Research: Subcultures

Subcultures are considered as distinctive norms and values often shared by a group of individuals within society, the section of society that choose to step away from the mainstream and challenge the dominant cultural ideology. They tend to depict how they want to live their life, instead adapting to the common way of living. There are various examples where subcultures are present and existing within society, 'biker, which openly refers to an individual that is a part of the bike riding culture, and 'Freshers', which refers to first year university students. These are just a few various subcultures that developed in society over the years and will continue to be present. 

Bikers

The subculture group of individuals who dedicate their lives to motorbiking. Majorly and culturally dominated by older white males, they take an interest in rock or heavy metal, tend to be mesmerised by body tattoos and heavy machinery. They usually wear dark clothing and gaze at women in nude. 




Skinhead

The subculture group of skinheads have their own religious beliefs. They are normally young or middle-aged British and Christian males, usually uneducated and unskilled manual workers, and tend to listen to pure house or reggae music. These males come from low working class backgrounds, and due to their distinct appearance, they have stood out in society for the shaving of all their hair, and lack of communication towards individuals from other religions.


Roadmen

This subculture group may not dedicate their lives to the roads, but their passion and negativity towards the government and police, stem from a group of individuals chilling and playing on the streets, to taking it serious. Not a mainstream of global recognition but more regional, 'roadmen' are widely influence by the music scene. Popular English genres like Grime and Trap usually involve artists promoting violence and a hate crime against the police, and yet they only surfaced from the underground during the 2011 London riots, one of the worst moments in British history, a riot spanning 4 days over the death of Mark Duggan, a young black father from the outskirts of Tottenham. 'Roadmen', will continue to be considered a subgroup as they choose to live life they want to, disbanding from the mainstream and living life the way they want to Black attire, side pouches, a love to show off their designer gear e.g. Stone Island, Gucci, Armani, and also Nike and Adidas are considered the most visible clothing brand associated with this subgroup.

Examples of Subcultures in music:

• ACDC
• Led Zeppellin
• Gorillaz
• Red Hot Chilli Peppers
• Green Day

These bands are all subcultures, as each member is likely to hold the same norms and values, as their target audience is very selective and tend to hold the same norms and values as the artist., leading to them relating to the music they produce and deliver. 

McCracken
McCracken stated that the modern world was full of diversity, dynamism and creativity, believing that sub-cultures came from different cultures. This can lead to an ideology that all subcultures come from one culture, something considered a rejection of mainstream culture. And by rejecting the values of the mainstream and values, they end up forming their own subcultures and upheeding to their own values.

Hebdige
Hebdige also stated that members of a subculture often prompt their association through a distinctive and symbolic use of style, including fashion and language. This meant that there was a resistance against the mainstream, and as there are many subcultures that share similarities, they will belong to the same culture.

Subcultures and historical times in terms of music

Many will argue that cultural music tastes depended on the historical time and structure of social, economical and political change.

• 1950's; Rock 'n' rollers, Beatniks and Teddy Boys.
• 1960's; Surfers, Rudeboys, Mods, Hippies and Bikers.
• 1970's; Skinhead, Soul Boys, Rastas, Glam Rockers, Funksters and Punks.
• 1980's; Heavy Metals, Hip-Hop, Casual, Goth, Rave and Clubber Styles.
• 1990's - Present; Distinctive blends of fashion and music have become a defining feature of the cultural landscape which depends on 'what's cool and what social group you fit into'

How does the industry now target audiences?
In regards to today's society, the music and media industry targets their audiences dependent on their preferred genre and taste. The industry considers the audiences likes and interests, and how the music could possibly appeal and reach out to them. The identification of significant gaps in the market allows for the music and media industry to attempt to cater and appeal to all audiences by generating a variety of artists from a wide range of genres. They use these methods to engage the chosen target audience, keep them interested, thus preventing the loss of interest towards the media/music production.

Current day in relation to McCracken:

• The way in which music is consumed, is a process that may differ from one individual to another
• A sub-cultural group can like one thing but different reasons

Current day in relation to Hebdige:

• Individuals within modern society can now have shared cultural values 
• Target audiences and fans will support the star and artist in their process of fame.

