Record labels are brands or certain trademark that is used to help with the marketing of the music, albums and music videos. They often conduct the production, help manufacture, promote the artist or band and enforce copyright laws which enable the artist to benefit as much as physically possible and get all their hard earnings directly towards the company and themselves. They often have talent scouts who go out looking for unsigned, upcoming artist that they can sign up for themselves as well as maintaining contracts with existing artist with their albums and music videos.
The term 'record label' comes from the round sticker label which was placed on vinyl records, which show who the manufacturer was of that particular song.
Increasingly, recording artist have often put it upon their labels to broaden their fan base, nationally and internationally. In addition to this they also promote their material through different mediums such as radio, music channels and TV appearances. In recent times, the Internet have now been used as a tool to promote music and videos without the help of record label, reduce their costs and independently find their own audiences.
In opposition to major labels it is common to get small, local or independent label. These are often abbreviated to make the term 'indie', this was later used to describe the music that was associated with these labels.
Sometimes people can confuse labels with imprint. An imprint is when a label is associated with a brand or custom, but however is not a company. The imprint however has no business like or legal effect. sometimes rather than use the term imprint they use sub label.
For our second piece of work we decided to do Geri Halliwell - 'It's Raining Men'.
the video was considered the most successful song of Geri solo career. She gained the number one spot in the UK Singles chart at debut and stayed there for two weeks. The song is a cover of the original, sang by the weather girls, released in 1982. Geri did the cover in April 2001, as it was on the soundtrack for the hit movie Bridget Jones Diary.
The video was directed by Jim Canty and Jake - Sebastian Wynne.
The video displays clear characteristics of a POP anthem video because of several factors. Firstly, it has the big and over the top story line when there is a huge dance number which can be said to look camp. Secondly, there it a lot of costume changes in the video, all displaying her figure and tho re invent her image and create an ideology for the mass audience in the popular genre. Lastly, there is a lot of bright, loud, colours attracting the younger generation and abandoning the low dim lights of R'N'B and the darker palette of Rock.
The video references the films Flash dance, using the audience and turning at into a party/musical vibe. She later also used the film FAME with the dance scene and the last outfit, which get soaked in the rain.
The relationship between the lyrics and the video show only a slight correlation as the video take son the narrative of an audition before it goes horribly wrong before the audition has barely got started.
This has taken inspiration from Flash dance, when the lead flunks her audition at first and is given another chance. it is until she burst into song and there is the huge crowd joining in celebration when the lyrics seem to have some sort of reflection in the video. She continues to do some actions in correlation to lyrics. "Humidity's risen."
when this lyrics were been said when there was a close up pan, moving upwards as the word rising as said. this was also used to show off her new body in her debut as a solo artist as she was labelled the 'fat one' in spice girls. "For the first time in history, it's gonna start raining men."
as she says this she makes a hand rain droplets gesture then thrust her arms into the air before a musical style breaks out among her peers. "I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna let myself get absolutely soaking wet."
as she says this she touches herself in a sexually suggestive way, while intimidating being in the rain.this was another indication of the introduction to a sexier image. "Rough and Tough and Strong and Lean."
as she says this she does actions along with the visuals making hand and muscles gestures. "God bless mother nature."
as she says this she looks up the the open window and the sky, with her arms raising in unison. "Hear the thunder, don't you lose my head."
as she says this, she is transported to a thunder backdrop and she sways her head to the lyrics. "It's raining men, amen."
when she says this the crowd breaks free and comes out of the school in joyful dance. they also add touches of the back drop by making it look like new York, hence the yellow taxi.
The music and visual have a close relationship as they decide to use the tempo of the music to control the songs. Firstly, they do this by making a chorus of dancers come out and do a dance number in the chorus of the song. secondly they decide to join the narrative along with the song but the concept of raining men is not actually used. However because the song is known as a gay anthem so it was appropriate to set the video in a camp setting with lots of boys in tight clothing.
This is also when they reveal her face for the first time because they wanted to use element of surprise.
