Andrew Goodwin Music Theory

Andrew Goodwin's theory was that music videos ignore a common narrative and they are used as an advertisement tool instead for the artist and the song itself.  He believes that the consumers and listeners of the song make up their own meaning and message so that they can deeply relate to it.

Goodwin's theory involved 6 conventions:

1.  Relationship between the lyrics and visuals.  
Goodwin believes the visuals either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
Beyonce's music video of 'If I were a boy' illustrates the lyrics, as she acts like a stereotypical boy for a day and it is the boy that gets hurt instead of the girl.



2.  Thought beats: see the sound.  The visuals are edited in time with the lyrics.
Calvin Harris's video of 'Bounce'.  When the word bounce is said, at the same time the ball is bounced and this edit makes the video very effective and memorable.



3.  The Star Image- This very important in music videos because by creating star image it can increase the audience's awareness of the artist and can therefore show a development of the artist over time. This is completed through lots of close up shots of the artist or main vocalist, this occurs quite often in pop videos, particularly in female pop artist videos as it sexualizes them to create the male gaze. A music video that shows this well is Beyonce's video 'Hold Up' which went with 'Lemonade'. This is because nearly all of the shot are of her or a close up of her and her actions. Also they have her in a bright yellow outfit therefore making her stand out, making her the star:

 

4. Voyeurism- These use of close up shots, particularly in female videos, links to this convention. This is because Goodwin found that many female videos use voyeuristic angles to entice the male audience, therefore sexualizing the artist and this influences their (star) image that is remembered. Artists that create this sexual view of themselves within their star image include Rihanna, Brittany Spears and now Miley Cyrus. As mentioned before this is incorporated a lot into Miley Cyrus' videos and especially became known for this after 'We Can't Stop' with her infamous twerking:

   

5.  Inter-textual References: It is not unusual to recognise the visuals or lyrics from other types of media text. This could either be for humour or media convergence and synergy. An example of this is with The Writing's on the Wall and Spectre so parts of the film are included in the music video. With some of the shots being in the same setting as the film. They use the most iconic settings in the film for the music video to make sure that the audience definitely makes the connection between the two. This is 'The Writing's on the Wall' music video to show this:



 6. Narrative and Performance with Iconography-  Goodwin believe that you should avoid common narrative as their role is to advertise rather than tell a story. The base of the video can be influenced by the genre so a rock band artist is more likely to be performance based and portray across the idea of a concert/ gig. Also in order to make the performance in the video convince the audience, lip-syncing along with other actions should be completed. However, some artists create a trademark action which makes their videos and music recognizable due to the reoccurring nature of it. This creates a marketing strategy which will be remembered for years to come. For example with Amy Winehouse, she had a trademark action through the iconography of her look with the big beehive hair and thick, winged eyeliner that she is still remembered for even after her death. This look is shown throughout nearly all of her music videos, but is particularly prominent in 'Back to Black':