Research: Audiences

Audiences are groups of individuals that may read or consume what the media feeds them, this could either be TV, magazines and newspapers, and radio. It is very important to know about audiences as it is considered that without an audience, the media will not flourish, and in order for the messages to be spread or make profit from their products, an audience is required to consume it, thus allowing the media companies to know and understand what keeps audiences attracted and interested. Having knowledge of audience interests and expectations can help in developing and adapting products to meet this. 

How might some audiences be categorised?

Audiences may be categorised due to various range of factors which include age, gender, social class, income status and hobbies. Audiences should generally be categorised as they may not all agree on the same thing, if this was the way then media companies would be finding it difficult to keep the audience stable and happy. Therefore because of the vast contrast between audience interests, what they give off and sell will defer and be different, with the intention of reaching out to different audiences. Examples of this will be an artist making a music video with the expectations and interests of their target audience in mind. Martin Solveig for example, makes very niche, unusual videos for his music as house is considered to be quite appealing to a niche audience but also conform to the mainstream, drawing in the masses more than anything.  

Audience Categories

With audiences, they are always and will always be separated to ensure that products have an intentional target, making it easier to conform to needs and expectations, thus increasing their chances of success. You often get the masses and then the bourgeoisie, yet it is more defined than that as the masses have subgroups within the culture, making it easier to direct their products to an audience based on the information they have. 

Advantages and Disadvantages 

There will always be a few upsides and downsides to everything within the media, this included. Categorising audiences will always have a lasting effect, assuming companies identify these things and find ways around, it is still knowledgeable to know.

Advantages

With categorising an audience, it will make it much easier to have a target audience.

It allows for the interests of the consumer to be taken and looked at, rather than being ignored and frowned upon.

It gives the opportunity to use this information as a way to encourage companies to advertise you.
The sort of products your audience can look at and afford, based on their income, can be identified easier.


Disadvantages

Categorising audiences doesn't consider that people are different. For example, if two individuals have a similar or identical profession, it may not necessarily mean they will share the same interests. 

It doesn't consider an individuals interests, only the income and status of the individual

Stereotyping individuals and subgroups can lead to false assumptions

Different genres have different audiences

Rock - Males, aged 26-45 mainly of white ethnicity, working class status, this may include those who are unemployed, students, unskilled and semi-skilled workers. Rock music themes may be linked similarly to those of Pop and R&B, yet leaning more on the latter. Struggles, pain, disappointment, life, it may not be anti-happiness, but it doesn't necessarily generate joy. There are different subgroups of rock, but this main one accepts all these themes and attempts to manifest and turn them into topics to be celebrated in terms of having a positive outlook.

Pop - Females, aged 15-25, mainly of white ethnic background, working class status, this also may include those who are unemployed, students, unskilled and semi-skilled workers. With pop, you have artists like Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. These artists are the type to have a fan club, leading to a major group of individuals to go home and listen and relate their songs to their real-life scenarios. This makes it easier for, let's say Bieber, to make a song about his girlfriend not saying no, yet not saying yes, leading to young girls thinking, "Oh, I've felt like this before, let me listen to it more".

R&B - Females, aged 18-29, mainly of black ethnic background, working class status, this also may include those who are unemployed, students, unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The themes behind R&B are often about sex, financial problems, relationships and life amongst several others, this makes it more likely for a young black woman to relate to these struggles more than a young white woman, based purely on what the media feeds to society.

Hip-Hop - Males, aged 16-30, majorly of black ethnic background, working class status, this may also include those who are unemployed, semi-skilled manual workers and skilled workers. At concerts of artists belonging to this genres, it is common for the audience to be as hyped and energetic as the performer, this is what hip-hop artists aim for, further increasing their knowledge on who?, as a target audience.

Classical - Males and Females, aged 50-85, mainly of white ethnic background, upper class status, this may include those of a high managerial, administrative or professional profession within the job industry. Classical concerts often involve the crowd listening patiently as the singer or Maestro takes control, drawing the audience in rather them singing back.

