may be seen as too mature for the young children to see, so these are censored as well as strong language. Of com is the communication regulator in the UK. It regulates TV and radio, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services and the airwaves which wireless devices use. It has a legal duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material used in communication. An example of a music video that has been banned is Lana Del Rey's 'Born to Die' video, where we see she and "her lover" kiss, smoke marijuana and drive around in a car. Also at the end of the video, her lover carried her bloodied body from a background of flames, insinuating she died in a car crash. MTV disapproved the video simply for her violent death. The artist, Lana told a reporter that she wished she was dead because of the censorship. Indie-pop star, Lana is known for creative, story telling music videos that her target audience enjoy watching and understand her songs a lot more. However, parents may think that the music video is too explicit, due to the violent death and that children may be even scared of it. Rapper, Eminem opposes censorship and believes that children will see the explicit content no matter what and that it wont affect their behaviour as music is purely for entertainment. 

Artist
Rihanna also opposes with censorship as she disagrees that she feels she cannot express herself nor show off her personality that audiences are intrigued to see. When it comes to Rihanna's music videos, it is evident that she is not afraid to showcase the many things that could be censored for example, in the B*tch better have my money video she is seen nude but covered in blood and lots of money laying in a chest. Rihanna has expressed before in her famous music video S&M which was banned in 11 countries, her thoughts on censorship as she mocks it by wearing a boob tube printed with the word censored.

Rihanna is an artist that makes her own rules and with her music videos and censorship she argues that she can do what she wants with them as its hers and she is not afraid of judgement. When finding out about the controversy with her S&M video, Rihanna went of social network Twitter and tweeted "Are you f*cking kidding me???" showing her angriness to the censoring of her song. Also when asked by a fan whether she was okay with the situation, she said "Absolutely NOT!". She also feels that with her music videos she is 'growing up' with her audiences as she sometimes adapts to their interests or make it relatable to their life situations. 

Record Label
Rihanna belongs to the record labels: Roc Nation, Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. These labels are known to sign artists most likely in the R&B,Pop and Hip Hop genres which frankly some include the explicit themes that may be censored.  In relation to censorship, the labels argue that music videos from their artists should not be censored as its their way of expression. As Rihanna is a controversial artist, her music videos attracts a wider audience due to its individualistic, which increase her popularity and sales due to the publicity of her music videos. If music videos were to be censored, this limits the creativity for artists in their music and may even make music videos in general just look too similar, as they are restricting what is to be heard or seen in these videos. Also argue that Rihanna tells it how it is in her music videos, and some may be relatable to the audiences and shows her as not 'fake' but a true representation of herself. Furthermore, the record label feel that censorship does not do them any favours and also by not using Parental Advisory stickers on the albums, this attracts a wider audience. Finally, they argue that Rihanna is held responsible for the influence of pop as a genre of music, and these songs which are from this genre have soured in the top charts e.g Stay (Number 1 on US pop songs chart) and We found love (Number 1 on UK Dance chart). 

Parents For Censorship
In a research collected by Of com from 1000 parents, they found that there were a lot of sexual content and nudity in entertainment, especially music videos. With the explicit content used in Rihanna's songs and music videos, they argue that she is not setting a good example for children and that they're easily influenced with the content shown. As music videos expand and are available to watch on different platforms, it is evident that more younger children are witnessing these music videos, which parents believe are influencing children's behaviour. An example of an artist who's been in the spotlight for children and is seen as a 'role model' is Miley Cyrus. Miley Cyrus was involved in her own TV show which aired on Disney Channel, called Hannah Montana. The TV show is highly known and watched by young children. After, being heavily involved with Hannah Montana, Miley has become quite out-going and less child friendly which leads to children maybe being influenced to copy the things she does.

we cant stop video

Her image and behaviour have changed rapidly that she's been spoken about in the media so much for this change. For example her song 'we wont stop' was spoken about a lot in the media, as this was her debut as someone new. In the video we see sexual behaviour such as spanking, dancing sexually and kissing. Parents argue with Miley Cyrus's drastic change, this affects her original target audiences of young children more than the ones she's trying to attract now. Therefore,artist who were popular in children's entertainment and were seen as role models then, should be considerate that children may still be idolising them and watching they're every move, which may lead to copying of behaviour. In reference to Rihanna, Parents argue that the song S&M is too explicit and children have been influenced by it. For example a 10 year old boy was singing the song and got into trouble as the other children were wondering what it meant, but also singing the lyrics that they did not even understand the meaning behind.