However, in the beginning they faded in the song with the old style disk player, which scratched when she fell to the ground in her first attempt. there was also diagetic sounds of her dancing in the first attempt which would allowed to play faded in the background to the intro.
in the choruses you could hear the cheers of the backing dancers, adding realism to the narrative portrayed.
within the song there was plenty of close ups and body shots of the artist. this was because of the new image that geri was trying to sell along with the new solo career. throughout the video they're was close ups of her abs, stomach, legs and bum. she also added lots of close ups of her face, showing how happy she was and how much she has changed for the better since the spice girls. in addition the camera also prvillages the judges in the beginning and how they warmed to the song and her dance moves.
the notion of looking was often used in the video to show off her new body and how much better she looked now than when she was in the spice girls and was branded 'fat'. it was used to make the assumption that guys liked her and find her attractive she also made it to look like she took her health seriously and that she was into fitness by wearing sports clothing throughout the entire video, showing her midriff constantly.
Because of this, it is her most successful song of her entire solo career, making number 1 in the UK as well as many Scandinavian countries.
As part of research, I've have looked the research of Andrew Goodwin's 'Dancing in the Distraction. It shows the forms and conventions of music videos. I feel that this will help me understand how a music video work and eventually allow me to gain enough understanding to put into my own music video.
"Firstly he says music videos are there to encourage the sales of the music track and designed to accompany it."
For example, artists would usually release the video weeks before the release of the song. This allows the video to be shown on channels, and for the public to get used to it and be interested in the track. For example, the video for 'Stan' by Eminem was made between the release date shown and when it was released this allows the consumer to get used to the song and decide whether they want to actually to buy it and gain more fans.
The difference in the release date to the original recording date gives the video time to promote the song to the public
Secondly, he talks about the relationship between the song and the video.
"There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual, illustrating, amplify or contradict."
This allows videos to showcase the lyrics and interpret them individually, depending on the artist themselves. This also allows the audience to see the artist thoughts and feelings when they were perhaps writing or recording the music.
The video 'Black or White' by Michael Jackson showcase the lyrics and the message of the song perfect by creating a montage or black and white coming together as one.
"There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals, also illustrating, amplify or contradict."
This also can allow people to see an artist feelings and the direction of there their music is going. Sometimes this can add to someones star status, making their personalities to be seen as either wild and daring or humanitarian and caring.
Thirdly, he shows how each genre has a stereotypical look.
"Particular music genres have their own music video style and iconography, such as stage performance - rock."This is so the stereotypical attributes of the genre and its history are commonly shown. It also allows the viewer to be familiar with up and coming artist who want to be recognized in a specific genre.
A pop video is usually narrative containing bright and bold backgrounds
A rock video usually is performance based contain a dark and dingy setting. there are usually a showcase of the instruments used in the song.
A rap video usually contains the performance within the narrative.
He continues to say that the "Record company has their own demand on the part to have close ups of the artist, encouraging knowledge of the artist."
"The artist may develop their own style, in and out on their own videos, which over time represents their star status."
Many artist try to generate star status to stand out among others and to generate more hype and buzz about them and later fans. Artists such as Lady Gaga and Chris Brown generate popularity by what people expect by their image and typical behaviour and visuals and their music videos.
Andrew also explains the gaze of men in music videos and the links made between different medium to cross promote.
"There is to be reference to voyeurism, particularity in treatment to women but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens)."
This is often seen as the common reference to sexuality content in a video. sometimes artists can use their sexual nature as part of their star status. E.g. Rihanna.
This is a term commonly seen in the rap/R'n'B genre by making the amount of women you can attract affect your popularity. This often feds into the ego of the artist and the respect among their peers. They also use women to show a lot of the slower ballads when trying to serenade or flatter a woman.
"There is inter textual references to other artists videos and films."
This is often used when a song is taken by a soundtrack of an up coming film and the artist is seen to promote and gain individually for themselves. For example, many soundtracks also give credit to the artist and also release it separately.
The song 'Hero' by Nickelback shows extracts from the film spiderman ;promoting both the film and the band.
In addition to this, Andrew Goodwin examines the lyrics
"To tend to help feeling, mood and subject matter rather than offering a coherent meaning."
This can also indicate a theme that may be used for the album and can be seen to continue sometimes in sequel videos. This is also an example that was used during the Black and White music video by Michael Jackson. "I'm gonna let myself get absolutely soaking wet." Geri Halliwell says this as she gets wet from the rain falling from the sky. She then break into dance along with her dancers, who have been dancing all day sense her audition.
"Key lines may play a part in the visual but rarely will a music video illustrate full on."
The ending of the video shows Geri and co dancing in the rain.
Tempo
"A music video tends to make use of the tempo of the track, driving the editing. (cuts for fast editing, whereas ballads use more cross dissolves)"
This is often to make the rhythm of the song become quicker or slower.
