Gender Representations in Music Videos

In pairs we looked at a gender representation of our choice, and Odelia and I chose to look at the representation of powerful yet innocent women who focus on their voice more than their image when selling their product.


Very few female artists (especially in the pop genre) don't use their body to sell their music, but we found artists such as Adele, Leona Lewis and Kelly Clarkson who's music is more about female independence and in their videos they are normally quite covered up compared to someone like Kesha.

In this music video, Kelly Clarkson is the powerful one within the relationship, throwing the guys stuff out of the window, and not letting him get away with anything. It's rare to see the female in the dominant position in music videos and so this makes the video even more interesting. Even though the song is about how her life would suck without him, she doesn't act pathetic and weak in the video, rather the opposite, choosing to take matters into her own hands. In general, within pop music videos, the female goes along with the male character but in this video Kelly Clarkson's character drives the video's narrative and at one point she even hits the boyfriend with a map, and even though it's a tiny, inconsequential act of violence, this is not normally shown in music videos.

Adele is an artist who is known for being quite sophisticated and 'classy' and this is shown in her music video for 'Rolling in the Deep'. The song mentions 'we could have had it all' and is clearly referencing a previous relationship, but instead of having a man in the video playing the boyfriend, the video focuses on the cinematography element and keeps it simple. She wears a black dress which isn't revealing, and there is no choreography for the artist. She is well respected for staying out of trouble and being composed and she is a role model to a lot of women who don't fit a stereotype.

Leona Lewis is know primarily for her voice (as well as being on the X Factor) and so in her music videos she is quite reserved in showing off her body or using it to sell the song/video. She relies on pure talent which is her voice and so in her videos she is normally quite covered up and is not necessarily seen as 'sexy' but as more of a nice, kind person who is more family-friendly. In her videos she often portrays a powerful, independent woman, and this is showcased particularly well in her 'Better In Time' music video. She first appears in plain clothes and little/no make-up and presents a very natural image, rather than the made up persona most pop artists go for. As the video is black and white throughout some of it, it also adds to the simplicity and means the video relies on her voice rather than flashy effects or dancing.

Both Ke$ha and The Pretty Reckless are examples of the complete opposite from the other artists we looked at. In their videos they wear revealing clothing and the main feature of their videos are their bodies. They present a very sexual image and this contributes to why their music sells. This doesn't present a good role-model for young girls who aspire to be like artists in the pop industry, especially Taylor Momsen in The Pretty Reckless who is only 17. It is artists like these who make it harder for artists who aren't comfortable with selling their body as they have to have far more talent to compete.

Reflections on Website Research

After discussing the website in class we came up with the five key areas of marketing;

• Advertising
• Merchandising
• Social Media
• Endorsement
• Publicity, Promo, Events

Advertising:

Whether it's in a magazine, on the TV, or online, it is crucial to have advertising for a debut artist so that they start to become widely recognised even before their product is released. This is above the line marketing as the record company have to pay other people to get this done. With One Direction they were already well known through their appearance on Primetime TV programme The X Factor. This meant they already had a fanbase as millions of people had followed their story, watching as the boys were put together, moving from 5 solo artists to a 5 member boyband. The boys were carefully chosen for the band by the X Factor Production Company and SyCo (Simon Cowell's record label which the winner of the show has a record deal with) and they deliberately exploited the differences in both ethnicity and age within the boys.

Merchandising:

This is also an 'above the line' form of marketing as the company has to pay to produce the products they're going to sell. On One Direction's website there is a shop with a wide range of merchandise available, directly targeted at their core audience, 7-14 year old girls. Children have a certain thing called ‘pester power’ and so One Direction’s marketing campaign was cleverly organised so that they would bring in lots of money as the parents would be willing to buy their daughter a ‘I Love One Direction’ T-shirt because of their safe and innocent image that’s been portrayed on the X Factor. Young kids and mums like to watch X Factor and so witnessed One Directions journey and so trust them as a family-friendly band. It is through the exploitation of this trust that the record company makes its money. As a young girl it’s all about making consumption choices, which can be defined by the four Uses & Gratifications categories:

·         Social

·         Personal

·         Educational

·         Entertainment

There’s the big decision over who your favourite band member is and often they pick the one most like themselves. You feel like because you decided you like that particular band member most, you now ‘own’ them in some way and that they are yours. This is also why they produce merchandise for each individual band member rather than for the whole group as then the audience can buy the bag with their favourite band member on it. The record company had the choice of making the band all look the same, or make them individual characters, and by making them individuals they managed to increase their profits. Although this is normally with young audiences, One Direction are still popular with slightly older audiences such as 25-35 year olds who see them as their guilty pleasure.

