RESEARCH: GOODWIN'S THEORY

RESEARCH:  GOODWIN’S THEORY

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin’s theory identifies the generic conventions of the popular sub-culture and mainstream music videos. He stated that most of modern videos hold similarities within them to appeal to a mass audience. Goodwin’s theory applies to most mainstream music videos, and some niche ones due to the diversity of today’s music videos, therefore there are exceptions to the rule. To support his theory, Andrew has also identified eight key characteristics that feature in most mainstream music videos, which are the following:

·         Genre Characteristics

·         Relationship between the Lyrics and Visuals

·         Relationship between Music and the Visuals

·         Star Image

·         Notion of Looking

·         Intertextuality

·         Performance/Narrative/ Concept based

·         Technical Elements

Genre Characteristics:

Each genre of music follows different codes and conventions to appeal to the appropriate target audience. This is because of audience expectations and the different features that make up particular genres. Goodwin states that mainstream music videos utilize specific genre characteristics to attract their audiences.

·         Rock Genre: Often associates with low key lighting and dark settings to reflect the chaotic genre. Additionally, conventional rock music videos include artist performance and glamorization of instruments rather than the artist, unlike the pop genre. The Foo Fighters’ ‘Something from Nothing’ follows genre conventions as the video takes place in a dark and gloomy setting and the video is pure performance with close ups of instruments.

·         Pop Genre: Conventional pop music videos will involve the artist and place them as the focus of the video. They will play as an attraction to the viewer and try to sell their song through their good looks as conventionally pop artist are young and attractive. ‘Shake It Off’ by Taylor Swift places her at the centre stage most of the time to emphasize her importance and show off her looks and clothing, which is what attracts pop fans.

·         Hip Hop Genre: Most hip hop videos will glamourize the rich lifestyle. This involves promoting money, cars and sex to appeal to their audience. Many hip hop artist will surround themselves with rich iconography to glamourize themselves and attract the audience. Jason’s Derulo ‘Get Ugly’ is a conventional song from the Hip Hop genre. He wears original clothing and gold jewelry to promote his wealth and is surrounded by attractive females. Both of these are conventions of hip hop and therefore will appeal to a mass audience.

Relationship between the Lyrics and the Visuals:

Most music videos try to emphasize their lyrics through complimentary videos to truly convey the message and help the viewer understand both lyrics and the story or moral behind them. Goodwin believes that mainstream music videos compliment their lyrics with visuals in order to give the audience a clear understanding of their interpretation, therefore allowing to express themselves.

Imagine Dragons ‘Demons’

The lyrics describe how our ‘inner demons’ hide within us, unavailable for others to see. The music video compliments this by showing average and regular people who inside actually struggle with issues and problems of their own. This includes memories that taunt them. This sensitive video compliments the emotional lyrics and together help to convey an important moral and message to the audience. This shows that, as a mainstream band, Imagine Dragons have followed Goodwin’s theory by complimenting lyrics with the visuals.

Katy Perry ‘Roar’

The lyrics of the song, especially the chorus, describe a jungle/ forest where wildness is common and animals are natural part of the environment. The music video compliments this by showing the main singer surrounded by green leaves and trees, portraying the setting of a jungle, just like in the lyrics. This wild setting compliments the lyrics about wildlife and animals and helps the audience to understand how the artist is feeling and possibly trying to portray a hidden message.  This shows that Katy has utilized Goodwin’s theory because, as a mainstream artist, she compliments lyrics with visuals.

Relationship between the Music and the Visuals

Many artist’s make sure that in their videos the music corresponds with the visuals. The relationship between the music and the visuals means that the rhythm of the song compliments the edits. This is important because if the music contrasts the visuals it can confuse and irritate the audience, therefore the artist could lose his/hers fan base. Goodwin stated that most modern mainstream music videos have this characteristic in common to help the audience relax during the viewing.

Rihanna ‘We Found Love’

The music and the rhythm of the song is generally upbeat, vibrant and energetic. To match that, the editing compliments the music, with the fast paced cuts used consistently as the tempo grows, and vice versa, when the music is less upbeat and more stabilised, the editing is calmer and fluent. This doesn’t disorientate the audience and therefore allows to relax and fully enjoy the viewing without confusion. This shows that Rihanna is a great example to support Goodwin’s theory because, as a mainstream artist, her music videos categorise into popular culture and are likely to have these eight characteristics.

