Goodwin - Theories of the music video: Blog 5PW

Andrew Goodwin is known for his theory of the content in and how to analyse an R&B and grime music video. He developed 6 main points within his theory that helped him outline the different features within a music video. These are;

1. Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics e.g. stage performance for a metal band, or a dance routine for a girl/boy band.

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

3. The demands of the record label will include the needs of lots of close ups on the artist and artists may develop motifs that occur across their work (a visual style)

4. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens and telescopes etc.) and there is often a voyeuristic representation of the female body

5. There is often intertextual references (films, television, other music videos etc.)


1. Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics





When placing these two tracks from different genres of music next to each other, there are distinct differences seen within their music videos. Nirvana - Smells like Teen Spirit has a clear contrast in its Music video characteristics to JLS - Beat Again, this ultimately comes down to difference in genre of the two tracks, but the content of the music video shows what is common in each style of music and what one can normally expect to see in a metal band video and what you would expect from a pop music boy band video.

Assessing the lighting, set up and location of each music video, it is clear to see that Nirvana as the metal band has a dark and promiscuous/abstract setting with low level lighting which provides a dirty and an uninviting vibe. This corresponds with the sound and harshness of the music and the image of the group itself. In contrary, JLS uses studio based lighting which is bright and creates an open vibe to the video which is accompanied by a dance routine from the group throughout the video. This supports Goodman's idea of genre characteristics where these two tracks from different genres have conformed to features that would normally be seen within a music video of that genre.

2. Relationship between lyrics and visuals

This is mostly met within a narrative based music video. It shows that the music videos' themes are relevant to the lyrics of the song and this allows the music video to take you on a journey. A good example of this is Justin Timberlake - "What goes around comes back around."



3. The needs of the record label will require lots of close ups on the artists face

This is a tool to show off the artist to the audience and depict the beauty and elegance of all of the artists. This can also be useful for the artist and record label to create motifs within their work that will help them create a performance persona and allow the audience to identify them from this feature.



4. Frequent reference to the notion of looking

This relates to both the audience and artist where in the music video the audience are forced to identify with different images and depictions of the artists. Essentially they can see screens within screens such as a phone or a television. A good example of this is Eminem without me;





5. There is often intertextual references

When the music industry joins with the film industry to cultivate synergy there are often intertextual references. The music video includes segments from the film and in kind, offers an intertextual reference to the whole film. This is effective as it allows the audience to identify and understand the intertextual reference and enjoy the music and pattern match the music with the song.