Social Media:

This is one of the most important ways in which One Direction was marketed. Through the use of Web 2.0 they created a viral campaign, by utilising social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook which allow fans to interact with the band  themselves, seeing new photos and information about their everyday lives. The website has lots of competitions for the fans to get involved in which include voting, or submitting something of your own. One of the biggest competitions they’ve done is ‘Bring 1D To Me’ in which other countries had to build up ‘air miles’ and if that country managed to click enough times to get those air miles then One Direction would visit their country. In the end 1D visited Holland, Sweden and Italy, but as Germany didn’t manage to get enough votes, they lost out. This was a clever way for the record company to work out who their secondary audience was, and see where else they have a fanbase.

Endorsement:

Endorsement is the most mutually beneficial and advantageous form of marketing. It creates a symbiosis between company and artist, or even artist and artist. One Direction are linked with Nintendo (Pokémon) and Nokia, featuring in TV adverts and appearing at events for the company’s new product. There is endorsement between different artists, and in One Directions case it is often via Twitter. Artists such as Olly Murs follow One Direction on Twitter and although it is probably someone from the record company who tweets for him, a tweet to One Direction means that Olly’s fans perhaps will listen to their music because the artists are friends. The band may also be sponsored by companies in order to promote both at the same time.

In this advert the boys talk about why they like Pokemon, which means a lot of their fans may then go out and buy the game as it seems cool. This is also a great opportunity for Nintendo to widen their market, as One Directions target audience are a) girls and b) between 7-16 and both these categories often aren't particuarly interested in video games. It also means slightly older boys will want to buy their product as well because One Direction may be considered idols to them, or they might think that if One Direction play it and are cool, they might also be cool by playing it.

Also for Nokia, they made videos of 'Find The Phone' in which the boys pass round the phone and then you have to guess which member then has it at the end. This is a great way to promote both the band and phone as both are very popular brands, meaning it's mutually beneficial. Not only is the game interactive but it allows the audience a chance to meet the band if they are able to get 2 or more of the rounds correct. This incentive means more people will play the game and will then find out about the phone.

Publicity, Promo & Events:

One Direction have been doing lots of signings and appearances lately in order to get publicity for their singles coming out. They appeared on Alan Carr Chatty Man, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and This Morning. By going on a show such as Alan Carr they widen their market and exposure as the show has an older target audience who may not normally watch One Directions interviews, and by appearing on such a popular morning programme they have a large audience watching them. We discussed the role of a PR person in controlling the public image of the band, and to make sure no stories of their past get out and ruin their career. They also might do free concerts in order to increase their popularity and to get people who weren’t fans before on board. There are also launch parties which industry moguls and other artists are invited to, so that photos are released to the press of other famous people arriving at the event or having a good time inside. This is also a form of endorsement as one artist is promoting another; synergy. If there is a story which presents a band member in a negative light, the PR team might offer the press who have the story, an exclusive interview or photoshoot with the band in exchange for keeping the other story quiet, and this helps keep the bands brand consistent which is a key thing in marketing a debut artist.

Whilst MARKETING a DEBUT artist you must:

• Have a 360 degree marketing campaign
• Be consistent throughout the five key areas of marketing
• Release product - get a single and music video out there for the audience to consume
• Have a website! - The website is the heart of the marketing campaign as it has everything the audience needs for uses & gratifications and is both informative and interactive.

Website Research: One Direction

One Directions website is a great thing to research because they are just starting out as a band. They've just released their debut single, and as we are going to create a website for a debut artist, this is a great way to learn about how to market and promote our own artist. In particular I'm going to look at the ways the audience is able to interact with the band and purchasing opportunities through the website.

The first thing you see before going through to the actual website is their new music video for 'What Makes You Beautiful'. This is a great way to promote the single and it's video as the audience will most likely click and listen. There are also links below the video, showing people where they can buy the song/video.

Interactive Opportunities:

• Twitter, Facebook and YouTube links
• A 'Latest News' section where you can read up to date news as well as reading previous entries from the past year.
• Videos are everywhere on the site; actual music videos, interviews, behind the scenes etc.
• Fan of the week
• A competition to design One Directions Twitter background
• Tour Diaries for individual band members
• Opportunities to comment on different pages around the website
• A newsletter which anyone can sign up to
• Fan Art galleries which people can submit their art to via Facebook
• Galleries for each band member so the audience can just look at photos of their favourite
• An Air-Miles competition – way to build up a fanbase in other countries and identify other markets.
• Link to SyCo website
• View their tour dates and the locations of each one

At the bottom of every page, they have the Facebook, Twitter and YouTube links, and the first two show the amount of fans the band has on each. By having them on every page it's making it almost unavoidable for the audience to not click on one of them which is effective marketing.