"May emphasize particular sounds from the track by foregrounding instruments such as the guitar, keyboard or drum solo."
This is often seen in the rock or indie genre, where live instruments and performance is important.
For example, Nickelback's song lullaby where close ups of the instruments are repeatedly shown through guitar and piano shots.
Genre
"Some but not all music channels, focus on a music genre"
This allow music lovers to gain access to their specific genre constantly, by having a channels dedicated to their favourite music.
Judging by the genre of music I listen to the channels most appropriate for me would be BET and Channel U, rather than Indie Music 411.
This collection of channels shows the variety of music of which it hosts and the colour schemes.
"A range of of distinct features may characterise a genre."
Camerawork
"As with any moving image text, how the camera is used and now images are sequenced is has a significant meaning of movement."
"It may accompany the movement of performances (walking and dancing)."
"But may be used to create a more dynamic feel to the audience."
"The close up predominates, because they want to create a sense of intimacy for the viewer, emphasises half the commodity on sale."
This close up shows an introduction to the artist, NE YO before he starts to sing.
This shows an tracking establishing shot to the start of the dance sequence, introducing their audiences to the dance number.
This screen shot shows the artist close up during the dance sequence, this is common in music video showcasing the the audience their ability in both singing and dancing.
They add in mid shot and and establishing shot with the close ups to broadcast the dance routine as well as the song.
Editing
"The most common piece of editing is fast cut montage , rending most of the image impossible to grasp on the first view to engage multiple viewing."
"Some use less cuts, such as rock videos and gentle transitions, like ballads to show mood."
The video Stan is considered one of the most successful songs of Eminem's career. The song was produced by the 45 king (DJ Mark). The 1999 video also featured British singer Dido, of whom played a role in the video as Stan's pregnant girlfriend.
The video displays clear characteristics of the genre by the following reasons. It has a protagonist lip syncing to the lyrics in time with the beat. With this it also has a narrative which would be seen as hard edge. This stereotypically shows the harsh, ghetto side often expressed in rap.
It continues by referencing the passing of his uncle when he committed suicide shortly before the lyrics were written. This shows the lyrical reflection that rappers commonly express when talking about a sensitive subject. It further allows the connotation of a rap song by showing violence full on, referring to the harsh upbringings of the protagonist within the video as well as the Eminem himself.
The relationship between the lyrics and the visual are reflective as the video simply shows a visual representation of the narrative within the lyrics themselves. In the first verse Eminem chooses to write from his protagonist 'Stan's' perspective, as a fan who is becoming slightly obsessed. this is reflected in the video by the fan dying his hair platinum blonde, similar to Eminem before sitting down to write the letter. He starts to read the letter aloud to himself as he writes this and the monologue acts as the first verse. However in the second verse the monologue is often distracted by the flashback of the events that had occurred between Eminem and the protagonist,
but were only seen through the actor eyes. the video goes on ton show the protagonist anger through level of anger in the lyrics and the violent actions towards his pregnant girlfriend. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals switch in the final verse/bridge of the song where the protagonist becomes Eminem himself.
"Dear Stan, I meant to write to you sooner"
He appears in the video to write to his fan when he pieces together that this is they victim on the news, who has just taken his life and killed another.
In the first verse:
"If I have a daughter, guess what I'm a call her? I'll name her bonnie"
This was after his song bonnie and Clyde that he released on the slim shady LP. the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals were enhanced by the background knowledge of Eminem, this allows the audience to gain realism in the protagonist as he should know his previous months.
"I read about your uncle Ronnie too, I'm sorry, I had a friend who killed himself over some bitch who didn't want him." This showed the desparate attempt to relate to his idol, by using his hard times similar to himself. When these lyrics were said in the video, stanley was facing towards the TV, as if he were engaging in a conversation with Eminem right then and there.
"Truly yours, your biggest fan, this is Stan." At the end of the verse he signs off his letter, corrosponding exactly with the lyrics. the lyrics are can also be seen as ironic as at the end he does what only the ultimate fans have done;become a matyr to the artist. as he says this, he slams the pen down and stares deeply into the TV image. "He wants to be just like you man, he likes you more than I do." In the second verse, stanley talks about hes little brother and how he loved eminem more than he did. the visuals showed a flashback when him and his brother was shown enjoying his concert. this is reflected in the end when the younger brother is seen looking over stan's grave, with his hair dyed blonde. This makes a reference to the beginning of the video when stan had dyed his own hair.
"Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds, It's like adrenaline, it's a sudden rush for me." this was illistrated by showing dripping blood on a newspaper, where he had cut himself. Eminem later says how he was worried about him doing this as he was only joking when he said this in previous songs.
"Dear Mister, I'm too good to call or write my fans."
in this quote he talks aggressively towards the picture hanging in his car of the artist, directly addressing him about his apparent flaws. the lyrics suggest that he cant even bring himself to say his name because he is completely let down.
However, the relationship between the music and visuals are not obviously considered as the video concentrates on the narrative between the two protagonists. The video doesn't cut to the beat but in the introduction into the first verse where they're faded cuts to beat the soft drum and Sybille. They use the storm to separate the different verses. There are no solo instrumentals of any of the instruments but there few cuts of close up to Dido lip syncing to the chorus.
However, the chorus was displayed in a way in which it sounded like it was playing on the radio, adding to the realism of the narrative and to add to the pessimistic atmosphere of the video. This was often faded in and out by the sound, introducing the verse.
Non diagetic sounds such as the rain drops and the thunder and the melancholic feeling of the music. The thunder can also represent the anger expressed by Stan and the progression of his anger towards his pregnant girlfriend and Eminem.
In the last verse, when Eminem is writing back, there is diagetic sounds such as the trailer moving, the personal assistants talking and the TV blaring in the background. This is to add realism and to cleverly combine the two stories when Eminem uses the sounds of the TV story to piece together that Stanley was the fan and the person who had committed suicide.
Throughout the song note sounds from the pen can be heard to give the viewer the feeling of the passion when Stan is writing as to when eminen speed of writing was slower and less tense.
There is also a pattern between the verses of the song and the aggressive tone. In the beginning of the song there is a much softer tone than when the cuts are quicker, the diagetic sounds are mush harsher and louder towards the end of the song.
Because of the strong narrative through the entire song it was hard to see many physical close ups of the artist throughout the song, however in the ending verse there are nothing but close ups on the artist while there are few establishing shots, keeping with the theme.
On the other hand, there are many inter textual examples of close ups, shown through the use of Eminem poster and pictures and that displayed through the whole song. this shows that even though they are trying to follow the storyline there are constant reminders of Eminem to promote him as an artist.
In addition, even though the camera privileges Stan, because of his constant battle to be as similar to him as possible, also helping to remind the audiences of the artist without him even being there.
Because of this, it has led to the name Stan used as a slang term for an over obsessed fan who has pushed the artist too far. Other artists within the industry such as Ludacris and 50 Cent have used this term in their own music, gaining Eminem more respect and influence in the hip hop industry. Swizz beats has even made a Stan 2, which he passed on to eminem only for him to turn it down, however swizz beats still used it within his own album the same year.
The notion of looking has not been used for sexual references, but to indicate Stan's behaviour spilling out of control.
The first time that it is used was when he was in the crowd and the notion was used to show Stan's view of his idol but Eminem's quick gaze over the crowd in comparison.
The second time was when Stan writing a letter to Stan in the second verse and he waves back to the TV when footage of eminem is shown, showing his slow sink into obsession and his slow lost of his own self control and madness.
This is a typical advert for a music video in the photo scene era.
The Music Videos
Music videos started from musicals originally using the live performance and the theatrical side as an artistic expression along with the artists music.
In the early 1900's when video began it was mainly black and white and consisted of nothing but lip syncing and synchronizing with the music. This was known as the 'phonoscene era'.
In 1926 the arrival of short films entered with the introduction of 'Talkies'. This consisted with more of a art deco theme with the artist singing along side it. It mainly had a cinematic feel and made the viewers feel like the music was presented to the public as more than just music.
Musical theater influence was strong in these times as they introduced sing along to get the audience engaged. this technique is still used today with younger audience, for example Disney Original films. The first musical films often included the popular music of the time such as jazz and blues, this inspiration later music videos to take a concept form these films or to emulate them.
For example, Micheal Jackson created his groundbreaking music video to 'Thriller' by making a short horror film intertwined with the song. He also used the musical fight structure in this video as well as his later video 'Bad'.
Musical films of the current era also was a major backbone for music videos, with many music video directors taking inspiration from the films themselves. Madonna herself used musicals such as 'Diamonds are a girls best friend' to make the video material girl.
Visual innovation was introduced in the 1960s, it often referred to as a visual jukebox used to accompany their music. The movement was originated from France when a number of french arts decided to add this their music videos such as Surg Gainsbourg. Similar machines such as the Cine box and Color Sonic were made in the USA later on.
In 1961, Canadian artist Manny Pittison began prerecording the music and fining different locations to film the music videos, lip syncing along. He later edited them all together as one piece, introducing the need for different locations to be used during a music video to add variety.
An example of this would be Jan&Dean's 'Surf City', shot on location to catch the party vibe of the beach.
In 1964, mock documentaries were introduced to be used as music video inspiration by The Beatles.
they decided to use this for their video 'A Hard Day's Night'.
They later decided by the label to make small trailer like clips for the music videos around the globe like 'Help', 'Ticket to ride' and 'I feel fine'. These were even showcased on Top of the Pops.
By this time, other bands such as the bryds had decided to use this type of promotion strategy.
The time of the 80s, saw The birth of music video shows and later channels. Australian TV started airing programmes such as Countdown and sounds, showcasing music to a wide spread public in 1974.
In Britain, Top of the Pops was introduced in the 1970s but didn't showcase music videos commonly from artists or from music videos across the globe until the mid 80s.
New Zealand had created a music programme called Radio with picture on TV 2 in 1976.
but in 1981, the USA launched it's first music channel, MTV. MTV
This was the cover of the first song played on \MTV. It was called
video killed the radio star by the buggles. This was later seen as ironic
as visuals were about to completely over shadow radio to a niche.
It was the door for artist all over America and the globe to become international star because of it's wide spread viewing. Artists such as Duran Duran and Madonna benefited greatly as their popularity grew as well as their exposure to the world.
In 1983, the most successful and influential music video was released, Micheal Jackson's 'Thriller'. The video was nearly 14 minutes long and was presented as a mini movie. This set the standard for video production such as the dancers, narrative and cost ( the music video cost half a million US$). Along with this song and his earlier hits such as 'Billie Jean' and 'Don't stop till you get enough' he made way for African Americans who wanted their music to be played on the same channels as the white. In 1984, MTV launched the MTV Video Music Awards;later known as VMA's.
In 1988, MTV decided to bring Hip Hop to mass audience using the TV show Yo! MTV Raps.
In the early 1990's, directors of videos, along with the songwriter and artists received credit at the beginning and the end of the video. this made directors to gain their name through public image and iconic symbols. Directors such as Hype Williams, Michel Gondry, Mark Romanek and Spike Jonze.
Romanek shot two of the most expensive music videos of all time; Madonna's bedtime story which cost $5million and the most expensive video of all time Michael and Janet Jackson's Scream which cost $7 million to produce.
The internet has now taken over, helping to produce stars through homemade videos in their own right. 2005 was the year YouTube was launched ; a video sharing website which allows the mass public to gain access to videos from both singed and unsigned artists. the band OK Go and artist such as Soulja boy and weezer.
In 2009, 30 seconds to mars published their music video to 'kings and queens' on the same day it was been released onto video sharing site, YouTube it was viewed up to more than 100 million views. along with the 40 million views it got from my space it became one of the most watched videos on iTunes.
In 2010, lady gaga's bad romance became the most video on the internet, gaining 130 million views on YouTube alone and later on in the year the video had 430 million views all together. this video was later beaten by Justin Bieber's baby which got 660 million views on YouTube.
Sometimes the content of an artists can be seen as offensives and content would be blocked through censorship what can be considered offensive can often differ to different countries depending on its culture and customs, common religion and ethics. Sometimes the label will provide an edited version or a censored version, however it is known that there are examples of video which were banned it its entirety for it content.
The first video to be banned by MTV was Queen's Body Language for homoerotic undertones and suggestive mature. However some were angered as Olivia newton-john's hit physical was given the all clear.
The birth of video sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo allowed users to asses videos on the go and nearly everywhere. it also allowed users themselves to create videos such as sing-a-long, lyric and fan made official videos Vimeo will be the site that I would host my video on when it is completed.
The video sharing sites had now led to sites which allowed users to download
straight from the internet what tracks they wanted without hassle. However, this
led to sites such as lime-wire seen to allow users to download illegally without
paying for music. This led to copyright rules becoming stricter and wide spread.
