Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features which distinguish the music video as a form;

1) There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

2) There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.

3) music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist.

4) The music video will demonstrate genre characteristics

5) Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require

6) Voyeurism is used to increase the video's attractiveness, particularly to males, whilst intertextuality is often employed in humorous videos

7) Intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and tv texts, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans.

Notions of looking

Most of the time you see the artists looking directly in the camera with their eyes focused on us. This is to creates a personal connection with the audience as it seems like they are talking to each individual person.

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Visuals and lyrics

How a word or scene links- In the music video 'single ladies' by beyonce Knowles, she sings the line "if you like it you should have put a ring on it" and at the same time she links it with a movement, pointing to her ring finger on her hand.

Another example is the song 'i gotto shine' in the music video the artist is shown singing the lyrics and as he sings each line the words appear on the screen which emphasizes what he's saying.

I have applied goodwin's theory to a range of different music video's from different genre's here are some examples.

Application of theory;



1) ‘take a picture’ special effect of quick camera flashes and symbolised by artists hand gesture if holding an imaginary camera, done again on ‘she should be on television’ artist makes a square with his hands to establish a television screen

2) Cutting to the beat, dancing to the beat (at the same pace) special effects at the start change colour and direction for each new beat. Kind of genre to be played at a party/night club so the quicker parts of the music show low key lighting with random flashing lights to illustrate a club setting, pauses in the music, the artist also pausing whatever he’s doing to add to the effect. Dramatic kick through a door when the music pauses and then the tempo picks up

3) Hip hop/ rap, primary focus here is on beat boxing and DJ scratching, Rap music is another subset of this genre, and it revolves around the artist rapping to a fixed beat. Special effects, female background dancers, clothes

4) The artist looking into the camera at the audience creates a relationship between 

5) Female back ground dancers, costume black , attracts wider males audience

6) The same reference was made to the artist making a square with his hands to establish a television screen in a previous video of the artist ‘pass out’.

1) looking at the lyric's I felt like there was about a relationship getting old and the woman in the relationship is going to or has cheated on the man she's with. You hear the sound of conflict between the gangsters and clowns, but then it flashed back to the two leaders as children and it's clearly a broken down friendship. This means the lyrics and visual are contradicting, both about a relationship but the type is unknown.

2) The non-beat music fits the editing of the video, this would have been done in editing. The video is clearly a narrative one but because if the contradiction with the lyrics and visual there's hints of concept.

3) The genre characteristics of indie rock is that lack of classic theme's and a non-standard beat.

4) There is no representation of the band within this video, this may have been done by the record label because there music video is so distinctive and they already have such a secure fan base they're able to recognize that it's the band music video without having to see them within the video.


5) The female objectification within this video doesn't exist , this is due to the genre as it is more common of R&B and Hip Hop video's to have women within there videos.


6) No inter textual reference.