There is also a live twitter feed on the side of the website showing what One Direction is up to, which will be popular amongst the younger generations (their target audience) who have come to expect constant live information, rather than having to wait for something to be shown on television etc. and the proliferation of Web 2.0 and social media has enabled this.

As the fans are able to sign up for the One Direction newsletter they feel like they are getting special access to the band as they get news before everyone else. They get information on the tour, signings and appearances amongst many other things making the fan feel close to the band. Also there are galleries. some for the whole band, some for each member, and some for fan artwork. This interactivity is greatly appealing to young girls who have time to spend making things for the band. There is also a 'latest photo's' bar on the side which allows the fans to keep up to date with the band.

There are video playlists, updates on the singles placing in the charts and commenting facilities which all work together to make it interesting for the fans. It makes them want to check the site to see if anyone has replied to their comment, see if there's a new video or if the single has changed position. It is these draws which helps make the site and band so successful.

The competitions allow the audience to feel like they are involved in the bands lives, and encourage them to actively participate rather than just watching and listening to the band. It increases publicity and as fans are writing about the competitions on Facebook and Twitter or just simply talking about it to others. This is made even easier by the fact that the target audience are very prominent in terms of social media users so the news is spread quickly around.

Purchasing Opportunities:

• Gift Prints - a photo of One Direction with their printed signatures on it
• The CD - only the single so far which you can buy in three different places online; I-Tunes, HMV and Play.com
• There is a shop on the website where you can buy merchandise such as clothes, mugs, jewellery, books, bags etc.
• Tour tickets - they recently made an announcement about their 2012 tours, which are available to buy soon
• The music video; although you can't buy it directly off the website, fans are able to buy the video off of I-Tunes.

The website has a shop, which has a significant amount of merchandise on it. There's a wide range of items as they are trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, as they could buy whichever product fits their lifestyle. The prices are fairly affordable which would be popular amongst parents who are forced to buy the merchandise for their children.

As well as allowing you to buy group 'personalised prints' there is also the option of buying one just with your favourite band member on it. This is playing on the fact that most girls have a favourite and so will probably only want a poster/t-shirt/print with that member on. By making the band members seem more individual, it was easier for the audience to pick their favourite and it is also a great way to increase profits.

By putting all these interactive and purchase opportunities in one place, it makes sure the fans constantly visit the site so that they can know everything about the band. It is really clever marketing as the site is always updated and has a lot of videos for the fans to watch, letting them see inside the bands lives. The interactive elements of the site make it really interesting and makes sure that the audience won't get bored whilst on the site.

Intertextuality & Postmodernism; Lady Gaga - Telephone

I decided to look at the use of intertextuality in Lady Gaga's music video; Telephone. Lady Gaga is known for including many intertextual references in her miusic videos and is es one of the key influential figures in cultural society today. Her videos often have little sense to them, and are hard for the audience to understand the reasoning, but this is also one of the reasons she's so popular as no one knows what to expect next. This particular music video is over 9 minutes long and is very much narrative based.

In this particular video, she and director Jonas Akerlund were directly inspired by Tarantino’s pop-art aesthetic and this is reflected through the strong colours and cartoon feel. It's shown right at the beginning where the video has opening titles reading 'Streamline Presents, Telephone, Starring Lady Gaga and Beyonce, and Tyrese Gibson' even before we see Lady Gaga herself. This sequence appears to be similar to a film or television episode opening, which suggests a blurring of the line between reality or truth, and hints that this video will be more than the average one.

The pop art style of the video, fits with Lady Gaga's pop image as a brand. There is also the use of subtitling and other text on screen which isn't a convention within most music videos, identifying Lady Gaga as unique and willing to push boundaries. The video alternates between Japanese and comic book-style subtitles, channelling Roy Lichenstein and Andy Warhol. She was inspired by Warhol's exploration of mass consumer culture and advertising , so Gaga and Akerlund challenged the gender stereotype of the "perfect housewife" portrayed heavily in 1950s pop culture, using Wonder Bread and Miracle Whip (like Warhols 'Campbell Soup' can).The art element is strong in the music video, and throughout the parts where there is no singing, the editing seems to follow the rules of continuity which also breaks the conventions of music video. 

The video is a follow on from Lady Gaga's previous music video 'Paparazzi' where she gets arrested for killing her boyfriend. This shows a strong sense of identity, and a building of a narrative as she continues the theme throughout more than one video. It builds her up as a character which adds to her appeal.

