Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

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

1. Music videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristic. This could include dance routines for girl/boy bands, flashy sports cars for rap videos, or acting in alternative music videos. ‘Elise’ by Mint is an example of how artist genre affects the video style. As this is a band with its members playing instruments, a performance style video suits them best as it shows off the abilities of all the band. 
2. There are frequent references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the female body. This is an aspect that has only come into play in recent years, with the 21st century being the birth of new feminist movements and helping women to become more confident in their bodies. However, the video industry is still male dominated, and this is shown in videos presenting women as objects rather than people, for example by only focusing on certain body parts and not showing their personalities. This idea is supported by Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’ theory, where men on the production side of videos choose angles and camera movement that specifically depict women as being objects. This can be seen in Miley Cyrus’s ‘Wrecking Ball’, where she spends the majority of the video in little to no clothes. 
3. There is a succinct relationship between the music and visuals. This could be the use of symbolism in the lyrics that is reflected in the video, or literal words shown on screen. For example, in Fall Out Boy’s ‘My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark’, the word ‘fire’ is sung as fire is shown onscreen.
4. The record label which the artist is assigned to tends to have certain demands. They often include the need for the artist’s visual style to recur across their work. The use of a memorable visual style is seen in a lot of Sia’s music videos and live performances. She uses the same dancer, Maddie Ziegler, in a lot of her videos, with a particular dancing style. She also has a recurring theme of abandoned, destitute sets and locations that support the unique uneasy feel to her music. 
5. There is often intertextual references to films, tv programmes, and other popular culture. This is usually found when films release a promotional music video sung by another artist but featuring clips from the movie or subtle references to it. For example, Disney released an official music video of singer Alessia Cara singing a song from the film, in a location that looks similar to the animated setting from the film.