Research into Goodwin's theory - Miss Georgiou

Research into Goodwin's theory

The main aim for an artist is to sell their music, and the only way they can achieve this is to have an audience buy into their songs/music, which is why it can therefore be argued that the audience are the most important aspect of the music industry, because without them an artist would have no purpose. If the audience like a song, they are much more likely to want to listen to more music produced by the same artist and buy this music when it is released, which leads to more money for the artist. Goodwin's music video theory 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' (1992) suggests that there are seven different elements that an artist should include in their music video in order to optimise the relationship built between them and their audience. This theory is therefore essential to this relationship due to the fact that there is the idea that by using all seven elements an artist is allowing the audience to get to know more about them, which helps to give their music a deeper meaning, allowing the audience to be able to make an emotional connection to a song and the artist, which is arguably why artists often base the lyrics of to their songs on real life experiences. Reliability and an interesting narrative will help an artist to sell their song, due to the fact that the audience will be able to... and will be more interesting to listen to.

Taylor Swift - Mine

Taylor Swift is a country, pop rock music artist, and her music video for her song 'Mine' demonstrates all seven factors of Goodwin's music video theory. The first point he makes is that all music videos will demonstrate characteristics that are typical to a specific music genre. The main way in which this particular music video demonstrates characteristics that are common in the pop rock music genre is the love story behind it. The video shows the progression of a relationship between a boy and a girl, which includes the first time that they meet, the idea of marriage and children, and a fight. This will help Taylor Swift to build a relationship with her audience as they will be able to relate to the real life experiences and the relationship that the boy and girl in the video have, and they will be drawn into the narrative and want to see how their relationship develops. Taylor Swift's songs are often based on real life experiences, therefore the audience will feel as though she is sharing a personal story with them. Her target audience are young and impressionable teenage girls, therefore many will view her as a role model and look up to the lifestyle she has. A relationship between the audience and Taylor Swift will develop because the music video will make them feel as though they are getting to know more about her and her personal life.

Goodwin's theory also explains that in the music video there will be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. This relationship can be seen in the music video for 'Mine' when Taylor Swift sings the lyrics 'you were in college working part time waiting tables'. These lyrics coincide with the audience seeing her character sitting down at a table in a diner holding a menu, while a male character is standing in front of her wearing an apron around his waist, holding open a notepad and pen. The use of Mise-en-scene, specifically iconography and costume, clearly shows the audience that the male character is waiting on her, therefore he is the waiter that she is referring to in the song. The audience will feel as though Taylor Swift is sharing a personal story with them, which will draw the audience in and make them want to know more about her. A relationship will develop due to the audience being able to relate to the real life experiences that Taylor Swift sings about in the video, and also the fact that they may feel as though they are getting to know more about her personal life. The narrative of a song being based on a love story is conventional to the indie pop genre due to the fact that artists often sing about experiences that they feel the audience will be able to relate to as this will help a song to sell, due to the fact that the audience will want to listen to the song again if they can make a connection with the song and view the artist as being more realistic.

The Goodwin music video theory also suggests that the audience will be able to see a relationship between the music and visuals. A prime example of this relationship in the music video for 'Mine' can be seen when Taylor Swift begins to sing about the boy and girl getting into a fight; "I still remember that fight, two thirty a m". The audience will be able to hear the tempo of the song pick up, and Taylor Swift herself begins to sing louder which mirrors the girl and boy shouting at each other in the video. This section of the song stands out against the rest of the video when they are happy in the relationship and the music is a lot softer. The audience will feel as though Taylor Swift is sharing a personal story with them because most relationships are private, especially for famous artists who are always in the public eye through the use of media, therefore the audience may feel as though they are getting to know more things about her that they didn't know already. Furthermore, the audience may sympathise with Taylor Swift due to the fact that, through the use of facial expressions, she is presented as being upset and most of the audience will know what it is like to fight or break up with someone that they are in a relationship with, therefore they can relate to her situation in the song. The idea of a narrative based on a relationship is conventional to the indie pop genre because artists often write songs that are based on real life experiences that they feel an audience will be able to relate to. This will make the audience feel more inclined to want to listen to the song again because they can relate to the lyrics, therefore the song is more likely to sell.

The fourth stage is that the record label will demand that a music video includes a lot of close ups of the artist. Throughout the music video of 'Mine', Taylor Swift is the prime focus, not only during the narrative that shows the development of the relationship between her character and the boy, but also the audience will often see her wandering through a forest, looking between the camera and the pictures of her and the boy that are hanging from the trees. The use of close up of an artist will help the audience to feel as though Taylor Swift is sharing a personal story with them because they are given a clearer view of her emotions and are shown how she is feeling at a specific point within the video. This is conventional to the indie pop genre due to the fact that artists often write songs that are based on real life experiences, which helps to give the song more of a personal feel and allows the audience to build a relationship with the artist because they are more likely to feel as though they are getting to know personal information about the artist which they may not already know. Taylor Swift's target audience are young and impressionable teenage girls, some of who will view her as a role model, and be influenced by, for example, the way she dresses, the amount of makeup she wears, the way she behaves and the way she wears her hair. Taylor can therefore use her music to warn her target audience about the downsides and dangers of being in a relationship and about the reality of what to expect, and not just what movies and the media want everybody to believe a relationship is like, due to the fact that it is likely that the target audience are made up of young girls who may have had no real experience with these kind of situations before. Furthermore, some of her target audience may be too young to fully understand what the lyrics mean and may only like the music because of the tune, therefore the use of visuals make it easier for them to understand the deeper meaning behind her songs.