Towards the end of the video, there are intertextual references to a news station where there is a report on Gaga & Beyonce being on the run. There is also a radio announcement in the video. The video is very American with shots of diners, motel rooms and outfits with the American flag on. Her outfit is very Wonder Woman-esque (a DC Comics superheroine who was created in the early '40s and was regarded as the model of the feminist movement) suggesting Lady Gaga is the modern-day Wonder Woman. The wonder woman theme is also continued through  the chained clothes she wears in the prison sequence, because Wonder Woman is often depicted as being chained by male villains and having to break free of their power and control. Also by having Beyonce (who is a major US popstar) feature in the video and feature on the song as well, she is creating a synergy between the two artists and therefore her market is widened as Beyonce's fans will want to watch the video/buy the song as well.

TV News Station:

American Motifs:

The influence from Tarantino also came into the video through the prescence of the 'Pussy Wagon' from 'Kill Bill'.  Lady Gaga is a controversial artist, and by putting the car into her video she is likening herself to the character from 'Kill Bill' who is trying to get revenge on those who wronged her, suggesting Gaga is doing the same within the video. Also, whilst in the car Beyonce feeds Gaga a Honey Bun (a Pulp Fiction reference, which also fits with Beyonces's "Honey B" nickname in the video). As the women drive off there is also a similarity to Thelma and Louise. The video has a strong sense of feminism as she is trying to break the stereotypes of women in the pop music/music video industry today. In the prison it is women who are restraining her, and in the dance sequences she is surrounded by men, subverting the 'norm' and defying expectations of the representation of women in today's society. In this way Lady Gaga is idolised and admired for her strength and independence.

Album Cover Analysis

I have chosen to look at Plain White T's - Every Second Counts for my album cover analysis. Although I do own the album, I am not a particularly massive fan of their music anymore, but I wanted to analyse this cover anyway because I find it really interesting and unique. 

IMAGE

• The front cover is a collage of the band members layered over some doodles & drawings, and because the shots of the band are all separate ones put together (unlike a typical boyband shot of them all together) it suggests the band members are all individuals rather than being 'clones' of one another.
• The brown background appears to be like paper, although in a more vintage style, and this adds to effect of the doodle drawings and as the style is very arty the drawings on the front, back & inside which create a continuous theme throughout
• The images all look a little bit rough and messy, but it makes the drawings look more realistic and edgy as the white edging of the band photo's make them seem like an actualy collage rather than being neatly cut out which would look fake
• The main image is black and white which adds more effect to the rest of the cover, but also makes the band stand out as they are different to the rest of the imagery surrounding them - it also makes it look more retro style
• The photos are obviously posed but the band is wearing casual, yet stylish clothing which makes you think that they don't take themselves too seriously
• The font is blue which juxtaposes to the rest of the cover which uses quite mild, neutral colours
• The band is central on the cover, as is the track list on the back of the album which places importance on both band and songs.

TEXT

• The text is in block form for both the band title, and the track listing on the back and they are all in capitals
• Underneath the band name is a more script like font which contrasts with the bold band name above it. As the album title is quite small, and below the band name it suggests that perhaps there is more beneath the surface in their music, and with them as a band.
• The block writing is easy to read, and even though on the back cover there is a lot of artwork surrounding the text, the track list is separated by a rough outline which still fits with the theme
• The font on the back is the same as the font used for the band name on the cover which sticks with the style of the album

FUNCTIONS

• Front: To promote the artist, to make them look good and make them appealing to their audience. It is entirely about the band as there is no extra information on the front to distract you from them.
• Back: The back is far more insitutional information, such as the record label, website and barcode and it is to let the audience know of any more detail they want to know other than the obvious. The track list is also useful to let people know what songs are on the album and what type of music the songs will be.
• Inside sleeve: To give a further insight into the band through photographs and also has the lyrics so that the fans can learn the words and sing along.

(disc & back cover)

POTENTIAL TARGET AUDIENCE

• I think their target audience is quite wide from this cover. The drawings make it more indie and cool, but then adults may also be attracted to the unique retro style of the cover. The drawings make the cover more commercial than the band would normally be considered, but their natural niche is shown through the types of casual photos on the cover and inside.
• It's their fourth album, so by this point they probably already had a fanbase which means they don't need to promote themselves as 'perfect' so much as an artist who puts emphasis on their beauty to sell records. Their imperfections is what attracts their audience, as fans of the indie/pop genre don't always buy into the 'perfect' representation of artists.

