Music Video Analysis Ellen Brooking

Mind map. Representation- Music videos are used to try and represent the artist and the genre in which the music video fits. The use of a music video is to create a video that connects to the audience and creates an image that transcends the ideals and themes that the artist wants to show the audience. Video’s often feature ideals and political views of the artist which allows an extended view into the artists life. The use of political and religious views are most commonly found within the rock genre as a lot of the songs are based around current sociological and cultural issues whereas within a rap video the main feature within the video may be women, parties and wealth. However this is a field that has changed over time as initially the videos were heavily centered around the representation of ethnic minorities within society such as in 2Pac’s Changes video. Promotion- Promotion can be produced in a variety of ways such as creating a controversial music video as well as featuring a highly successful act in a video or a song with an artist that is not necessarily known. This also links with the idea of producers strategies that would place two artists from the same record label together to form a conversion of artists. Creating a controversial video may attract media attention helping with free publicity and media attraction. CD/DVD Sales- Music videos may create an interest around a particular artist which then leads the public and the audience to search the artist online which could result in the purchase of current or older albums as well as DVD’s that they may be featuring the artist. This is a prime example of how synergy can help in the promotion of an artist and their music. Cross Platform Synergy- Cross platform synergy is becoming more and more common within the music industry as artists cross over from music to film. This convergence allows artists to feature scene’s from their own films as well as films in which they feature on the soundtrack allowing two separate media texts to benefit from a single product.

Bibliography http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nay31hvEvrY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w211KOQ5BMI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIhgVhTmrks