Conventions of Music Videos

Genre Characteristics
Depending on the genre of the music, depends on what typical conventions there are in their music videos. Typically in rock music videos there tends to be lots of guitars, drums and other instruments shown in the videos to connote the genre of music. This tells the viewer what type of music it is without having to listen to listen to the song. In Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit, the music video shows typical instruments for the rock genre telling the viewer that this is a rock video.

Also the use of different colours helps to distinguish the genre of music. For rock music, orange and reds are used to connote the mood of music. Red can connote aggression therefore being appropriate for some rock videos. In The White Stripes - 'Seven Nation Army', the video also shows lots of instruments to connote the genre of music, but also uses the colour red on t-shirts, the guitars and the drum kit to connote the mood and feeling of the music. The light in the music video flickers when the main part of the song starts to play.

In the music video Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do, there are lots of pop genre characteristics. Firstly pop videos typically show the stars lip-syncing throughout most of the video Taylor Swifts video is a prime example of this as she is shown throughout all of the video lip-syncing to the whole song. Also there is alot of dance within the video, which is also a typical convention of the pop genre.

Voyeurism
Lots of music videos have voyeuristic scenes in them. Usually pop and hip hop videos have at least a few scenes of females bodies to connote the genre of music. Also the lyrics can talk about women as objects, therefore the music video will then show this, to fit with the lyrics. They often contain male gaze in the video to show women as an object instead of a person. In Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry, there is lots of voyeuristic scenes in the video so it has a relationship with the lyrics. Even the artist of the song is labelled as an object due to her and all the other women being in swimsuits. This shot in particular shows that all of the women are in swimsuits but the men are fully clothed. This portrays women in this video as objects for male pleasure.

Demands of the record label
The record label demand certain things from a music video as they usually fund the whole project. As a music video is an advertisement for the song, they demand certain things to help sell the song. In Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do, it has the artist throughout the whole video to sell the song. This is because people recognise the artist in the video and then base their judgement whether they like that song or not. The artist of the song can have a massive impact on whether someone likes the song, so showing the artist throughout the video can help the viewer make this decision.

The screenshots also show promotion of the artist. The first shot shows a massive T, to suggest and stand for Taylor the artist of the song. This is to symbolise the artist making it clear who it is. The second shot shows people with shirts with I love TS, this can be understood by the viewer as Taylor Swift, therefore promoting her once again. Earlier in the music video, There are a few more symbols of her throughout the video.


Relationship between visuals + lyrics
Lots of narrative videos have a strong relationship between the visuals and lyrics. Typically pop videos have more of this than other genres due to the lyrics being the most important in the song. In Halsey - Colours, the song talks about the person in the video as he lives his life. The artist is shown in the video to fit with the genre and to fit with the narrative.

Relationship between visuals + music
Lots of music videos have a relationship between the music and the visuals on screen. Typically the rock genre have more of this than pop. This is due to the song and music being as important as the lyrics, if not more. In Foo Fighters - The Pretender, the background explodes as the music becomes much more upbeat. The explosion is synced with the music as it 'blows up' as well.

Iconography
Typically hip hop videos contain alot of iconography, this is due to them wanting to show their wealth and power. In 50 Cent - Just A Lil Bit, there are alot of icons within the video. As shown in this first shot (left) the video, it shows their wealth with the artist arriving from a private jet and tree women surrounding him. The plane shows his wealth and the women are shown as objects therefore the viewer can assume that they are 'owned' by him, making him look much more powerful and important. This next shot (right) shows him in a private villa, this again shows wealth. He is also dressed with lots of jewellery, which obviously is more evidence that he is wealthy but wearing a crucifix necklace is another icon suggesting that he is religious. He has got other watches and rings to show his wealth and power.

Intertextuality
Lots of videos have intertextual references in them, this is usually to promote either themselves or other media texts. In Pitbull & J Balvin - Hey Ma ft Camila Cabello, it promote the film Fast and Furious 8, due to the song being made for the film. It has lots of scenes and actors from the film. This helps to promote the film if people have not seen it.

Also if people have fond the song due to the film, they can relate to the music video as they have seen the film. This help to sell the film or the music, depending on how the viewer got to the video. This also reminds people to go watch the film if they want to see it and have not seen it already.