Research - History of Music Videos

Music videos have changed drastically over the past 50 years. Modern music videos portray different themes compared to music videos from 1960’s to the 1980’s. Traditional videos had basic editing, simple shots and a clear star image with no narrative, just performance. This is seen as very basic compared to today’s music videos.

This is a timeline I made with all the key dates from 1929, going through the modern era (which was in the 1950’s to the mid 1980’s when Michael Jacksons ‘thriller’ came about and shocked audiences with the terrifying imagery and narrative to the song, which was never seen before), all the way to the era we are currently in called the ‘Golden Era’. I believe that the first music video was from the Beatles between 1950 – 1960. However, others believe that Queen made the first music video in 1975, but that wasn’t their intention.

How have music videos changed over time?

First of all, music videos have changed over time due to the attraction of audiences, genres in the music industry forming with new artists, purposes in music and their videos and ‘a voice’. Audiences have changed what they are interested in watching over the years, for example, a lot of imagery such as sexual contact, nudity and violence would be censored in music videos in the 1970’s onwards. But, as soon as the golden era came about, less imagery was censored and more audiences became used to the explicit imagery. More genres formed as more artists came about with their own unique style, for example, Michael Jackson is called the ‘King of Pop’ as he brought the Pop genre to the music industry with his unique style of music. Loads of artists/bands looked up to Michael Jackson so they created similar music which could categorized next to his style of music. As music videos became more popular through the internet and music channels, artists started coming up with music videos which were narrative and concept based, to make audiences more interested and engaged into the video.  Technology has helped music videos change and progress over time massively, due to technology itself improving in quality. Editing has become a lot more creative with the impress software’s that are used by music video editors.

Why is it important to know about the history of music videos?

It’s important to know the history of music videos because as a student, it helps me to understand the development of music videos and how performance, concept and narrative has come about. Another reason for the history of music videos being important is that there was a debate about who made the first music video, so my judgement of this has helped me understand more of what actually is considered as a music video by following the 8 points from Goodwin’s theory.

Who made the first music video and why?

The Beatles made the first music video called 'A Hard Days Night' because their music video meets all the conventions in Goodwins theory and was released for the purpose of being a music video. This proves that the first music video is this music video because of the purpose and conventions which reach all the expectations of the creation of a music video and the release of a music video.

Research - Diverse Music Videos

What are diverse music videos?

Diverse music videos are unique music videos which are concept-based like no other, attract niche audiences and don’t represent many genres as its own unique style is very unique and confusing. The majority of diverse music videos don’t even make sense to audiences, but still give off an interesting effect and make the audience think about the concept.

Chris Cunningham.

This Director for diverse music videos has very weird/unique ideas in his videos. He’s worked with big artists like Bjork and created music videos which cost millions to make.

His music video that he created with Bjork was about a robot who is building up itself with machines and then finds her lover and then they make love. The main focus is on Bjork, making the star image visible for the audience, as she is the robot who is seen building up and then falls in love. The relationship between the images and the audiences is that the loyal fans would see her as being herself and would appreciate her work. A mainstream audience wouldn’t watch this on a regular basis out of interest, but if someone who isn’t a fan of Bjork came across this music video whilst streaming YouTube, they would find this very weird and would feel uncomfortable.

Chris Cunningham has worked on two music videos with the Apex Twins, the first video is called ‘Come to Daddy’. It begins in a suburban area, with an old lady walking her dog and she sees a pile of rubbish and a TV. The dog urinates on a puddle next to it and electricity runs through the rubbish and TV and a monster comes on the TV and mayhem begins. Children with a weird male face start running about and wrecking the area. The music video is very weird and uncomfortable to watch because in the end the monster gathers all the children in a paedophilic manner. There was no star image in this video as it was more narrative/concept based than performance based. The images may make the audience feel very uncomfortable and disturbed.

The second music video that he done with the Apex Twins is called ‘Flex’. It begins with a naked man in a fetal position slowly coming towards the eye view of the audience. The audience soon see that there is also a naked woman next to him. They started making love/fighting in a very fast motion with different shots and the lighting switching angles vigorously. Again, there was no star image in this music video.

·         ‘All is full of love’ won multiple awards including on MTV music video awards for breakthrough video and was nominated for a Grammy for best short film music video.

·         First ever music video to win a gold pencil at the D&AD awards.