Parents Against Censorship
Parents against censorship argue that there a far more factors that influence children's behaviour, not only music videos. With the topic of nudity in music videos, these parents argue that nudity is natural and should not be censored as children should be able to see it so that they're more comfortable in society and feel equal. In addition, they say that by Rihanna exposing her body, it is allowing feminism to be seen in society. Also, when referring to smoking and drinking in music videos, they argue that children see these actions in real life so what difference does it make when its shown on music videos. Around 158.8 million people in the world smoke weed, so if children see this in their lives why cant they simple watch it on music videos. These parents simply argue that there is no need for censoring whats already out there in real life, and that regulating music videos only hides the reality of the world which keeps children out of the loop. Rihanna's target audience are most likely to be 16 year olds and onwards, and in our country 16 year olds are legally allowed to play the lottery. So if children at 16 are allowed to gamble, why cant Rihanna who is a 27 year old woman allowed to gamble in her own music videos? Also 2% of 12 - 15 year olds who are exposed to gambling at a young age actually develop an addiction. The lowest age to go to jail is 10, and in the laws eyes children this age onwards should know whats right and wrong. So if children can go jail at 10, this shows that children are mature enough to know whats right and wrong in a music video, and what not to copy. Events like Nottingham carnival, drugs are taken and the police do not do anything about it. At this event, children do attend so are likely to be exposed by drugs. What is the difference if the child sees drugs in a music video. More or less, music videos usually show the negative sides of drugs anyways, so really they educate the children not actually encourage them to use them. Therefore, parents against censorship simply believe that censorship is useless when the law states that children are old enough to do certain things that are seen in music videos. Furthermore, Rihanna only includes these themes to promote herself and most of the time, explicit themes included are evident in real life, so there is no shame of showcasing it in her music videos, when its already out there. 

Fans 
In agreement with the parents against censorship, Fans also oppose censoring of music videos. Rihanna is a highly known celebrity that is in the public eye all the time. She currently has over 81 million likes on her Facebook page, 22million Instagram followers and over 48million followers on Twitter. These statistics show that Rihanna is highly appreciated and has a wide fan base that enjoy what she does.

Rihanna in pour it up video

They also argue that censorship is objectionable as you cannot see Rihanna's real personality, which many do what to see. The mail online said ' Pour it up ' video was "vile and pornographic" which told the readers that she is a bad influence. Fans would disagree with the mails statement about the video and argue that, the video may be explicit due to the themes of pole dancing but not 'pornographic'. In addition, the dancing seen in the video shows fans more about Rihanna as an artist, and lets them in her life style. However, not all of Rihanna's explicit music videos are just for fun, in the video for 'Love the way you lie' featuring Eminem, we see the topic domestic violence showcased in the video. This is an informative, realistic video that shows to her audiences what a domestic violence relationship looks like and how to speak out. Also Rihanna herself has experience domestic abuse in the past with her ex boyfriend, R&B singer Chris Brown in 2009. The sensitivity and bravery shown form Rihanna by showcasing this to her fans, makes her more of a role model and someone to look up to as those who have experienced what she's been through can relate with her. Overall fans of Rihanna simple think that censorship is wrong, as it restricts artists expressing themselves and also if they don't like it they don't have to watch it, so they shouldn't change it for everyone else who do enjoy the explicit themes in music videos. 

