Positives and negatives (students music videos)

Web 2.0

Web 2.0

The Web 2.0 shows the technological improvements and how they have developed over time. The Web 1.0 was the traditional methods of communications e.g. televisions, but as technology has improved and developed, the web 2.0 was introduced. This offers broader services where emails and mobile phones were introduced and overall the web 2.0 offers more of a social interaction.


The pros of Web 2.0 is the ability to connect via digital technology, it is an easy way to share information and to communicate, it is a simple way to bookmark favorite websites, you can access information 24/7 easily from a phone, you can connect to specific websites such as face book and twitter and most content is free. 


The cons of Web 2.0 is spam mail, issues of privacy as face book can share information with advertisers, people can steal your face book images and names, the authenticity of wikipedia, more personal information is stored online such as online banking. Also you have lost personal contact as you are now no longer socialising in person and the privacy of personal information is the main con.

Music video theory statements

         1.

“The relationship between the song lyrics/subject matter, musical style, genre, vocal delivery and star persona/physical presence all interact with three minutes’ worth of images” (Davies 2006: 11).

I think there should be a relationship between the song lyrics and subject of the music video, if there was no relation then the video would not fit in and could possibly be quite random, so if the lyrics and video relate it would be more relevant and understandable to the audience. The musical style, genre and vocal delivery should all fit in with the persona and physical presence of the artist. 


For example, for a rap video you would expect as a stereotype an African American, with a deep voice rapping, wearing a hoodie and a chain and not a country singer wearing cowboy boots and a check shirt to be rapping. Similarly, you would not expect a typical country singer to be an African American in a hoodie and a chain. Therefore, the physical appearance should relate to the genre and vocal delivery of the singer, continuing with the main stereotypes in society. All these factors should interact within the three minutes and the images used as the video should be of relation to the lyrics and the singers genre and style.


2.

Goodwin on Davies “video behaves like a mini-film using cinematic devices, ‘fictional’ characters and the dramatisation of a story”.

I agree to some extent that video does behave like a mini film using cinematic devices as in music videos effects and a large amount of editing are used which is the same in cinema movies. Effects are a main part of cinema films as they have to be creative and incise the audience to watch the film, similarly they are used in music videos for the purpose to show the creativity of the artist as well as to make an exciting well made music video. A music video that is based around effects is Kanye West - 'Good Life,' iconography is used throughout this video and the overall product is mainly edited by a computer. 

Some music videos do use fictional characters for a dramatic story although I do not believe this is necessary to do in all music videos. I think an artist doing so in a one off music video is acceptable as it is doing something different but not for every music video the artist creates. Keeping with the same artist, in Kanye West's music video 'Runaway' he created and directed a mini film to be used as the music video. It has a duration of 34 minutes 33 seconds and includes fictional characters with a narrative story-line. His reasoning for creating the music video is purely for creativity and trying something new which is not of the style of work he is used to, where he could be a director of his own music video because this allowed him to do exactly what he envisioned for the finished product.

Media consumption

HOW AUDIENCE CONSUME MEDIA

Audience profiles

AUDIENCE PROFILES

The target audience for the Rock music genre currently in the music industry ranges from the age of 20-45 where typically older audiences listen to rock music, but as well a large amount of younger audiences say this is their favourite genre, saying they like the films school of rock, including Jack Black.

Name: Ben

Age: 23

Occupation: Unemployed, buskin everyday from 2-4pm

Hobbies: playing guitar, hanging out with friends, listening to music and creating his own rock music on his computer at home.

Ben is typical of someone from the Rock genre of music as his interest portray his choice in music as well as the appearance he has of himself. He typically wears black leather jackets, converse shoes, jeans as well as having long blonde hair with a bandana in.

The target audience for R&B music genre in the music industry currently is the age range of 16-30 whereby R&B music can be appealing to both younger and older audiences. A large amount of R&B music is liked throughout all age groups as R&B is a main part of the genres of music we hear on a daily basis, e.g. on the radio.

Name: Andre

Age: 19

Occupation: backing dancer and vocalist

Hobbies: singing, dancing, increasing his abilities in order to make it in the R&B genre of music, fashion

Andre is typical of someone from the R&B genre of music as he is well dressed, takes pride in his appearance and his hobbies include all of the main aspects which are stereotypical of someone from the genre.

 

The target audience for the Country genre of music currently in the music industry today is the ages from 24 to 60 years of age. This is because Country music is typically more liked and appreciated by the older audience who understand the lyrics and the meaning of the song, although saying this many younger audiences like Country music, this may be from the fact they were brought up listening to the music from a child.

Name: Barry

Age: 49

Occupation: Lorry driver

Hobbies: gardening, singing, helping others.

Barry is typical of someone in the country genre of music as he is portrayed as caring and nice, no violence is shown in country music. Also his clothing is typical as he is wearing a shirt, with jeans and a cowboy hat which is stereotypical.