The fifth stage of Goodwin's theory is that there is frequently references to the notion of looking, which means the audience are looking at the artist but the artist does not realise. Throughout the entire music video to 'Mine', the audience are watching the two characters as their relationship begins, breaks down and progresses, for example, at the beginning of the video the audience can see Taylor Swift carrying boxes into his house, which therefore suggests that the two characters are moving in together. They also watch as the characters sit on the boat together, which is where he proposes to her. This stage of Goodwin's theory will help Taylor Swift to build a relationship as most of the audience will view the music video as more of a cinematic experience and they will be hooked into watching the video to see how it ends. Also, some of them may be able to relate to the situations that are shown in the video, therefore they may connect to the song. Due to the nature of the video, the audience may feel as though Taylor Swift views them as more of a friend, rather than a fan, due to the fact that relationships are usually discussed between two friends as opposed to two complete strangers. This is conventional to the indie pop genre due to the fact that artists often write songs that are based on real life experiences, which helps to give the song more of a personal feel and allows the audience to build a relationship with the artist because they are more likely to feel as though they are getting to know personal information about the artist which they may not already know.

Goodwin's theory also suggested that a music video will often include intertextual references, for example, to films or television programmes. In Taylor Swift's music video to 'Mine' the main focus is on the love based narrative about the relationship that the two characters have, therefore, intertextual references are not needed in this music video as all of the focus is aimed at the two characters and the story they are telling the audience. However, it could be argued that the pictures hanging from the trees are forms of intertextual references from the video as they show the different stages of the relationship as it is happening. This helps the artist to build a relationship with the audience as the use of pictures makes the video more personal and the audience will be able to relate as nowadays, people often take pictures as a way to remember places and people by.

 

Finally, Goodwin wrote that all music videos will primarily be either performance based, narrative based, or concept based. Overall, the music video for 'Mine' is a mixture of both performance and narrative. The entire song is a narrative that consists of Taylor Swift singing about the relationship and life that a boy and girl have together, starting with the first time they meet, through to them moving in together and the idea of them starting a family. The use of narrative makes the video more interesting to watch because the audience will feel as though they are watching a mini film, as opposed to a music video, which could help them to build a relationship with the artist as it feels as though she is singing about real life experiences, therefore the song is more personal to her. Also, throughout the music video, when Taylor Swift is not performing alongside the male actor, the audience can see her wandering through a forest area, looking at the pictures that are hanging from the trees around her. As she walks along, Taylor Swift often makes eye contact with the camera. This will help her to build a relationship with the audience as they will feel as though she is telling her love story directly to them, making them feel as though they are her friends, rather than just strangers who listen to her music. The use of performance is conventional as it makes the audience feel as though this is what it would be like to see her perform live, as many of them may not have the money to afford an actual concert ticket, therefore they do not feel as though they are missing out.

Goodwin's theory will assist me with planning my own music video as I know what I need to include in order to optimise the relationship built between the artist and the audience. The characteristics have to be typical of my chosen genre, the lyrics and visuals and the music and visuals have to relate to each other, the video must include close ups of the artist in order to draw in the audience, and the use of performance, narrative and concept help to engage the audience as they will make the video more entertaining, and will provide the audience with a story to watch along with the song. The music genre that I would like to create a music video for is indie pop. The first characteristic that I would like to include in my own music video is a soppy love story that will provide a narrative for the video to draw the audience in. Most artists, like Taylor Swift sing about life experiences, especially relationships as audience's buy into those kind of stories and it is easier to fulfil all of the stages of Goodwin's music video theory. Also, the use of real life experiences helps the audience to relate to what they are watching as there is a possibility that the same thing could or has happened to them.

The role of a target audience is to provide an artist with a clear image of who they are aiming their music at, which can therefore dictate the nature of their music and influence the way she dresses, behaves and how she expresses the narrative to the audience. Taylor Swift's target audience are young, impressionable teenage girls, who may look up to her as someone who can inform them about real life experiences that they may one day experience themselves, and as someone who they can strive to be like in the sense that she is successful, independent and talented. The target audience are essentially the most import aspect of the music industry, due to the fact that without them, an artist will be unable to make any money and there will be no purpose to them producing music, therefore, the role of the target audience is to buy into her music and want to buy and listen to any new music that an artist produces.