MTV (British Music Channel)
The MTV channel are for censorship, however they do allow uncensored videos to be shown on their channel after 9pm, which is called watershed. MTV argue that this schedule is fair to both audiences and artist, videos that are not censored may be censored in the day, but not at night. So older audience can watch the videos on their channel at the appropriate time. They argue that censorship is simply there to protect the children from seeing explicit themes and copying the behaviour shown. They believe as a music channel, it is their responsibility to regulate what is shown at what time, as they are aware they're audiences range from a young age upwards. The lead author of the position paper stated that children spend an average of 2 hours a day listening to music through headphones. This makes it harder for parents to hear what their child is listening to as they are not aware because they cannot hear it. MTV also prefer artists who are aware of they're audiences that may be young, to censor videos themselves. Lady Gaga and Madonna do this by having two videos released, where one is censored and the other one is not. For example Lady Gaga's song paparazzi has an explicit music video and a normal one on youtube. However some may argue that this is pointless, as technology has advanced and there are many ways to get a hold of music videos, so children are bound to see the explicit music videos anyways. But MTV still agree with censorship, as they are aware of their wide audience, and want to keep their ratings so they make their channel for everyone by having watershed, so both young audiences and older audiences are 'Happy'.

Channel AKA (British Music Channel)

Channel AKA oppose censorship, as they believe it goes against their whole purpose as a music channel. The music channel is known to showcase upcoming artists as well as the successful ones. Channel AKA believe that it is not their job to regulate what is said or seen in music videos, and that their job is to simple showcase music videos not edit them. Moreover, that they are not entitled to control ones music nor music videos, and that everyone is their own person and peoples individuality should be seen. If one does not want to watch a music video with swearing in it, then they should not watch it, but that does not mean the music channel has to censor the song just to meet the standards for one. They argue that the censoring in music videos takes away the artists freedom of speech. They believe that the songs or music videos showcase artists true intentions and messages to their fans and with the censoring it restricts them. Also Channel AKA argue that there are far more worse things going on around in the world in real life, than swearing in music videos. They argue that music videos are a way of showing the real representation of the artist and that it allows their creativity to be seen. Chris Brown's song 'These Hoes Ain't Loyal' is censored on some music channels, e.g the word Hoes is changed into girls. This change of the lyrics implies that Chris Brown is calling all girls not loyal, when really in the uncensored lyric, he is just referring to women who are 'Hoes'. Censoring confuses audiences and takes away the real meanings of artists lyrics, which is unfair as its their music and they should be allowed to say whatever they want to be understood. Therefore, Channel AKA do not agree with censorship.

BBC Radio 1 (British Radio Station)
BBC Radio 1 are for censorship due to their wide audience of all ages. BBC radio 1 presenter Nick Grimshaw refused to play Rihanna's single ' S&M '. However instead BBC Radio 1 changed the title of the song to 'Come On', this iteration of Rihanna's racy track S&M had all references to "sex," "chains" and "whips" edited out. Rihanna did not like that they made a new version of her song and took twitter to show her rage. But BBC Radio 1 continued playing the radio edit, which is called Come on, and also continued to play the original track in specialist shows with an appropriate introduction for example instead of having the lyrics " but chains and whips, excite me", we hear the words 'chains' and 'whips' censored out with a sound affect. 

Capital Xtra (British Radio Station)
When it comes to censorship, Capital Xtra are for it but uncensored songs are played at watershed. The radio station is fully aware of their audiences and how they have young audiences as well, so by having watershed they are considerate to all audiences. Capital Xtra do believe in freedom of speech, but because of their vast audience, it is important that they censor explicit languages at the appropriate times. Strong language in a song would be replaced with either silence;beeping, re-sampling, back masking and repeating. This technique is used to make sure that they have not changed the song completely as audiences probably still know what the word is, but just censored out words which they believe is harmful for younger audiences. 

From this research, the general overview is equally fair and both subjects that are either for or against censorship have some fair good points. A point that has been mentioned quite a lot for those for censorship, is that it is good because it protects children from seeing or hearing harmful things which they may copy or be influenced by. Also, a key point that those against censorship said was that it restricts the artists and takes away their freedom of speech which everyone is suppose to be entitled by. However, my personal opinion is that songs should not be censored as I believe it is down to the parent or child to control themselves and not watch or listen to music with explicit content. Also, I am against censorship because I believe music in general is a tool to be creative and express yourself, and if censored it is not really personal which defeats the purpose of making music. But I believe that if artists are aware of their younger audiences, I think when releasing an explicit video or song there should be an appropriate introduction stating what is including, so that viewers are aware of what explicit themes they are about to see or hear.When referring to censorship in my planning for music video, I do not think I will be using censorship in my music video. This is because I want my artist to be free to express themselves so that audiences can get a better understanding of the song. 