Conclusion
With the knowledge i have gathered from this, I can say that knowing the target audience for your media product will help better the project, leading to more ideas and increasing the chance of the final media product to be successful. With our artist being quite young, with the song also being aimed at quite a young age, we can generate that we will want to make our target audience's age, range from about 16-24. This may come from the idea that males and females within this age group, tend to be excited by the high-adrenaline music that is mainstream today, the music that fuses different genres together yet still finds a way to stay in one genre. 

Research: Popular Music Theory

It can be quite important to be able to understand different theories, as well as the people behind the theories, the theorists, because as an audience we don’t understand the roots and what influenced modern era music to how it is today. The spread of their research has given the audience an insight into believing conventions are added to music videos due to the mainstream appeal from the industry to global audiences. Down to the positive feedback and notability through being taught in schools and universities, it is likely more than likely to be useful and effective. The 'Popular culture' theory, Antonio Gramsci's Hegemony theory, the Frankfurt school, Theodor Adorno's theory, the Birmingham School, and Dick Hebdige's theory, all topics I will be evaluating, analyzing, and paying attention to the key characteristics about each one.

Popular Culture – Theory: 

The popular culture theory is the understanding of cultural ideas consumed by working class people. Describes the lifestyle and tastes of the majority of most younger people who are then more easily influenced by what they see and grow up watching. Popular culture changes with the youth of society, and at the same time, youth changes with popular culture. Popular culture became a mainstream mainstay in the 80’s, with youth groups like the Mods and Rockers dominating newspaper headlines with their antics and influences based around music artists and bands. This carried on all the way through society with the youth in the 90’s turning to violence, alcohol and drugs as popular Hip-Hop artists like Tupac, Nas, Biggie and N.W.A. were of a major influence with lyrical mentions of drugs, and even artists representing ‘gangs’ with their image. To this day, the current century it has been shifted to sex, drugs and alcohol. There are artists such as Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown using their popularity to avoid being drawn up for using sex talk within their songs, Nicki Minaj made a song called ‘Truffle Butter’, those who wish to remain uncorrupted will avoid the meaning, but a deep reference suggests she’s talking about the act rather than the delicacy.

Antonio Gramsci – Theory:

Gramsci’s theory was based and centered around the opinion that the control of the media can influence things such as what shows are aired or cancelled, and the degree to which a TV channel covers or doesn’t cover certain news stories. This can be reflected in the sense that due to the fact that the openly conservative Rupert Murdoch owns a percentage of Sky News, it can be seen with close analysis that they hide certain news stories in comparison to a majority of other conglomerate companies. This results in the audience being passive, thinking the same and then not challenging cultural dominant ideologies. Gramsci also stated that we the people, and society, follow the dominant culture and ideology of the country. Hegemony is now being challenged in the modern day media as people are able to self-publish music videos, etc. rather than being under the control of mainstream corporations. It is then easier to access by consumers.

Frankfurt School - Theory: 

In working at the Institute for Social Research, Frankfurt, in the late 1920’s, theorists Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, Lowenthal and Fromm were producers of some of the first accounts within critical social theory and of the importance of mass culture and communication in reproduction and superiority. However, it is only Horkheimer and Adorno that came to develop powerful analysis of the radical changes in Western capitalist societies that transpired since the classical theory of Karl Marx. They constructed the ideology that the media used different ways to come across as this ‘hypodermic syringe’, putting forward that some contents of the media were subconsciously infused into the minds of the audience who were, on many occasions, perceived as being quite passive and overlooking. This made it easier for all forms of media to bypass the audience and continue to be controlled by the social elites, as they are aware that they will not be challenged. 

Theodor Adorno - Theory: 

Theodor Adorno is a German philosopher, sociologist and composer, well known for his critical theories on modern society and music. Studying at Frankfurt School, Germany, he despised of jazz and popular music, often viewing it as part of 'culture industry', further blaming it for contributing to the current sustainability of capitalism. Often arguing that the culture industry manipulated the majority population, with popular culture being identified as a reason to why audiences became so passive, that "the easy pleasures available through consumption of popular culture made society tame and content", with no regards to their financial and economic status. Adorno also stated that, "the same thing is offered to everyone by the standardized production of consumption goods".

