Andrew Goodwin’s Theory: - Goodwin’s theory's 5 key aspects.

Andrew Goodwin’s Theory:

Goodwin’s theory states that there are 5 key aspects to a music video.

Music videos have some genre characteristics, This means that music videos will usually have hints of its genre included in the music video to be able to make the audience recognize it easily.

There is frequent use of the female body (visually) to engage some of the male audience.

Men or women being portrayed seductively and sexually and having eye contact with the camera can catch the attention of many as it sexuality is a large part of human nature and something that attracts teens and young people to get a “celebrity crush”. This can also be referenced by the use of props. This is usually used to sell the artist’s music through sex appeal, as it is the most popular ways to do it in the music industry, especially in the female artist sphere.

A good example of this is Rhiana with any of her recent music as well as arena grande and Megan the stallion who both use their femininity to attract a male audience whilst her main audience for her music is young females.

There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals:

There are 3 types:

Illustrative: The video goes along with the lyrics however, they aren't acted out, and it is a representation of the lyrics, either exaggerated or spun in a different way to reinforce the lyric.

Amplifying: The visuals match the lyrics of the song. The lyrics are acted out in the music video.

Contradicting: The music video has nothing to do with the song and has random or different actions to what the song is referring to.

An example of a contradicting music video would be Oliver Tree - Life Goes On feat. Trippie Redd & Ski Mask (Directed by Cole Bennett) where the visuals and the storyline have nothing to do with the lyrics besides some artists making an appearance and lip sinking the lyrics.

The record label, which the artist is assigned to, tends to have certain demands. They often include the need for a lot of close-ups of the artist and maintain a visual style across their work:

This will allow the audience to recognize those features anywhere and relate it back to the artist, meaning the artist gets more publicity and recognition.

There are often intertextual references:

References to other media texts such as films, TV shows, and other music videos. This makes the audience enjoy the ‘inside joke’ and this can create a very strong fan base a good example is EDEN who has a whole subreddit dedicated to his easter eggs in his lyrics and songs.

The main useful thing I have gathered from goodwin’s theory is that music videos can be illustrative which is basically what I’m going for anyways so I will make sure to not jump between the 3 categories.