Research Into Goodwins Music Video Theory - Miss Georgiou*

Andrew Goodwin writing in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'(Routledge 1992)

Goodwin's theory states that there are 7 key aspects to a music video. It is essential to consider as it gives artists and directors a guide on how make a music video that fits well with the genre and to their target audiences. Also without applying Goodwin's Theory to a music video, people may not understand music videos, which could lead to jeopardy.

1. Music video demonstrates genre characteristics
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals 
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
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes or other music videos etc.)
7. Whether the video is primarily performance, narrative or concept based

In this post I will be applying Goodwin's theory to the music video Pretty Hurts by Beyonce, to help assist me with further knowledge about music videos. Beyonce's music is generally R&B, but she also incorporates pop, soul and funk into some of her songs. However in the song Pretty Hurts, the genre for this song is Power Pop and a Soul Ballad. 

Singing at the beauty pageant

Beyonce and other contestants 

The music video does demonstrate genre characteristics of Power Pop as we see in the screenshot, Beyonce is singing with clear strong vocals which is conventional to the genre.  Also, in pop music they're are often performance based, and we see the artist usually give a sort of performance whether its dancing,singing or playing an instrument. In this music video, it is evident as we see Beyonce performing vocally and modelling at a beauty pageant. This builds a relationship with the audience as they see the artist strongly sing
acapella and this focuses on the artist's talents, making the audience engage more with the video. Another generic convention to the pop genre, especially for female artists, is that they look glamorous and attractive to appeal their target audience and catch their attention. We see this as we see Beyonce and the other beauty pageant contestants dressed up in gowns, to compete with each other for the title. Even though, Beyonce's reason for looking 'attractive' in this video was to show the bad sides of being 'pretty', it is still shown that she is attractive. Therefore, this creates a great emphasis on the concept of the video and draws viewers attention so that they find out why it is sometimes bad to be 'pretty', building a relationship between artist and audiences as they receive more information about her. The age group that this could be reaching out to are females 15 - 28 as this range is where girls/woman are conscious with their appearance. 

Beyonce "fixing her teeth"

When referring to Goodwin's theory with the point about there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, this is seen in the pretty hurts video. From 2:20 to 2:23 the lyrics " brush your hair, fix your teeth" are parallel to what we visually see Beyonce physically doing, as she's getting ready for the contest. The purpose of this is to build a relationship between Beyonce and the audience as what she's doing are things women can relate to which links to the concept of being apart of society's standards of 'beauty'. This ables audiences to understand and sympathise with her but also share that they have similar life experiences. 

Another example of where the lyrics and visuals match is from 4:41 - 4:43 where the lyrics "Pretty Hurts" are conveyed through Beyonce's actions which are of her using one of her beauty pageant trophies to smash down the others. These lyrics show the artists emotions and mirrors not only the lyrics but also conveys the pain of how being pretty and being awarded for it is not satisfying.
In addition to this part of the song, not only do the lyrics match with the visuals but the music as well. This is through a long shot showing Beyonce smash her trophies and the non-diegetic sound speeds up, as if it was the sound of her smashing the trophies. The build up to this sound, creates an adrenaline and shock in the audience as we see her smash awards that you would think were important to her, that are clearly not. This grabs the audiences attention and makes the sympathise with her as she's not happy even though she has won all those awards. 

The demands of the record label often include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist. This is evident in the pretty hurts video, as we see many close ups Beyonce when getting ready for the contest and at the contest. 
The different close ups seen in the video help convey the narrative, as we see Beyonce in these different shots do something to make her seem more 'beautiful' but she's not enjoying it. The close ups establish her facial expressions, and these often consist of confusion, worry and tension. 

