Andrew Goodwin Key Features of Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin in Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) has identified the following features of music videos:

- Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band). 

E.g. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Escape the Fate  

This video is a typical example of the metal genre, illustrating close ups of the band playing their instruments and the lead singer, all of which are on stage.

E.g. New Kids on the Block, Little Mix


This video is a typical example of the boy/girl band genre due to their synchronised dancing and similar dress code.

- There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).

E.g.

The visuals in the video match the lyrics Daniel Powter is singing.


The music here is contradicting to the video as the tender loving lyrics are a complete contrast to the harsh message portrayed in the video.

- The demands of the records label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). E.g. Katy Perry and Michael Jackson (to be analysed in seperate blogs).
E.g.

Michael Jackson's iconic motif of his glove has become symbollic of his music videos.

There's also the symbol of the silver coin which appeared in a couple of his videos.




- There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, ect ...) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. Like Laura Mulvey,'s theory, the camera's gaze is the male gaze.

E.g.


Close ups of certain parts of the female anatomy, girls dressed in revealing clothing, provocative dancing.

- There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programs, other music videos, ect ...)

E.g.