Research: Album Covers

1. What are the typical features that an album cover has?

• Name of artist/band
• Name of album
• All have images on the front - could be photograph of artist, or drawing/illustration.
• Track listing on the back
• Record labels name, copyright info
• Synergy - logo's, consistent with previous albums
• The newer albums have websites listed
• Consistency throughout (front, back, inside)
• Front sells the artist, back sells the album

2. How would you categorise the covers in front of you?

• By the type of image on the front - cartoon or photograph
• Literal interpretation of album title vs. abstract interpretation of title
• Decade it was created in - the older covers were more likely to include the singer or band whereas a lot of the newer covers just have illustrations
• Type of artist they are - if they are quite an alternative, indie band they may choose to have a drawing as their front cover, whereas female pop singers who are aspirational to young girls are far more likely to have a picture of themselves on the cover, to sell themselves as a brand
• Debut album vs. established artist - if the band has already created an identity for themselves, they have more freedom in their album covers and are able to use art which doesn't necessarily include them.

After discussing in class we came up with more definitive categories which were:

• Insitution
• Genre
• Audience
• Gender
• Fanbase
• Era
• Place in career - age as a band
• Soundtrack/Compilation etc.

3. What do you think the different functions/purposes of album covers?

• To create an artist identity and a brand identity so that the audience can recognise the artist from the cover
• To show the style and type of artist they are - to signify their genre
• To give the audience a visual image of the music - e.g. a dark, mysterious cover would suggest that the music would also be quite dark and eerie.
• To make the artist seem as idealistic as possible - you want the artist to look good (if they are on the cover) so that people buy it because they want to like said artist
• To be eye catching so that even if you didn't know the artist you may still stop and look at the cover in a shop/online
• To appeal to the artists target audience - e.g. pop artists need bright colours and child friendly, easily recognisible iconography that teens or younger would be likely to be attracted to
• To let the buyer/audience know what songs are on the album and the industry details involved in the making of the album

Debut Albums:

• Should have the artist on the cover
• Be quite simple in style
• Have the name of the artist on the cover
• Be bold and strong

This will be useful when designing and producing our own covers for our debut album.

Initial Track Selection/Video Ideas

After our first meeting as a group (consisting of Sam, Alex, Narishma and myself) we decided on two different ideas to develop, Kasabian - Fast Fuse, and Craig David - Signed Sealed Delivered. We talked over our ideas and these seemed to be the best fitting to our group.

The first is a song by the Indie-Rock band Kasabian. For this idea, we thought about having a dual narrative, with a performance in a studio, and then the main singer perhaps walking or running along a street. The performance would have to be aggressive, as the lyrics repeatedly mention 'just a city to abuse' and to pull the song off, a strong performance from the main singer would be crucial. We also thought about the video being black and white to fit with the genre and to make the performance more powerful and striking. I also thought perhaps of having inter-cutting shots of things being smashed to add to the element of 'abuse' without taking it too far.

For Signed, Sealed, Delivered we had a contrasting idea, with the singer looking more retro and mo-town, although presented in a modern way. We were thinking of the guy being dressed in a sharp suit, with iconic motifs such as an old-fashioned radio, microphone and setting. The song is really upbeat and happy, and so the idea was to have a guy following a girl down a road (or in a studio) and she ignores him as he tries different tactics to get her attention. The idea is very light hearted and fun to signify the music. We were also thinking about having group shots of people celebrating in the streets but there would obviously then be practicality issues with reliability etc.

After talking to our teacher we evaluated the negatives of each idea and whether or not we'll be able to make it work successfully:

Fast Fuse;

Although there are good changes in music tempo allowing us to vary our editing and the performance could be really effective if we amplify everything to make it bold and impacting,

The negatives are:

• The video will greatly rely on a strong performance
• The genre has already been used before by quite a few groups
• How will we be able to widen the audience/change the audience from Kasabian's existing target audience to make our band different? How will we make our band unique?

Signed, Sealed, Delivered;

This idea would be easier to make our own, as we are taking old and making it new meaning there are less artists to be similar to and it brings something new and fresh to the market.

The negatives are:

• It will be difficult to find someone to play the male singer as he has a distinctive voice and most people wouldn't look right lip-syncing to this song
• As the song is so happy, it almost requires a lot of people to be involved which would cause many issues when shooting
• The music doesn't have enough change - it's all very one pace and one style rather than changing throughout which makes editing harder and potentially could make it more boring.

In the end we decided to go forward with the Kasabian song as we feel it is more workable, but first we have to come up with a viable image to market them with as there is the worry of making them too similar to the artists already in the industry.