This helps build a relationship between the artist and the audience, as the close ups allows them to see the artists emotions and how she feels. Therefore, creates sympathy towards her. The fact that the artist is even showcasing this may make the audience like her more, as its a real issue that happens in todays society.

The fifth element of Goodwins music video theory is that there is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. In this music video there are many ways in which the female body is looked in voyeuristic way because the song is about beauty. For example we see Beyonce getting a spray tan and she's wearing a bikini which may look voyeuristic and viewers might find that 'sexy'. This is seen through cinematography, mid shot and long shot and this shows us what she's doing to prepare herself to look 'perfect' for the beauty pageant. The use of this links in with the concept of the music video, and gives the audience a more understanding about what the song is about.  Also, this conveys to the audience what society see's as "beautiful" which the target audience of 15-28 year old females would understand because they see it in the media that having less on is "attractive". 

There is intertextual reference in the pretty hurts video at 2:07, where we see through the use of cinematography, long shot of Beyonce standing next to a big TV. As you can see in the screenshot, the TV is not airing anything. This could link to the concept of how media and society portray whats beautiful. The fact that the theres nothing being shown on the TV, could represent how media shouldn't take control of the way women or girls see themselves. This creates a relationship between the artist and the female audience, as they feel that Beyonce is sending a good message about the reality of media and that all is not what it seems, making the audience relate to her more.

Beyonce throwing up in toilet 

The final element of Goodwin's music video theory is whether a music video is a performance, narrative or concept based video. The style of music video that Beyonce - Pretty Hurts is primarily a concept based. We do see elements of a narrative and performance based, but the whole point of the video was to showcase the concept of the massive pressure on women to have outer beauty in society. This is evident throughout the music video as we Beyonce participating in a beauty pageant, and we see the backstage footage and also the contest it self in the music video. This illustrates the concept well as we see Beyonce do many things to herself that may seem pressuring or harmful such as making herself puke, getting botox done, measuring her weight and getting a fake tan etc. These are all actions done in the video to show the pressure on women to look 'perfect' on the outside, but not be happy in the inside. This creates a relationship with the audience, as they are aware of what she's trying to showcase and the message about it, and it educates them more about the negativity side to beauty pageants. Also, the relationship between the artist and audience is built as some may relate to what she's doing in the video, as it is a real life problem that happens in society right now, especially in the age range of 15-28 which song appeals to. 

However the elements of the narrative comes along with the concept. The narrative is of Beyonce simply getting ready and participating in a beauty pageant, but at the end we see that Beyonce does not win this competition.
Finally we see the performance elements in the music video, as we see Beyonce sing for the judges, so that she could win the contest. The performance is conventional to the pop genre, as artist genuinely showcase either dancing or singing in their videos. Even though this song isn't the typical pop, it still conveys a performance through Beyonce's acapella singing, which gives the audience an insight of how she sounds without any music behind. 

Analysing Goodwin's music video theory has given me the knowledge and guidelines of whats included in a music video. With the information from the 7 elements, I will assist these information and consider using them to enable me to make a successful music video. This has helped establish what is conventional to the pop genre, but also given me a more in depth understanding of a concept based music video. When planning my own music video, I will include Goodwin's theory to help me gather what to include in my video for it to be conventional to my chosen genre. What i'm considering now, is the Indie genre, and I believe with the elements from Goodwin's Theory such as close ups of artist and a narrative based music video, this would convey the genre well and make the music video successful. 

Research Into TV Music Channels - Miss Georgiou**

The purpose of watching music videos on music TV channels is to allow viewers to see the song visually and gain an understanding of the song. However, audiences may watch music TV channels as it entertains them and keeps them intrigued into the song. Furthermore, music TV channels have charts for music videos and this could interest the audience and make them want to find out whats 'hot' in the music industry or to follow how their favourite artists are doing on these charts. Also music TV channels tend to include interviews and behind the scenes of artists music videos, which viewers may find interesting as it gives them more information about the artist. 

