Research: Representation of Age

I decided to look at how young people were represented in music videos. I focused specifically upon the music video We Found Love (by Rhianna ft. Calvin Harris), that showed a young couple.

In case the above embedment of my presentation is dysfunctional, it can also be found on an external link here. 

Research: Record Labels

There are four main types of Record Labels:

• Major record labels - dominate the market and consist of major distribution. 
• Independent record labels - lack the ability of major distribution. 
• Sub-labels and imprints - separate companies or divisions owned or distributed by the major labels. 
• Speciality record labels - focus on non-mainstream material and use non-traditional distribution methods. 

I have decided to research one major record label (Sony Music Entertainment) and one minor record label (Dualtone Records) in order to compare how they differ from each other. 

Sony Music Entertainment (SME) is an American music corporation owned and operated by the Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation. The enterprise was first founded in 1929 as the American Record Corporation. However, Sony Corporation of America brought the company in 1987 and renamed it as SME shortly after.

In 2010, Sony Music Entertainment generated a total revenue of $5.67 billion, making it the second largest of the 'Big Three' record labels - only being smaller than Universal Music Group. It has signed many famous artists, including Michael Jackson, JLS and Susan Boyle. 

Sony has a particularly varying image; there is no consistent genre throughout their artists. However, one of the most prominent images is one formed by the sub-label, Syco Entertainment. This record label is a global joint venture between SME and Simon Cowell. This company also hosts televised talent shows around the world, including The X Factor and Got Talent. The most successful contestants are likely to be offered a record deal by Syco. Therefore, this generates a lot of publicity for SME because the audience follow a contestant's journey throughout the competition so may begin to enjoy listening to their music or simply want to support them through their experience. One of the best examples of a successful artist that has been discovered through Syco Entertainment is JLS. 

JLS were particularly successful during the five years that they were active. They sold in excess of 10,000,000 records worldwide and earned a fortune of £24,000,000. This had a great impact upon SME because having such well-known stars promoted their record label and so the audience wanted to buy more music from the same record label.
Because SME is a major record label, it is well-financed, meaning that they have a better production, distribution and marketing process. It also means that the artists that they sign will be more talented, popular and possibly already well-known. Therefore, the major record labels such as SME make a large profit. This advantage played a key role in JLS' success - not only were they already well-known due to their X Factor journey, but SME were able to invest a large amount of money in them in order to assure that they generated the highest possible revenue. 

Dualtone Records is an American-based independent record label specialising in folk, singer/songwriter, Americana and indie rock.  The label was founded in 2001 by Scott Robinson and Dan Herrington. The label's albums are available globally through the means of digital downloading and physically through CDs. As Dualtone are a relatively small label, their financial information is difficult to find out. However, usually Dualtone has sales targets of selling 30,000 - 50,000 of each album; a miniature figure when considering JLS' total record sales exceeding 10,000,000.

Dualtone has signed 17 minor artists over the past 13 years; perhaps the most famous of which being The Lumineers, whose debut album has been certified Platinum in the US and Ireland, with Gold certifications in the UK, Australia and Canada. They have been nominated for awards globally. 

This music video clearly follows the folk/indie rock style that Dualtone are so well-known for. This is one of the biggest advantages of owning an indie record label - because their music follows a particular genre, and targets a niche audience, the audience develop trust in the record label. Therefore, they are persuaded that they are going to like the new artists that Dualtone sign before they have even heard them. This brand loyalty was probably one of the key elements to The Lumineer's success. Also, indie labels such as Dualtone do not have to undertake long corporate approval processes, meaning that they were able to sign and distribute The Lumineers' album more quickly.

Overall, both Major and Independent record labels have their own advantages and disadvantages. Major labels such as SME invest a high amount of money in their artists and aim for worldwide domination. However, Independent labels like Dualtone invest a smaller amount of money in their artists and yet still generate a worthwhile profit thanks to their niche audience. 