His theory is often devoted to identifying the different objective constituent involved in the experience of identification, than the real experience related to the individual. This can be linked with modern art as music charts are often dominated by mainstream artists with similar songs, promoting various themes such as partying, or taking drugs, having sexual partners and even being involved in individual or gang violence. This is the type of music that appeals to the masses, suits their taste, further manipulating them to accept the music being promoted. This confines niche genres such as classical and opera being excluded to just the ears of the non-mainstream audience, further stating that 'true art' was at the top of the hierarchy and included music from the identified niche genres.
 

Birmingham School – Theory:

Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist and sociologist who attended the Birmingham School where he created a theory based around the issues concerning Hegemony. This theory included encoding, the process by which a text is constructed by its producers, and decoding, the way in which an audience reads, understands and interprets a text, others will decode the text in a very different way.

• Encoding – The process by which a text is constructed by its producers.

S. Hall also pointed out that audiences will decode a product in a contrasting manner due to a wide range of factors. There was a sense that the Bourgeoisie will react to media text rather different compared to the masses. They will most likely scorn upon a hip-hop song, whereas the masses will have more of a chance of accepting and understanding the value, as it has a more tasteful appeal to that part, just as how the masses will most likely fail to be appealed by classical music whereas the latter will embrace and comply it.

• Decoding – The way in which an audience reads, understands and interprets a text. Others will decode the text in a different way.

Dick Hebdige - Theory:

Dick Hebdige, a media theorist and sociologist, known for having his work associated within subcultures in the music industry, and its constant resistance of the mainstream culture. Hebdige believed that the general audience have a choice on whether they resist the norms of the music industry by finding various other alternatives to consume. This then leads to the conglomerates of the music industry, making a step to diffuse this by trying to manufacture products they know the audience will be more likely to consume rather than leaving for another option. As modern society grows, so do music artists, and the way they want to be seen in society, will determine the way they use sub-cultural values to represent themselves. And with the media recognizing sub-cultures as much as the audience, they have now devised ways to allow it to be marketed and promoted on a wide scale, bringing further attention to niche artists and genres. 

Conclusion

In reading up about popular culture and the different theories about it, I can make a final judgement on how i would want my music to be portrayed as, who it appeals to and what it is classified as in terms of the masses and the bourgeoisie. In my music video i will, however be representing themes the masses will be able to understand and relate to, further promoting my music video and gaining the natural attention I am aiming for.

Research: Diverse music videos

What are diverse music videos?

Diverse music videos are videos in which content isn’t quite mainstream or common, and fits into a category where it may only be aimed at a niche audience and those who can keep up with subliminal messages being thrown here and there.  The conventions within diverse music videos have led to critics infusing that they will always have a concept based approach. There will always be a contrasting difference between performance, narrative and concept based music videos, and with directors pulling the strings to make sure concept based videos make huge statements in the music video industry, diverse music videos will continue to thrive. The types of genres that fit into the diverse music video industry are House, Indie, Indie Pop and Soft Rock besides various other unidentified subgenres, yet these genres have artists who constantly include diverse music videos within their work. 

Cunningham

Chris Cunningham is a British video artist and is one of many directors in the media industry highly notable for his work on Bjorks ‘All is Full of Love’, a music video which won multiple awards, including an MTV music video for a Breakthrough Video and a nomination for a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. He has worked with a wide range of other artists like Madonna, Aphex Twins and Gene, and even came out of a seven-year hiatus to do video work for The Horrors. Adding to the earlier recognition he received for his work, Madonna's "Frozen", in which he was director, became an international hit and went on to win the award for 'Best Special Effects', as well as the video for Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker", being nominated for the 'Best Video Award' at the 09' Brit Awards. He has been so influential in the industry he has switched between the film, TV and art industry, this has allowed him to gain notable popularity. Cunningham has a wider mind with a lot of creativity, allowing his music videos to reflect his beliefs and further appeal to a niche audience. Below are various examples of videos that he has directed and stood out from the audience due to its nature, content and diversity.