MTV

MTV are owned by Viacom Media Networks which is a conglomerate that operates many television channels and Internet brands, including BET, Comedy Central, Nikelodeon and Vh1. The benefits of belonging to the conglomerate Viacom, allows MTV to attract more audiences as the other channels may promote MTV on their adverts which draws new audiences in. Also due to belonging to a conglomerate, they have the abilities and financial support to create quality channels that the public is satisfied with.

The target audience for MTV music channel are 13-21 year olds. 
MTV aims to their target audience as they show the latest 'big' videos in the morning when this age range are potentially getting ready for school or work, which makes the audience caught up with what is popular. After this is the official uk download chart, which is at 9am. This is scheduled here after the big vids at breakfast, because it keeps the target audience updated with what the most downloaded videos are, which makes them want to go download the song and increase the sales for the artist. After, is the maroon 5 brand new video which is scheduled at 10:45. Maroon 5 are a well known pop rock band, so the use of MTV promoting their brand new video shows that they give pop genre music videos more priority when advertising videos, as it is their main genre that the target audience likes. 

The 5 artists that are popular on the channel are Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift , Tinie Tempah, Ellie Goulding and Wiz Khalifa. Most of these artists belong to the pop genre where this age range are most fond with. 

MTV are owned by Viacom Media Networks which is a conglomerate that operates many television channels and Internet brands, including BET, Comedy Central, Nikelodeon and Vh1. The benefits of belonging to the conglomerate Viacom, allows MTV to attract more audiences as the other channels may promote MTV on their adverts which draws new audiences in. Also due to belonging to a conglomerate, they have the abilities and financial support to create quality channels that the public is satisfied with.  

The MTV logo is a blocked M with a graffiti looking TV inside of the M which are in black and white. The representation of the graffiti like font for the TV could represent the youth and creativity within the music channel as they display many music videos from artist that share their creativity for songs. The advantages of the black and white logo is that the logo does not stand out as much but however audiences are aware of it and know what it clearly means. 

Flava

Flava is a British music television channel owned and operated by CSC Media Group. The music channel broadcasts 24 hours a day and plays music videos from the hip hop, R&B, UK garage, dub step and drum and bass music genres. The target audience for this would be under 35s as the genres have been around the time for these ages and have developed throughout the years. 


Due to the music channel showcasing various types of genres, it has many of popular faces that they show every time. For example, Hip Hop would be the mainstream artists such as Drake, Kanye West, J Cole , Rick Ross and Eminem. 


Here on the TV listing of the channel, the channel has numerous of shows that show a variety of things. First we have 'FLAVA'S Hip Hop Chart: Top 20' which appeals to the audience as they get to see what songs and music videos are rising and which ones are at the top. Moreover, Flava also have videos of the week and in the screenshot, its grime artist Devlin's brand new video '50 grand' featuring Skepta that is advertised. This benefits the fans of Devlin as they get to see the video on a TV platform and also benefits Flava as fans would come to their channel to watch it. Additionally, Flava try to make things more interesting by having vs charts where they put artists of similar genre against each other on charts for example kendrick VS A$AP VS Drake. This creates entertainment for the audience as they place videos against each other which creates excitement and fun for audiences to watch the music channel. In addition, the target audience of 16- 28 will enjoy this as they are prone to hype things that they like and stereotyped to liking conflict within the music industry. Also the battles mirror what the genres often do as they are primarily known for having battles and showdowns in they're type of genres e.g Red Bull Culture Clash London 2014. 


The FLAVA logo is of a triangle with block letters FLAVA in the middle. This appears on screen in the top left-hand corner during music videos and song information appears at the bottom of the screen at the start and end of each music video. The logo is also seen before and after advert breaks when it is shown in the middle of the screen. The logo is always advertising the channel which keeps the audience in mind that they're watching the TV channel and makes them remember its name.  