The target audience of the Pop genre of music is from the ages of 12-21. The age range starts quite young as when people start listening to music from a young age this is their preference of genre of music, it isn’t too extreme as rock nor too old styled as country music. The age range does increase where it is still popular within the industry although not too popular that is appealing to older people past 21 years old.

Name: Ellie

Age: 14 years old

Occupation: still in education

Hobbies: collecting posters and magazines of favorite artists, listening to music.

Ellie is typical of someone from the Pop genre as she is quite young in age as well as being quite sweet and naive.

The target audience of Rap/Hip-Hop is 16-25 years old. This is where this age starts to experiment with different genres of music they may have not been allowed to listen to before. This genre includes swearing and violent thoughts, which are not suitable for younger audiences. Rap/Hip-hop genre represents what actually happens in the real world and is very truthful about the events happening in the world today, e.g. death, drugs.

 

Name: Josh

Age: 19

Occupation: college studying musical theatre

Hobbies: making music, dance and singing

Josh is stereotypical of someone from the Rap/Hip-Hop genre as he is of a different ethnicity, which is the main stereotype. He is older and is more able to understand rap as its own genre and understand the topics covered.





















 

Music channels

MUSIC CHANNELS

MTV is an American television channel based in New York City. The purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by television personalities. In its early years MTV’s main target demographic was young adults, but in recent years MTV broadcasts are primarily targeted to teenagers and adolescents. MTV has numerous extra channels attached to MTV itself this was in order to expand what is on offer; the extra channels play a variety of different genres. The extra channels include MTV Base, MTV Dance, MTV Rocks, MTV classic and MTV music.

The purpose of MTV was to play music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But in recent years the amount of music videos MTV play has decreased where other technology was introduced which took the main way people watched music videos e.g. on youtube. This was due to MTV realizing they could make more money from non-music programming without the problem of privacy. MTV now play different programmes such as Teen Mom and Jersey Shore for a wider audience spread.

MTV appeals to a certain audience of mainly teenagers from around 16-19 more than any other age group, this is due to the TV shows it now plays which is demographically targeted towards the younger generation.


4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the UK and is available on some digital television providers in the Republic of Ireland. The channel was launched on the 15th of August 2008, which replaced The Hits. 4Music appeals to a certain audience, where the target audience for 4Music is for the age group of 16-34 year olds, this is because it shows the top chart music videos, which are the main interest of this age group. 4Music play a variety of programmes which include 4Music Top 10, Fresh Music Top 20 and Your Official Top 20, the genres played are usually R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop tracks as these are the most common genres seen in the top 40 charts, these particular genres are played as they are the most popular within the music industry. There are certain time intervals where everyday the same programmes are shown, such as at 1.30pm The UK Music Video Charts are shown, at 2.20pm Midweek Mix Up are shown and at 4.00pm the UKHot40 are shown. Similar to MTV, 4Music also plays other television programmes for a wider viewing audience, they play programmes such as Keeping up with the Kardashians, Khloe and Lamar and Peep Show.

Music video directors

MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTORS
 

Jake Nava

Jake Nava is an English music video and film director. He was born and grew up in North London. Jake Nava started out doing a film degree where whilst he was completing it he got his big break into the music industry by directing music videos and films for MTV sports. He then became a renowned director creating videos for celebrities in the music industry. Jake Nava has directed videos for Adele “Someone like you,” Kanye West “Monster,” Beyonce’s “Crazy in love” and “Single Ladies.” He has also directed videos for Britney Spears and The Rolling Stones. Jake Nava has had the opportunity to work with many other celebrities in the music industry such as Jay Z, Pink, Usher and Destiny’s Child.

Philip Andelman

Philip Andelman was born in 1977 and is a well-known American music video director. He started his career of directing by doing commercials, which began directing an advert for American Express. After two years as a cinematographer, Philip joined Partizan Entertainment as a director and for the past six years has been directing commercials and music videos for clients such as Beyonce, Rihanna, NFL, Jay Z, John Mayer, and The Jonas Brothers. He has been nominated for numerous MVPA awards including Director of the Year in 2007.

Marc Klasfeld

Marc Klasfeld is an American music video director who has also written and directed independent films and documentaries, he started his career by editing films where he developed his skills and started to create music videos for famous artists. He has now directed over a hundred music videos for many successful artists, with multiple MTV award wins and nominations.He has directed music videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Jay Z, Nelly, Foo Fighters and Aerosmith. He has also won multiple MTV awards and nominations. He is also the founder of Rockhard, which is a music video production company that also houses directors Ray Kay, Robert Hales and Ethan Lader. Rockhard has produced videos for Justin Beieber, Lady Gaga, LMFAO, Jessie J and Willow Smith. He is also a director of television commercials for Target, Nike, NFL, NBA, Reebok and Cartoon Network.