Applying Goodwin's Theory: Wild Wild Love

Basing this assignment on Goodwin's theory, I studied the music video to the song Wild Wild Love to see how it conforms to the codes and conventions of a music video.

In conclusion, I feel that Wild Wild Love did follow many of the typical characteristics of a music video. I am interested in also using some of these techniques in my own video. For example, I would like to have close up shots of the artists in order to help establish their fame.

Overall I think it is a good video that follows many of the rules expected of a typical music video.

Textual Analysis: Prince Charming

To begin the research phases of my project, I have decided to look into a particularly iconic music video - Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants. Adam and the Ants were a British rock band during the 1970s/1980s and Prince Charming was a number 1 single in the UK charts for 4 weeks during 1981. Many critics have claimed that this is due to their extravagant music video.

Why was the music video so iconic?

Despite the music video having a low budget, it has become a particularly iconic music video due to its use of humour and famous dance routine. Additionally, the video featured some stars including Adam Ant and Diana Dors - two very famous people at the time of the video's release. Therefore, the music video was particularly popular because the audience were drawn to it by the starring celebrities.

The video was also iconic because it is a fantastic demonstration of the humour and creativity that successful artists had to have implement in order to be successful. The video was a parody of the classic fairytale of Cinderella, meaning that most of the audience was familiar with the narrative due to this intertextuality.

Analysis

The first shot in the video is a quick panning shot of a man sweeping the floor. This establishing shot allows for the audience to instantly understand where the video is going to be set. Shortly, the frame zooms out and you see two men - dressed as women - enter the room. At this point, it becomes evident to the audience that the music video is based on Cinderella. The succeeding shots are parallelly edited in order to begin to convey the narrative of the video. You see the ugly step sisters having fun together in a series of close ups whilst the other man slaves away sweeping the floors and cooking dinner. The video implements a very fast style of editing, which is reflective of the rock-like tone of the song and the atmosphere in which the video is set.
The mise en scene used during this first scene makes the low budget particularly evident. The costumes, set and props look rather cheap. Despite this, the video is still successful because the budget is irrelevant when considering the success of this video; the strength of the stars, narrative and music reinforces the iconicity of the video. However, having grown up in the 21st century, where a higher production value is preferred, a high expense has become something of a necessity. This does not mean, however, that the target audience of the music video during its launch would have perceived it in the same way. For example, Split Enz's song I See Red (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKj4upY1VYI) was released in 1978. They had a very simlar genre to Adam and the Ants' but had a somewhat smaller production budget. This serves as an example that at the time of release, the Price Charming music video would have looked particularly impressive to the audience, making it a more popular and iconic video. Bright colours are worn by the ugly step sisters (implying their happiness) whereas bland, white colours are worn by the man - until nearer the end, where he is revealed to be a more good looking fellah. The ladies love that.
The majority of the camera shots used throughout the video are mid shots and long shots. For a video such as Prince Charming, this is particularly important because the mise en scene has such an essential role in the video. This gives the audience more time to absorb the costumes, narrative and iconic dancing during the video! There are also some close ups to show more intricate details in order to avoid confusion. For example, at one point there is a close up shot of the invitation to go to the ball and dance the "Prince Charming". This close up reinforces the narrative of Cinderella and informs the audience of what is happening in the video. It helps to avoid confusion but also offers a useful contribution to the overall narrative of the music video. Also, there are various tracking shots to show the characters moving around. When the two ugly stepsisters first enter, the camera tracks them walking across the set. This gives the audience more time to clarify who the characters are and to watch what they are doing as they walk into the room. It also gives the audience time to admire their rather prominent costumes.
Of course, the sound is one of the most important aspects of the video. The song Prince Charming plays for the entirety of the video. Most of the video is lip synced, so the characters on the screen appear to be singing the song. This conveys a relationship between the song and the video.

Overall, I think that the iconicity of this music video is mainly due to the use of intertextuality, stars and comical atmosphere to the video. I love it!