Bjork - All is Full of Love

Cunningham was the director for the music video that entices two robots being slowly built throughout the course of the film and end up falling in love. It displays two robots enraptured in their surroundings, embracing the only their counterpart as they are magically being put together by the machines around them yet not taking into account that they are not finished pieces. It is love between the opposite sex without using a man and a woman, the robots are a delicate design implemented by the creativity and imagination of Cunningham at a time when diversity was still an unknown subject matter. The genius of Cunningham to have the music video directed to suit the unique lyrics of Bjork created a masterpiece and allowed for the audience to subtly engage with the message endorsed by Bjork. Cunningham did state that he was he was ready to quit recording due to a lack of clear structure in terms of the video, yet he wanted to wait and see how it looked at the end after further pushing to complete the production, expanding his creative ideas to generate the music video to what it is now. The video does lack common conventions of a normal music video in which the topic is love, as the main characters would usually be human characters and not an animal or a robot, it would be an easy understanding as we see robots as machines and that they do not embrace love or feel any emotions, allowing for the diversity of this and its standout from other videos. 

Aphex Twins - Windowlicker

Cunningham directed this video for Richard. D. James, released under his pseudonym, Aphex Twins. Released on 22 March 1999, it peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. The artwork and music video was created by Chris Cunningham, in which the video was then nomiated at the Brit Awards for 'Best British Video'. It is a ten-minute long parody of contemporary American gangsta Hip-Hop music videos and involved several sections where it openly criticised the common format of these videos. According to analytical research, there are 127 uses of profanity within the dialogue section, this also includes the word "fuck" used a record 44 times. This was another video directed by Cunningham in which it was nominated at the Brit Awards for Best Video Award, and was restricted to only being aired after 9pm due to its graphic content and explicit dialogue. The video was created as a way for Cunningham to express his dislike for the context and messages displayed in American gangsta Hip-Hop music videos. The video featured several different characters, and mainly the stereotypical black and hispanics who made gangsta hip-hop what it was at the time, it then dived into other common aspects of gangsta hip-hop with James appearing in the video dressed like a 'Pimp', to show the audience the type of messages they aim to convey to the audience. 

Madonna - Frozen

Cunningham was also cast as a director for the video to Madonna's "Frozen", this was just as successful as his other works and won the "Best Special Effects" award at the MTV Video Music Award the same year of its release. The video consisted of Madonna in the desert, portrayed by Cunningham as this dark, witch-like character, of which she then transforms or shapeshifts into several different obscurities, the video may have a deeper message for the audience to concur amongst themselves, however the mood of the video sets an unanswerable tone to which we see Madonna as a lonely figure with the lyrics aiding Cunningham in delivering this intense message to the audience. This is not common within music videos cornered around romance and love, it is unconventional for music videos in which the theme is love to be quite dark and broad rather than bright, colourful and eccentric. However the audience can take from this that the music video has gone for a more diverse approach, a contrasting difference in comparison to other less diverse music videos, yet the direction of the video doesn't come as a surprise due to the name of the director, evidently showing that there are links within all of Cunningham's ideas.

Gondry

Michel Gondry, once a young director in the process of making a name for himself, born in 1963 in French city of Versailles, he directed his first music video 25 years later in 1988, in the form of a video for the French band 'Oui Oui', for their song "Junior Et Sa Voix D'or". He then carried on to make a further two videos for the same band, all within the same year and then set his directing career off from then. He has been noted several times for his inventive style in a visual sense a clear distinctive influencing of mise en scene. Along with Cunningham he has won an award, an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for his work on 2004 film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, as one of the writers, he is also notable for directing the American superhero comedy, The Green Hornet. 

The White Stripes - The Hardest Button to Button

Gondry was cast as the general director for the music video for The White Stripes, and made it a masterpiece. Even leading to a reference of their music video appearing in The Simpsons on Sky 1, in September 2006, the song also appears as a playable track in Rock Band 3 on seventh gen consoles. It was the third music video, out of four, that Gondry directed for them. As someone known for using pixilation animation in their music videos, Gondry brought that same habit to produce the diverse video for The White Stripes. It was a long process for Gondry and the band, which included 32 identical drum kits, 32 identical amplifiers and 16 identical microphone stands, with the equipment being donated to a music school after the entire process. It escapes conventional features of most modern music videos by its diverse editing techniques and lower budget in terms of effects and elements, moreover a branch of unlimited imagination, creativity and diversity, something Gondry was well known for.

