Conventions of Music Videos

I used 'Dancing in the Distraction factory' by Andrew Goodwin as a source for my research of forms and conventions of music videos. Music videos primary uses are to accompany the music and also encourage the sales of the single. He provides an in depth account of televised music and popular culture in the late 20th century.

It also suggests that often in music videos there is a relationship between the lyrics or music and what you can see on screen. This is known as visual illustration when the video amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.  A good example of this is from the Eminem video for 'Stan' which I analysed in my research, where it is evident throughout.

bellow you can see a part of the Eminem music video for Stan which i have cut out from the original. you can hear the character saying 'I'm driving 90 down the freeway'. And we can see him in the car speeding down the road. which is a good example of the visuals linking in with the lyrics. 

Bon Jovi 'Living on a Prayer'

Also Particular genres and artists often have their own style of music Videos. For example in a heavy rock track there would be a lot of cuts and often be a performance video, a good example of this is Bon Jovi, they are a rock band and to the side you can see a shot from the video for the song Living on a prayer, it shows the band preforming to a audience and there is not much organisation instead just goes with the music, quite chaotic, which is very common in rock videos. Compare this to a ballad such as Adeles Rolling in the deep in which the video would be slow and calm you can see in the shot bellow she is sitting in a chair singing which shows it is not chaotic. and often narrative, demanding lots of close up's of main artist or vocalist. this is evident in alot of Adel  


Adele 'Rolling in the Deep'

The Killers 'Human"

The Killers 'Bones'

Particular artists usually have there own style of video for example the killers music videos are all similar in as far as you can always see the whole band singing in a open space such as desert, city, field and are also usually quite random with the lyrics baring little similarity to the visuals. you can see above shots from two Killers songs Human and Bones. each is set in the desert with the band preforming as if in a gig. This helps create an image for a product, in this case the product is the band.  When you watch a music video being able to relate it to the artist straight away makes it easier for the viewer to get into it.


 Lady Gaga has also developed her own, iconic image. she is often seen in outrageous and controversial outfits like you can see bellow wearing a dress made entirely of meat. With her videos often being very strange and wild she has created a very reconisable image and has captured peoples imagination. her videos along with he fashion statement are the most important aspects to her image as this is what people can visualise.

Intertextual references of music videos, films or TV help to create general feeling/mood rather than offer a coherent meaning. Key lines may play a part in the visuals but very rarely will a music video simply illustrate the lyrics.
A music video tends to make use of the tempo, the tempo of the take drives the editing and may emphasise particular sounds from the track by for-grounding instruments such as a guitar, keyboard or drum solo, when there is a solo you expect to see the instrument.

I looked at Geri Halliwells 'Its Raining Men' and she used he Video to rejuvenated her Carrier after the spice girls split up and as she had be questioned on her wait decided to fill it with sexual references, and this was brilliant at showing off her body.

In many music videos the lyrics establish a general feeling or mood rather than offer a meaning, and quite often only key lines play a part in the visuals. Usually the main relation between the music and visuals is the beat and tempo and the cut transitions relate to the beat.

Not all but most music channels concentrate on playing one type of music video. This could be down to the mise en scene, theme, performance, camera and editing styles. as with any moving text the way in which the camera is used to sequence the images has a significant impact on the meaning. close ups create intensity for the viewer. and therefor focuses on the commodity on sale, the artist.   

The most common form of editing is fast cuts montage rendering most of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing therefor insuring multiple views. However some videos use slow pace and gentle shot transitions to create a calm mood for songs such as ballads.


Madonna was probably the main artist behind the music sex symbols, and her videos were the main type of media she used to portray her sexuality. this idea has now become increasingly popular with most female artists using it, people such as 'Cheryl Cole', 'Christina Aguilera' and 'Rihanna' using this to great effect.