Bliss

Like Flava, Bliss is a British music television channel that is owned and operated by CSC Media Group. The channel was launched in March 2006 and has been labelled as a 'Total Chill-out Classics'. This involves the channel plating classic pop songs and music from the 70s, 80s and 90s, alongs with hours dedicated to love songs and power ballads. Everyday for three hours at 9am and 7pm, there is a weekly themed slot, such as Blissful Divas, music from female artists, or Bliss at The Movies, music from films. These themed slots change every Monday. Sometimes the channel shows newer music videos that goes along with the chill-out theme. The target audience for this channel would be for those who like old songs that are about love or ballads, so the age of 25+. 

Artists from different time periods often get played on the channel such as Mariah Carey, John Legend, Madonna, Seal, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson  and Olly Murs eg.

Here in the screenshot of the Bliss music channels schedule, we see a variety of shows that showcase different things. 20 beautiful ballads show comes on at 1pm, which is appropriate as ballads are seen as calm and collective music, and by having it placed in this time slot, it appeals to the audience as they feel they can emphasise and enjoy the music at this time. Also, the time slot is at lunch time, where the target audience who are the age of 25+ may have work and are on their break, so the show acts a relaxing time out from work. As stated before Bliss do not only show pop songs from the past and ballads, they do show a mixture of music for example in the Music Mix Up they show music from some big artists, big hits and a generally fun mix of music right now". Also there is a show where New Music, artists and sounds are played as seen in the screenshot. This widens the horizon for their target audience and allows those who are interested in current "big artists", can find them on Bliss alongside those that enjoy the chill theme. Beneficial to the music channel as they attract more audiences to come watch music videos on there. 

The logo is of the word Bliss in capital letters in a blue-silvery colour. The colour gives the feel of the chill theme and represents warmth and relaxing time. The logo is also seen before and after advert breaks when a growing flower or flying butterfly goes across the screen, revealing the Bliss logo behind it. This could also represent the relaxation of the TV channel as flowers and butterflies are seen as chill things when referring to relaxing. 

Kerrang! TV
Kerrang! TV is a music channel owned by the Box Plus Network(like Kiss TV, Heat, Magic and Smash Hits), also loosely connected to the magazine. This is beneficial as its belongs to a well known conglomerate and what is beneficial is that on the other TV channels owned by the company, they can promote each other on their different TV channels. The programme content is music videos, with the majority of which is open schedule so as to permit text requests from their playlist. The type of genres often played are mainly nu metal, pop punk/skate punk and rock.Many of the videos shown on Kerrang! TV are heavily censored to remove profanity, violence, and references to God and religion. The censorship usually takes the form of dubbing out the offending phrase or by blurring the picture. The channel is targeted at a niche audience and this is those who like the type of rock , metal and pop punk genres aged 17-24 years (Mainly male).

There are variety of shows that Kerrang TV showcase for example, Kerrang meets All Time Low! - is a show where an interviewee meets the rock stars and they share an insight to the highlights of their greatest hits. This is beneficial to audiences as they get more information of the group not only from their music but outside the music videos and as themselves. Another style of show Kerrang TV have is common for all music channels and its the ' Today's Rock Video Chart! Top 10'. This is conventional to music channels as they often show charts of the different music videos that are the most popular. Another show on the schedule shown in the screenshot is 'KerrangFreshBlood' `and this show consists of new bands and music videos that have been released. The name of the show uses the words "fresh blood" which portrays the rock genre, as its stereotyped to be aggressive and violent. This appeals to the target audience who enjoy rock, as they'll think the show sounds exciting and new to watch through the use of words "fresh blood".Also this show allows viewers to tell them what they think of these videos on twitter using the #KerrangFreshBlood which some are read on the show on TV.  

Artists that are normally played on the channel are Royal Blood, AC/DC, Don Broco, Muse and Fall Out Boy. 

The logo is of the word Kerrang! in block capitals in the colours black and white. Furthermore the logo has lines through them which could symbolise the type of instruments used primarily in the genre, especially electric guitars. This creates a shattered look which could also represent the impact of the songs and also illustrate how rock/metal is like (e.g all over the place unlike other genres). The colours used are black and white which is essential as it does not distract audiences whilst their watching the videos, but also could be seen to stand out more when there are no videos playing. Moreover, the colours could appeal to the niche audiences as rock/metal fans and artist are portrayed as 'dark' people and dark colours are conventional to the genre. 

Clubland TV

Clubland TV is a music channel that is broadcasted on Sky in the United Kingdom. The genres featured on the channel are upbeat pop (during the morning) and dance music videos and is based from the Clubland compilation albums. It is owned by All Around the World Productions which is a record label from Blackburn, United Kingdom. The label specialises in dance music and most recently R&B. Clubland TV is not only available on TV, but can be accessed through an app called TV player which is downloadable on tablets and smartphones. It even has its own app from July 2014 which is available on the Google Play store for Android devices and the App store for Apple devices where viewers can request videos to be played on the channel. This is beneficial to the audience as it gives them a wider range of ways to consume the music videos. Its sister channels are Channel AKA, Now music and Planet Pop , which is beneficial for the channel as promotion can be aired on there to attract more audiences. The target audience for this channel are from 18-34 year olds. 

Artists that are generally played on Clubland TV are Major Lazer, Tinie Tempah, Basshunter, Robin S and Duke Dumont. 

Programming

• Wake Up - Dance music to start the day.
• Am2Pm - Non-stop house/techno/eurodance.
• Clubland - A chance for viewers to request club music.
• Mania - A selection of commercial dance music.
• Classix - Classic Clubland tracks.
• Blue Zone - Brand new house sounds from Clubland

Here the show on at 6pm is the Clubland Heatwave:Ibiza Classics where the hottest holiday songs are showcased. This is conventional to the genres played e.g dance and pop as these are played in the club areas abroad and in normal clubs such as Ibiza. This appeals to the audience as it makes them want to go on holiday but also enjoy themselves whilst listening or watching the songs. Also clubland TV have their own chart show which is seen on the schedule at 10pm theres a show 'Judge jules Clubland Top 20' where the most big music videos right now are shown. The slot for the most big music videos being shown at night time which is conventional to the genre, portrays the club scene as clubs usually open at night. Therefore, the purpose of this is to make the audience feel like they're at the club in the evening as the target audience; especially 18 -34 year olds are known to enjoy the genre of music at this time or in a club. Also, the songs are upbeat in the genre and this further represents the club theme of the genre through the time slot that it is in. 

The logo for Clubland TV is of the words Clubland in capital block letters and is illustrated through the disco ball effect which is conventional to the genre as it resembles the club setting where the genres would be most likely played. This appeals to the audience as well as convey the club setting as it makes the channel look more vibrant and also portrays the fact paced music played on the music channel as they're most likely played in clubs. 


The reason why I think MTV is broken down into different channels such as hits,base,dance,rock and live is because I think they want to expand the ways in which audiences can watch they're favourite types of genres. With having different types of the channels under the name of the MTV, this shows that they are diverse and have something for everyone. Also, this could be used as a another way to promote themselves as the channels are linked with each other, meaning they're attracting more audiences into MTV as a whole. 

Also I believe music channels are important when appealing to a target audience, as the music videos displayed themselves help artists visually entertain audiences which could even give them an insight of the artists. Music channels help distribute music videos, which are nowadays a tool of promotion for artists which creates competition, which is seen through the chart shows displayed and help target audiences establish what is 'Hot' right now. Plus it is appealing to audiences as it allows them to watch music videos on a larger platform (Television) whereas youtube is primarily on the Internet and is on a smaller scale.

Also I believe there are a variety of different music channels to increase the music industry and also help different types of artists distribute their music videos fairly. It shows that theres something for every type of genre, and this appeals to many viewers as they can see they're favourite type on TV. 
What I have learnt from analysing music channels is the way in which they use this platform for example, show music videos, interviews with artists etc and also I've learnt that music channels have a massive impact for music videos as it creates competition with the audience taking control. Furthermore, I've learnt that belonging to a conglomerate it is beneficial as channels can promote each other on each others channels, which attracts more audiences. I will assist this post with my own production by considering the ways in which my music video would be like, I will consider censorship and also this post will help me choose what type of genre I will be using for my music video production.