·         His video for Apex Twins ‘Window Licker’ was nominated for the ‘best video’ award at the brit awards 2000.

·         Madonna’s ‘Frozen’ music video became an international hit and won the award for best special effects at the 1998 MTV music video awards.

·         He’s successful in both music and film industry.

His work shows deformity in humanity and shows individuals as weird and unique. The fact he uses disabled people in the music videos he directs shows he loves to show them in their work to make it unique. My opinion on his work is I find it very unique and interesting because of how he comes up with such messed up ideas and how he works with different people and how he can show a different side to people, for example, Madonna.

Michael Gondry.

Michael comes up with ideas of concept based music videos which help gain interest in big artist’s music videos such as; Kylie Minogue, Gary Jules, Daft Punk, Bjork and many more.

The first music video I watched of Gondry’s work is called ‘The hardest button to button; by the white stripes. This video was very interesting as on every beat an instrument would be added onto the line of instruments in a street and this would carry on in different streets and areas throughout the whole song. Michael puts in time and effort to make these videos very interesting and this music video didn’t even cost a lot to create. This music video shows star image all the way through.

The second music video I watched of his work is called ‘Mad world’ by Gary Jules and this song is very famous across the world. The music video is one shot throughout from a bird’s point of view and it shows people creating shapes on the street with their bodies, for example, they create a dog. Every once in a while you would see the star on the top of the building, as the camera would hover to a long shot of him and then hover back to the people creating shapes. There is a little bit of star image in this music video as he is only seen a few times and he is just looking over from the top of a high building.

The third music video I analysed of his was Daft Punk, called ‘Around the World’. This music video is all in one environment with many different things dancing in a circle such as; skeletons, ladies, and many things. The movements are travelling in a circle form and everything is very diverse and not ordinary.

His work is very repetitive, for example, in Kylie Minogue’s, she is travelling in a street and it’s repeated but every time it’s repeated, a clone of her is added onto the cycle. My opinion is not as interested as I was in Cunningham’s work, weirdly. He has cool ideas but the messed up ideas from Cunningham’s work is more interesting.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Innovative filmmaking style.	Could be offensive.
Intellectual sense.	Damaging/distressing visuals.
Portraying individual style.	Smaller relationship with artist and audience.
Entertaining.	Expose to be censored.
Niche audience.	No attraction from mainstream audiences.
Unique and interesting.	May ruin reputation.
Mentally challenging.	Some people might not get it.
Creates hype.	After the watershed.
Abstract comes to life.
Reinvent star image (Madonna).
Memorable.

Diverse music videos should stay away from mainstream music culture: My Opinion.

I agree with this, because only niche audiences who will understand the concept of diverse music videos won’t be disturbed by the visuals and will appreciate the clever artwork in the videos. Mainstream audiences are used to seeing love, sex and other ideas shown in a completely different way, so they wouldn’t appreciate the work from Cunningham, Gondry and many other diverse directors. No matter how much an artist or diverse director try to give a mainstream audience a diverse music video, the success won’t be great and the publicity won’t be as positive as it would be from an appreciating niche audience.

Conclusion.

Overall, I have learnt that diverse music videos never really want to be understood, but I appreciated. The concept in all of them is not meant to be understood as it never really makes sense to an artist or director in the first place, it’s just art in a weird form. I would love to make a diverse music video for my final product but I believe the genre of music I want to use wouldn’t work. However, I will try and include features of diverse music videos. This is because I find it very unique and interesting for an audience, it also leaves the audience with something to think about and the video won’t be forgotten like typical mainstream music videos will.

Research - Music Channels

Music Channels

Music channels is a type of programming in the television system which focuses mainly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated channels on the television, broadcasting on cable/satellite. More music channels have been aired on television because of how many genres and music is being produced into the present day. Sister channels MTV Bass and MTV Dance have been made so that audiences can be more attracted to the music they want to listen to without having to watch music videos from genres they do not like. However, music channels have not been very popular over the past 5 years due to more media platforms being made for people to watch music videos on, such as; YouTube, Tidal, etc. However, the music channels have started to gain their audience back with playing popular TV shows such as; Teen mom and fresh prince of bel air. There are many different music channels in the UK which audience can watch on their TV:

·         Starz

·         Channel aka

·         Kiss

·         VH1

·         MTV

·         MTV Hits

·         MTV Base

·         MTV Dance

·         MTV Rocks

·         MTV Live

·         4music

·         Heat

·         Magic

·         Chart show

·         The Vault

·         Flava

·         Bliss

·         Clubland

·         Capital TV

·         Music

·         Viva

·         Now that’s what I call music

There are a couple of benefits to music channels, such as; Audience appeal, Appealing to different audiences, larger audience, Synergy, and many others.

