Genre Conventions in Music Videos- Pop

Narrative-based Music Videos

Narrative based music videos are very popular for pop artists. This may just involve actors, however usually stars the artist or band. This allows them to show off their talents other than singing, while also puts the focus on the artist. This is very important for pop artists as their image is a big part of their brand. While for many other genres the music is the most important factor, pop artists mostly appeal to listeners with only casual interest in music. This means that they are also very interested in the artist’s personality and appearance. Furthermore the target audience of pop artists usually involves much younger listeners who want people to look up to. They can sometimes be short movies up to ten minutes long, even though the song may only last four minutes. In this case the narrative will usually be established before the song starts, and then concluded after.

 

An example of this is Katy Perry in the video for Last Friday Night (TGIF). In this video Perry stars as a nerdy teen, who ends up going to a party, having a make-over and partying wildly. The story shows us that the video is aimed at young people. Most will relate to the excitement of the party, and Kathy’s physical and emotional feelings at the end. They will also want to go to a party like the one in the video which is much larger than most house parties. Also younger children will see the video and be excited about growing up so that they can party like Katy Perry. Furthermore, the cast of the video includes Rebecca Black, Hanson and Darren Criss and Kevin McHale from the T.V. show Glee. All of these people have target audiences of young teenagers and preteens. Despite this Corey Feldman and Debbie Gibson play Kathy’s parents. As former teen idols, they will be recognised by parents of the children/teenagers watching the video. This introduces an alternative audience to Perry’s music.

Taylor Swift also uses a narrative-based video for her song Mine, which is clearly targeted at an audience of young girls. Unlike Perry, Swift’s video is only as long as the song, however it presents a narrative set over many years. The theme of romance appeals to young girls as the sweet, cheesy story is stereotypically what the majority of girls aspire to have. Flashbacks to Swift’s childhood give the audience an insight into Swift’s life. As a country/pop artist, Swift’s fans are very interested in her as a person, as well as an artist. Swift appeals to this fan base by revealing that her parents got divorced. Some of her audience will be able to relate to this, and so may feel especially connected to this video.

While her target audience is generally older than Swift and Perry, Gwen Stefani also shows the same pop conventions in her Cool music video. Stefani stars in her narrative-based music video about a couple who, years after their relationships ends, and still friends. The use of match cuts add a sense of falseness to the lyrics- they show that the two are still thinking back to their time together. However I think the ambiguity of the video perfectly express the complexity of their feelings towards each other. Stefani’s video appeals to an older audience than Last Friday Night and Mine as instead of presenting teenage fantasies, it shows a much more realistic story. Furthermore Stefani’s listeners may have been in similar situations, and so may relate to her.  

 

Dance Routines

Well-choreographed music videos are very typical of pop music, and have been for decades. From the Michael Jackson in the 80s, Britney Spears in the noughties to Little Mix now, dance routines can make songs instantly popular. Simple routines like Thriller can make songs infamous, while others allow fans to learn the routine. Thriller was also one of the first music videos shot like a short film. The dance routine is known by people young and old around the world, and has kept the song's popularity strong 30 years later.

For Spears, the …Baby One More Time dance routine is not as well-known as Thriller, however it is instantly recognisable. Furthermore the majority of her audience was young girls, and so the video appealed to them as they could copy the choreography. The majority of the moves are simple and exaggerated, making them easy to copy and learn. It really is the sort of dance you can imagine girls dancing around their room with their friends- which is exactly the kind of thing they would want to be doing. Additionally the schoolgirl costume was perfect for the video as most of Spears’ listeners would have school uniform, and therefore be able to recreate the video themselves. The iconic video helped establish Spears as an artist.

Little Mix’s Move video is solely performance based unlike Thriller and …Baby One More Time. Without a dance routine the video would have been extremely plain and simple. The majority of the band’s fans are the same audience that Spears was targeting ten years prior. This shows the change in culture in that decade- Spears was criticised for showing her midriff, as this was seen by some to be setting a bad example to her young fans. In Move the girls wear less clothing yet have to receive as noteworthy reproach. This could be seen as a positive or negative change, however it mostly shows that artists not only have to think about their target audience, but also the current culture.