Bjork - Crystalline 

As well as working with Chris Cunningham, Bjork also worked Michel Gondry, and it was just as special as her work Cunningham. Michel Gondry was enlisted by Bjork to direct the video for her 2011 song, 'Crystalline', he came up with the idea with Bjork and developed it to create a concept video with brilliant techniques, the use of colour in the video atones for mass diversity of this video. The first scene is introduced with a moon, and somewhat a meteor shower forming on its surface, generating various different forms and crystal type objects. Gondry decided to place Bjork in the video by making it seem Godlike, looking over the goings on that befell her. Concept videos often use a mass amount of computer generated images and animations to create the 'concept' idea, creating what makes it so diverse, stop-motion animation as well as pixilation animation, something Bjork enjoys using in his videos, is common in this video, with stop-motion being used for this. Gondry stated that in terms of directing the video, and the ideas that were brought up for this, "All resulted from several conversations we had, (Bjork and Gondry), about these matters". 

Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You

Gondry was once again enlisted to direct a massive hit and this time by fellow French house band Stardust, for their 1998 smash 'Music Sounds Better With You'. A collaborative effort by two French producers and one vocalist including Thomas Bangalter, now formerly known as one half of Daft Punk. Gondry took on the task of directing the video for this song, which from what I have researched, is a different genre from his past work. Gondry depicted the story of a boy building a model plane over several days, with the implication that the boy was using it to get away from an argument between his parents over what seemed to be his father spoiling him. The boy then completes his plane and throws it into the skies only for it to land on a cloud, which is a major step away from the realistic emphasis that clouds aren't solid and more into the imaginative vicinity that they are. As the video carries on it becomes clear that Stardust, the performing band, are on top of the cloud, in which they then throw his plane back to him, allowing for the boy to carry on with his day. Somewhat a change with music videos as it has no links whatsoever to the song, yet it still draws you in, Gondry had created a video that draws an audience by leaving them curious as to if the boy gets his plane back, if the parents stop arguing, if he finishes his plane, all of these questions asked whilst watching the video, although it had no links to the song, it didn't really matter as that is what Michel Gondry was aiming for. 

Advantages

An artist may have the agenda of reaching out to smaller, more niche audiences, therefore the quality of their product will be of a standard that appeals more to their expectations. This can be exempt from mainstream audiences as their music may contain features and conventions that are uncommon and rare. 

Diverse music videos from an artist have the ability to recreate the artists image towards the audience and media. The artist could be seen as a modern day protagonist aiming to relieve society of mainstream music videos and common conventions within the mainstream scene by the audience and media. 

A diverse music video may be quite difficult to understand but they are said to be more of a psychological engagement, than a challenge. This allows niche audiences to be categorised as those with a tendency to be engaged with the video and its links with the song, rather than be easily let into the message portrayed by music video of a song.

They can also be a visual appeasement for the audience and set a tone for competitors with the music video industry, as the artist has enlisted a director to better the features within the video, as seen with Gondry and Bjork.

Disadvantages 

It is common for the content of diverse music videos to be controversial. As with diversity, the content usually comes from real-life events which may stimulate the judgement of the viewer and media. 

This can increase the risk of censorship to the video as disagreements with the content shown is possible. And can also increase the risk of heavy backlash from audiences and the media, this can lead to the artists image being tarnished by the image they have attempted to push through and failed.

It also may be difficult for mainstream audiences to understand the video as they are used to videos being rather easy to read and simple, and with diverse videos it means that the video will be of a higher quality standard than most. Deep messages will scour throughout the video in the hope that audiences will be able to understand what the artist is trying to convey.

Diverse music videos should stay away from the mainstream 

Some may agree and disagree on this case, but I personally think diverse music videos should stay away from the mainstream music videos. This is down to the point that diverse music videos have a niche audience, and appeal to the lesser minority of society, this should be kept the way it is to ensure that they receive the critical acclaim they get upon release. However difficult it may be to achieve full support from the music industry, diverse music videos are highly recognised at award ceremonies with artists being awarded awards for, 'Best special effects' and 'Video of the Year', amongst many other special awards for a directors work on a songs music video. Artists like Gondry and Cunningham get recognition from directing videos and departing them away from the mainstream scene, rather allowing them to take their own shine and create a vibe that only a diverse, concept music video can create, allows the audience to engage their mind still within the universe of the diverse video rather than be able to relate, configures a sense of escapism for the audience/ viewer. 