MTV is the most popular music channel in the world, with many sister channels to contribute to sharing music on our televisions. These sister channels are called: MTV Hits, MTV Base, MTV Dance, MTV Rocks and MTV Live. MTV has sister channels for different genres of music so MTV can appeal to all different audiences. However, there isn’t channels for some underrepresented genres such as; Alternative R&B, Grime and Alternative Hip Hop. These types of genres appeal to niche audiences and have controversial music videos.

Radio stations and music channels:
Popular radio stations such as Kiss 100 and Capital FM have a music channel due to audiences having more access to their channels. This is because some audiences may not have a radio in their car or at home so they can access it through the television. Synergy is crucial for these radio stations as it promotes the station through different media platforms and makes music more accessible, creating loyal audiences.

       

Advantages	Disadvantages
Promotes Artists.	Audience gets bored.
Established Fan base.	Many channels, less ideas.
Creates relationship between artist and audience.	Less choice in genre.
Variety (shows).	Not as popular.
More of a choice.
Purely for the entertainment of audiences.

Overall, I believe music channels are beneficial for the music video industry due to promotion of the artist and the artist’s work. The more platforms that a music video is promoted on, the more success the video gains from the public. My music video would be shown on MTV base as it is in the genre of alternative R&B, which has similarities to the genre R&B.

Research - Media Institutions

What is an Institution?

Music video institutions are companies who help produce and fund music videos for their signed artists. Most, if not all popular artists/bands are signed to these companies. Having an institution signed to you can contribute to your success because they can give you many opportunities to peruse your career. For example, universal signed Justin Bieber and his success will forever live due to the opportunities which is given to him regularly, such as; single releases, albums, writing books, starring in films and concerts which never fail to be sold out. There are 4 main leading Music Video institutions in the music industry;

EMI:

·         Successful International Institution and one of the most leading in the world.

·         They own record labels such as; angel, astralwerks, blue note, capital, capital Latin, etc.

·         Own artists such as; Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg, Lily Allen, Coldplay, Beatles.

Sony:

·         Provides music labels for international superstars.

·         Formerly known as Song BMG Music Entertainment and changed its name to Sony Music Entertainment in October 2008.

·         It offers hip hop, country, classical, gospel, pop and rock archival recordings and labels.

·         Labels include Arista Records, Colombia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Victoria Records, RCA Records, Legacy Records, Sonic Wave America and others.

Universal UMG:

·         World’s Largest Music Content Company.

·         Recorded music business discovers and develops recording artists and then markets and promotes their music across a wide array of formats and platforms.

·         Signed Artists such as; Akon, Mary J Blige, Sheryl Crow, Busta Rhymes, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Cheryl Cole, Usher Florence and the machine.

Warner Music Group:

·         Not as popular, however is an international institution.

·         Help artists achieve long term creative and financial success by providing consumers with the highest quality music content available.

·         Also linked with Warner Bros, Asylum, Atlantic, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Maybach

Music, etc.

·         Signed Artists such as; James Blunt, Paramore, T.I., Emmy Lou Harris, Kid Rock, Plan B, Josh Groban, B.O.B, Estelle, Bruno Mars, etc.

Conclusion.

If I was an artist and I wanted to sign to a particular Media Institution, I would pick Universal UMG. This is because they are a successful Institution which will stick by an artist and keep their success up and rising. I would like my artist to have a similar reputation as someone like Mary J. blige or Plan B as they are talented artists who work well within the industry even though they are not the most popular. What makes them reliable is they haven’t failed to make an artist successful and they keep their artists signed for good. I wouldn’t sign to Sony because they drop artists if they are slacking at any period of time. I couldn’t rely on that as artist as that as very risky for a career.

Research - Genres

Why is there so many genres of music?

There are many genres and sub genres in the music industry. There are so many because there are many artists who are unique and are liked by many different people so they fall into particular categories.

Genres of Music:

Blues 

Key Conventions: Instruments, slow editing, smooth atmosphere, mellow colours.

Audience: Older black men mainly listen and enjoy this genre.

Classical

Key Conventions: Suits worn by men, usually set on a stage or in an open area outside.

