Goodwin's Theory

"Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisement. As consumers, we make up our own meaning of a songs in our minds: a music video can anchor meaning and give the record company/ artist a method of anchoring meaning". This is how Andrew Goodwin describes the use of music videos and how the music is used to add more to the visuals being shown. Goodwin's idea of a music video is that it is more of an advert which allows the record company to make more money out of the artist and allows them to become more popular.

Goodwin also states that each music video follows a certain style and contain round about the same points. He states that there a five main aspects that are found in all music videos which help make them effective.

Genre Characteristic:
Goodwin points out key features in almost every music video and discusses how the editing style as well as the visuals that are being used can be presented in different ways to create different meanings. He also emphases the idea of having music videos change in terms of characteristics that are found in it depending on what genre the music is. This can be seen in many music videos such as Little Mix and Twenty One Pilots. These music videos use the stereotypical features of their genre. Such as twenty one pilots having clips of a concert due to them being a rock band and Little Mix having extravagant dance routines due to them being a pop girl band.

An example of this is the dance routines in pop music videos especially those where the artist is   a girl group. Little Mix is an example of this. Little mix are a girl group who have a who make pop music them they have many shots where there are dance routines in their music videos and them just having fun. This can be seen in their music video Move, tis is a common feature in girl band music video as it appeals more to the target audience which they are aimed at. Another music video which has the same situation is Fifth Harmony. Again due to them being a pop girl band they follow the same characteristics as Little Mix and a lot of their music videos are very similar to Little Mix. The dance routines help the music videos to stay high energy and ensure that the viewer watches it twice to be able to take everything in. This dance routine also supports Goodwin's idea of the artist being a product which the record company are able to sell to the public to gain more fans thus gaining more money.

A popular characteristic in rock music videos is showing footage of a live performance in the music video this shows that the visuals used in a music video varies to what genre the music is due to the fact that it is very unlikely that there is footage of a live performance in pop music videos. An example of this can be seen in Twenty One Pilots music videos especially in the song Lane Boy. Another feature which is used is dark colours and very loud amplified music. This again is not likely to  be seen in pop music videos.