Star Image

In modern music videos the artists try to glamourize themselves to attract a mainstream audience. They become commodities who help in selling of the product and set an example to their audiences, either through their actions or looks.  The star plays as an attraction of the video. This becomes a significant part of a campaign, especially in today’s popular culture, as more artists use themselves to attract wider audiences rather than focusing on the music making. Goodwin stated that many mainstream music videos try to place their star as the focus of their product and try to promote themselves too.

Miley Cyrus ‘Wrecking Ball’

The video opens with a close up of the artist face, straight away placing the focus on her and making her the ‘star’ of the video. This close up glamourizes her, making sure the audience is paying attention to her attributes. This is popular within the mainstream music videos as artists try to glamourize themselves and stand out from other artists. Wrecking Ball supports Goodwin’s theory as the video provides star image and clear focus on the artist.

Notion of Looking

Due to the constant competition in the music industry, artists try to gain audiences through causing controversy which places them in the public eye. This often includes explicit objectification of women to attract audiences and effectively sell their albums. Goodwin stated that modern mainstream music videos utilize the notion of looking in their videos to glamourize themselves, especially when it comes to male artist who tent to surround themselves with females.

Robin Thicke ‘Blurred Lines’

The music video is predominantly a performance of fully clothed Thicke and other artists who are surrounded by women, some of which are naked. In addition the females are sexually provocative and seem to tease the men for their pleasure/ entertainment. This objectification is common in most of today’s mainstream music videos as it helps most male artist feel in power and therefore glamourize them to some extend.  ‘Blurred Lines’ supports Goodwin’s theory due to the explicit notion of looking and the representation of females.

Intertextuality

Modern music videos often try to include a hidden message to engage the audience. Sometimes they make intertextual references to famous movie scenes or historical events to create a deeper meaning to their videos.  Goodwin believed that most of mainstream music videos utilize intertextuality to enhance their products and add to their narrative/ ideas or draw unique styles and therefore compete with other artists.

Lady Gaga ‘Telephone’

The music video references the popular Quentin Tarantino’s films ‘Kill Bill Vol: 1’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. Lady Gaga and Beyoncé take on the roles of the two female characters, Gaga being Uma Thurman and driving ‘Pussy Wagon’ like Thurman. There are certain cinematography techniques that clearly correspond with the film. For example the close up when Gaga and Beyoncé interlock hands, just like in the film. This supports Goodwin’s theory of intertextuality as Lady Gaga, being a mainstream artist, references another mainstream and popular film in her video to gain mass audience and create a unique and an epic narrative in her video.  

Videos which are Narrative/Performance/ Concept based

Goodwin believes that modern music videos can be based on these three features. However sometimes they interfere and artist utilize more than one to create original videos.

Narrative

The video is demonstrating a clear plot with a clear start, middle and end. Artist often use narratives to portray an important message or place a meaning to their song. However, many steer away from that idea as it is harder to  create or maintain a relationship with the audience and therefore are likely to lose some viewers as they place importance on the narrative rather themselves. That is why established artists are more likely to use narratives. Ed Sheeran’s ‘Give me Love’ video is narrative based, telling a story of a young girl. There is a clear state of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium and a captivating plot. There is no performance although Ed briefly features in the video. This shows that he tried to convey a message rather than glamourize himself. As an established artist with own loyal fan base he is able to do so and will not lose viewers.  

Performance

The video is heavily based around the artist and them performing the song. This is a good method to establish yourself as an artist as well as build or maintain a relationship with the audience as you get to ‘connect’ and ‘present’ yourself to them and your music.  It is evident that performance based videos are also more common across different genres. Pop and Rap often use performances in their videos to glamourize themselves and sell an image to the audience. On the other hand Rock or Alternative genre often utilize performances to create simple videos and allow the audience to focus on the music instead of the performers themselves.  Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ video is a full performance of the band, conventional of the genre. It allows to build the connection with audience but at the same time doesn’t distract the viewer form the lyrics and its meaning.