Target Audience: Older generation usually middle to high class status, listen and enjoy this genre.

Country

Key Conventions: Western settings, cowboy/cowgirls on the screen, farm animals, sunny atmosphere.

Target audience: People that live in rural areas, for example, Texas and Wisconsin (American states).

Dance

Key Conventions: Clubs, colourful lights, dancing, drinking, happy people.

Target Audience: All generations listen and enjoy this genre.

Electronic

Key Conventions: Flashing lights, quick editing, dancing, colourful clothing and lights.

Target Audience: All generations listen and enjoy this genre.

Hip Hop/Rap

Key Conventions: Glamorised set and looks on artists and extras, black people are mainly starred in hip hop music videos, sexual dancing, and expensive clothing.

Target Audience: Usually between the ages of 16 to 30 years old of both genders.

Asian Pop

Key Conventions: Colourful clothing and setting, cultural dancing, happy people.

Target Audience: Asian people from both genders, but liked globally.

Jazz

Key Conventions: Formal clothing, instruments, old fashioned theme, set on stage.

Target Audience: Older generation of both genders.

Latin

Key Conventions: Salsa dancing, Spanish/Colombian settings, love.

Target Audience: Latino people all ages and genders, globally recognised.

Pop

Key Conventions: Happiness, dancing, green screen, exaggerated, youth, stylish.

Target Audience: 8 years old to 30 years old, both genders.

R&B/Soul

Key Conventions: Typical love story, glamorised settings, groovy dancing.

Target Audience: All Ages, both genders, mainly liked by black generation.

Rock

Key Conventions: Dark background, band and instruments, white men.

Target Audience: Older generation, mainly white men.

Mainstream Genres?

Music genres that are usually in the Top 40’s, on the radio and well known to the public. Genres such as; Pop, Hip Hop and R&B are mainstream and are liked by all generations, genders and races.

Niche Genres?

Niche genres have a small population of fans, are quite successful and are unique in the industry. These genres are usually; Alternative R&B, Folk and Country. There are many more and they usually are sub genres.

Table of Conventions

Why is it so important that an audience can identify with the genre instantly?

·        Personal connection.

·        Makes sure they are up to date with music in the genre they like.

·        Keeps audiences entertained.

·        Keeps loyal fans with genres of music.

·        Sets a platform for viewing similar music.

Overall I believe that genres and sub genres are very important and useful for audiences and categorises music. This makes it easier for audiences to keep up to date and to explore more with music similar to each other (which they have an attraction or personal connection for).

Research - Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin’s Theory

Andrew Goodwin believed that most conventional music videos do 8 conventional things which will appeal to an audience. These 8 things are seen in every music video, however not all 8 will be seen every music video, only some. This is because some music videos are quite controversial. 

1)      Genre Characteristics – that music videos often reflect their genre through the use of specific characteristics which makes them conventional. For example, in a hip hop music video you would usually come across a glamorised set and look for the artist, with promiscuous women who may be half naked or wearing tight clothing, and typically have the black race as artists or actors in the music video. Another example is jazz music would have an old fashioned theme (sometimes set in black and white to represent old fashioned music videos), men and women would dress formal and would usually be set on a stage with instruments everywhere (saxophone, piano, etc.) Every genre has its own unique style in music videos.

2)      Relationship between lyrics and visuals – Illustrative: Explaining the lyrics visually, for example, in Selena Gomez’s music video ‘Good for you’, the lyric says “gonna wear that dress you like, skin tight” and you see a close up of her dress. Amplifying: Exaggeration of the lyrics linking to the video, for example, throughout J Cole’s music video ‘Wet Dreamz’ the whole video shows the lyrics but with two dogs, which is exaggerate from human’s behaviour to the lyrics. Contradicting: Being the opposite visual to the lyrics, for example, Rihanna’s music video ‘We found love’ is very upbeat and as Calvin Harris featured in the song, elements of the dance genre was strongly recognised. This didn’t match the video as it included drugs, aggressive arguments, rough sexual activity and rebellious behaviour from a young couple.

3)      Relationship between music and visuals – Visuals show a clear connection to the actual music, For example, if the music is upbeat then the visuals will consists of large movements and quick edits, whereas if the music is monotone, the visuals will be slow and edits will be much slower too.

4)      Star Image Motifs – The music video mainly focuses on the artists with many close up shots, demanded by the record label so they can become more popular and identifiable in the industry

.