Concept                 

Concept videos have no real structure but are more surrealist and experimental. They can portray number of images that have no real correlation and can involve obscure editing techniques that stand out from the generic codes and conventions. They can often leave the viewer to question, however on the other hand can be very individualistic and allow the audience to explore the meaning for themselves and therefore the artist appeals to a wider target audience who could potentially identify with some parts of the video. It is usually only established artists who utilize concept videos and they are often indie performers who are not afraid to challenge their audience. Coldplay’s ‘Up and Up’ is a concept based video as the images are surrealist and less ordinary. All of them make a montage of images that don’t really connect yet some could identify with different events presented on screen. As an established band Coldplay were able to still appeal to their audience and suit their demand knowing their original and indie music style is suitable for such video.

Technical

Today’s music videos are enhanced by the technological advancement and therefore artists try to utilize more complex technical aspects in their videos. They can use CGI or Green Screens and edit original imagery. They also use more complex Mise En Scene to attract appropriate target audience and create unique videos which can help them appeal to a wider audience. Goodwin stated that mainstream music videos try to create presentable music videos using technology.  

Coldplay ‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’

The video is shot in slight jump cuts throughout creating a rough and unnatural look yet it is unique and stands out from other videos. It also includes continuous shots with lyrics painted on the walls making the whole video lively and entertaining. The lightning and colour creates a positive vibe and compliments the upbeat tone of the video. This supports Goodwin’s theory as Coldplay, being a mainstream artist, utilizes appropriate microelements and technology to enhance their music videos and therefore appeal to a wider audience.

Applying Goodwin’s Theory:

Will Smith ‘Miami’

Imagine Dragons ‘Radioactive’

From my thorough research into different music videos and from applying Goodwin’s theory it is evident that his notion can be used in most mainstream music videos, although not all videos will include all eight characteristics. However, both ‘Miami’ and ‘Radioactive’ have included most of the characteristics. It is evident that most mainstream music videos are likely to include genre characteristics as it is vital to provide the audience with a sense of genre, so they can identify the different kinds of music and pick their favorite one. It will also help them to navigate through the different kinds of music videos and categorise music. However intertextuality can be less common in music videos as not all will utilize it since it takes more thought to make it work effectively and not all artist have the budget to do that, similarly to the notion of looking, as not all genres utilize nudity to attract audiences.

Opinions on Goodwin’s Theory

Although Goodwin’s theory seems to be effective and applies well to the music industry there can be conflicting emotions towards it. It has both positive and negative aspects which can be discussed.

Positives:

·         It is easy to understand and apply to music videos because the characteristics are simple and obvious to analyse.

·         The theory can be useful when trying to gain a thorough understanding of the video you are looking at, since you are able to break it down into sections and look at each one.

·         The theory is recent therefore it is likely to apply to modern music videos which is helpful as the music industry is under constant change and development.

Negatives:

·         The theory only applies to mainstream videos and popular culture. Goodwin only focused on the music that appeals to the majority which therefore eliminates videos with niche appeal or music that has a slightly different target audience. This makes it hard to analyse other genres and in general neglects other types of music.

·         The theory is very simple, almost stating the obvious. This therefore leaves the audience to question whether it is valid enough to credit Goodwin for the notion.

·         The theory doesn’t elaborate on what happens when the theory doesn’t apply to the music video and how to classify those which can question the credibility of the notion.

I think that, despite the negatives, Goodwin’s theory is reliable and valid as it has an accurate perception of modern mainstream music videos and identifies key characteristics. These allow anyone to identify various music videos and therefore get a thorough understanding of today’s music industry.

Conclusion

In conclusion, from my research into Goodwin’s Theory I have realized that his notion is valid in the music industry and has fair points about mainstream music videos. From learning the key characteristic and applying them to various music videos I have developed my understanding about the mainstream music videos which can benefit me if I decide to create a products that will appeal to a mass audience. For example the genre characteristics are particularly important to help convey the type of music and attract the appropriate audience. In my final product I would like to use intertextual references, because they allow to create videos with further meaning and can intrigue the audience by giving them more to explore. I also like the idea of concept music videos because they’re different and surrealist which allows for individualistic interpretation and more people would be able to identify with my work.