5)      Notion of looking – Particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body (women that are seen as a sexual object.) There are a huge amount of music videos that could fit into this section nowadays as most female artists promote themselves mainly on camera in very sexual ways to gain publicity.

6)      Intertextual Reference – In many music videos you will find there are often links to other films, TV programmes, celebrity’s lives, other music videos, etc. Eminem does this a lot in his music videos, especially in his music video ‘Without me’ as he makes intertextual references to superheroes, Elvis’ death and many other events the public may recognise.

7)      Performance, Narrative or Concept-Based – Performance: Solidly focused on the artist/band, for example, Beyoncé’s music video ‘Single ladies’ is performance throughout with her and two females dancing the whole time. Narrative: Story attached to video, for example, Naughty Boy’s music video ‘LaLa’ showed a story throughout when the boy is on a journey. Concept: Obscure/surreal for the audience and doesn’t really make sense, for example, FKA Twigs music video ‘Glass and Patron’ doesn’t make any sense for the audience due to the random images of dancing and then the birth of cloths from a human and then skin everywhere.

8)      Technical elements – Micro elements compliment the genre (Cinematography, Editing, Mise en scene, Sound), for example, Beyoncé’s music video ‘7/11’ relied purely on editing and cinematography to make it go to the many unique beats you can hear in the song.

As a group in class, we analysed Will Smith’s music video ‘Miami’ and made a grid to analyse the 8 different points that Andrew Goodwin made in his theory. This is an image of the grid the class wrote individually:

The class then separated into pairs to analyse a music video of our choice. I chose FKA Twigs ‘Glass and Patron’ because this was a very complex video which I found a challenge to analyse. This is an image of the grid we made:

This information shows me that my music video should contain the majority of these 8 points that Andrew Goodwin made in his theory of music videos because they are conventional and make music videos interesting and filled with unique styles and have always worked with successful music videos from the past. The most interesting point goodwin made that i would like to include in my music video is intertextual reference. I think that this idea is very clever and can also attract audiences depending on how much the interetextual reference has an impact on the target audience. Also, Star image motifs and notion of looking will be needed for my music video as i want there to be a lot of focus on the artist.

Research - Purpose of a Music Video

What is a music video/what is the purpose of a music video?

A music video is a short piece of visual image that accompanies a song. A music videos purpose is to share the thoughts and opinions that an artist has within themselves, promotes an artist’s work (album or feature in a film) and also promote the single that the music video is accompanying. Also, the artist can use music videos as a method of gaining publicity. For example, Rihanna’s music video ‘We Found Love’ had many mixed reviews and opinions due to the portrayal of drugs and explicit imagery. Whereas, Kanye West’s music video ‘Heartless’ gained good publicity as it was thematic and unique compared to all of his other music videos. Music videos can be very lucrative for artists. Artists who have long breaks from music promoting and making, music videos are sufficient for their ‘comeback’ into the music industry.

Classic Conventions.

All music videos usually contain some of the same classic conventions. Conventions include glamorised/expensive look to not only the artist but to the set the music video is filmed in, dancing, lyrics expressed through imagery and artist usually features in the video. Another convention is that visuals rely massively on the genre of music, for example, 50 Cent’s music video ‘Candy Shop’ featuring Olivia portrays the genre of hip hop immensely due to the fur coat 50 cent wears, the grooving, the attractive woman dancing seductively, fancy set and props such as; cars, furniture, etc.

Conventional music videos should so do at least one of the following;

·         Performance.

·         Narrative.

·         Thematic.

·         Symbolic.

All areas of Mise En Scene is used adequately to make the set and artist of the music video look visually stylish. Glamorised music videos are shown by every artist from at least half of their music videos. The editing (whether its fast paced or normal paced) and cinematography usually matches the pace of the song. Conventions including the use of cinematography illustrate lots of experimenting with camera shots, sizes and movements which focus mainly on the artist. For example, Chris brown is the main focus in all of his music videos due to his attractive look and amazing dance moves which he takes advantage of on camera. Whereas, Ed Sheeran is an unconventional artist as he hardly stars in his music videos due to him not having a conventional look of a ‘star’. People love to watch Chris Brown perform but love to hear Ed Sheerans voice as his talent lies in his voice. 

Synergy.

The release of an artist’s music video is often only one strand of their multi media campaign of their promotion. One reason for this is because the single that is accompanying the music video is released usually to promote an upcoming album, the music video is used to gain publicity. The music industry has a strong relationship with many different other medias for different purposes, such as; TV, print media, radio, film and the internet. For example, Wiz Khalifa’s music video ‘See you again’ from the movie ‘Furious 7’ was not only promoting his new single but was also promoting the film. The single was also promoted in adverts, concerts and social media websites so audiences were not only attracted to the song, but also was interested in watching the film. Due to the films popularity, this gave Wiz Khalifa and his feature in the song Charlie Ruth a lot of publicity.

Audience Impact.

Music videos create impact for all audiences who come across the music video on the internet. Audiences are attracted to not only the artist through music videos, but their upcoming album following from the music video too. The audience are entertained by creativity in the music videos and gain attraction for the artist and their music personally. The way the artist is portrayed in the music video also creates a strong opinion of them from the audiences, for example, Mike Will Made-its music video ‘23’ featuring Miley Cyrus, juicy j and wiz khalifa characterizes former Disney channel actor Miley Cyrus as a drug using, promiscuous female as she reveals a lot of skin and acts seductive towards the camera, which is the complete opposite of how she started off her career. This impacts the audience opinion of her as she shows a drastic change, which isn’t very positive for her look. Also, music videos give the audience a fresh opinion/meaning towards the instrumental and the lyrics. This can also link to a music video introducing important morals for audiences if there is a strong narrative which can affect a spectator personally. The artist consider appealing to their audience in many ways, however, it all depends on the target audience in which they are appealing to. For example, if an artist which is a 25 year old female was appealing to teenage/young adult males, they would act promiscuous in their music videos and would also show explicit imagery to pleasure their male dominated audience/

Technology Advancements.

The biggest advantage for mainstream and independent artists is the most famous music video website ‘YouTube’. It allows everyone from across the globe to stream videos they make and thousands to millions of people can view them daily. The fact that it’s so easy allows the public to easily access their favourite artist’s music videos with good quality. Ipods/iphones are threats to music videos due to the easy access to music that audiences love to listen to on a daily basis.

Current threats…

·         Censorship is becoming much harder.

·         New websites which are being made by famous artists which are charging to use every month is causing conflict between artists and their audiences. For example, Jay Z and Beyoncé brought the website ‘Tidal’ to the World Wide Web. They charge audiences to access the website which is inconvenient for the majority of their audiences. However, Tidal offers improved quality in imagery and sound compared to what YouTube has to offer.

·         People listen to music on phones and MP3 whilst they are out and about, so music videos aren’t needed as they can just listen to the songs. ITunes and Spotify are a massive threat to YouTube.

·         Independent artists usually cover or remix artists songs and audiences may prefer their versions, making audiences recognise independent artists more than the mainstream.

Positives of Music Videos…

·         Loyal fans will remain to supporting their favourite artist’s music videos regardless to new formats being introduced.

·         Independent artists can easily create and broadcast their own music videos to the world because it doesn’t cost much to do so.

·         Technology has improved over the years which ensures that music videos are made in a more improved and easier way.

Conclusion.

The music video industry will always remain popular across the world for all audiences. YouTube allows all audiences to easily watch music videos. Music videos generates love towards artists from audiences and allows artists to show their thoughts, morals and opinions to the world around them, conceding them to express themselves in many ways. The future of music videos may change by censoring behaviour in which the public may see as too inappropriate for some audiences. The future holds more creative ideas for music videos which give off important morals and may help people in need, for example, music videos can demonstrate situations in which certain groups of people can relate to. The artist SZA shows suicide awareness in her music video ‘Babylon’ and the lyrics really show deep meaning of thoughts which may relate to many struggling teenagers. This is positive as this shows teenagers that they aren’t alone and they can get through hard times and not give up. Artist who express themselves in such deep topics like SZA has achieves great publicity due to reaching out to audiences. I believe more artists will make moral based music videos to grab audience’s unguided attention. Music speaks to people, so being able to express lyrics visually is very sufficient to audiences personally and the music industry. This research has helped me find what artists appeal to larger audiences and how easy an artist can appeal to an audience through gender and actions/themes in their music videos. For example, from my research, young female artists can easily appeal to audiences by being sexual and promiscuous in their music videos as it pleasures audiences. This has made me think that having a female artist who is quite young for my music video would be easy to attract an audience by making them promiscuous on camera.