Conclusion

In my music video, with my group I will take a look at the storyboard and final idea and generate an insight into whether a diverse music video will be the result. We may create a diverse music video on a performance and concept scale, rather than the common narrative platform they take. This is down to the expectations of the audience and media to produce something appealing, yet be different, diverse and sundry. This is something we will attempt to aim at in order to receive positive feedback and effective views, diverse music videos are often praised for its increasing support of diversity rather than being abject and recurrent of the mainstream expectation and representation.

Research: Mulvey's Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze

The ‘Male Gaze’ was the theory of Laura Mulvey, where she stated that everything on the TV was seen from the viewpoint of a male heterosexuals’ eyes, that within films, music videos, magazines and other forms of media, the gaze on women were from what heterosexual men see so cleavage, exposed legs and other means that influence the notion of looking. Laura Mulvey was a media theorist who studied at St Hilda’s college, Oxford, now a professor of film and media studies, she believed men looked at women for their visual pleasure as it appeases their mind. For feminists however, it can be thought of in 3 different ways; How men look at women, how women look at other women and how women look at themselves. This can be put into perspective from any view. She also came across with the ideology that there was a distinction in terms of an active male and a passive female, as if to say that males were most sexually powerful, and often have the insensitive to make things happen and support this ideology, whereas females are less active, often come under control of the male gaze and are considered to only exist for visual pleasure. 

Examples 

Robin Thicke ft Pharrell and T.I. - Blurred Lines

This video depicts everything right with 'Mulveys' Male Gaze' theory, from the constant glance of the camera on the half-nude girls, to the clearly visible physical affection they display to the male characters. Mise-en-scene is used throughout the video to tell a story and make it easier to understand the situation, with the incredibly light pink background behind the performers used to suggest the sexual intensity and feeling in the moment. Light pink is often associated with lust and sexual appeasements, just as much as red, and is a clear indication that the attraction between the male and female characters is innocently sexual rather than a guilty feeling a red background would suggest. During the video however, '#Blurred Lines' in large red capitals is splattered across the screen to openly visualize the message of the song and lyrics. On the songs contents, Robin Thicke's manager Jordan Feldstein, said that "I knew it would get it banned, getting something banned actually helps to attract attention from the media"

Drake - Hotline Bling

That is another video that may help prove 'Mulveys Male Gaze' theory correct, it may not depict nude or half naked girls but the dancing involved inspires the notion of looking at a female in a sexually attractive manner. The constant use of female dancers throughout the video, with him being the only male character shows a sense of boasting that he has so many beautiful women in his sight, making him a bit of a pimp. The video begins in an office-type work room, including several workers who are all female, dressed in the same white top, blue jean outfit, as tying into the colour used, the bright pink can be used to suggest they are all innocent characters in what they may get up to, however their job and the way they speak is a contradictory statement as it shows they are not bothered, resulting in the audience to believe they are a classy reflection of 'call girls'.

Drake - Best I Ever Had

Once again the king of Canadian hip-hop/rap has another video that depicts 'Mulveys Male Gaze' as being common, even in the modern era of music. This song may seem like it is about Basketball as the video suggests, but it isn't. It has a broad yet unidentified aftertaste of being a concept based music video, yet the adding of the raunchy, and openly exposed female cheerleaders contradicts the inner content of the song. The song, 'Best I Ever Had', has a clear indication that the artist may be talking about his sexual encounter with his female counterpart, as the lyrics, 'you're the best i ever had' supports this statement due to the way language has evolved and how it is interpreted by the listener and audience. The persistent exposure of the female body parts, as well as cleavage, shows the audience that this is more than just a video featuring cheerleaders, with girls in wet clothing, short shorts, low cut tops and sweaty in the locker room.

Criticism

Criticism generated from this theory is that some percentage of women on this earth enjoy being looked at, and there is nothing wrong with that, it just contradicts the theory in the sense that the male gaze doesn't enforce this heterosexual viewpoint on a woman. Pageants, models, pornstars and many other positions in which a female allows the media and camera to look at them in such a manner, are what throw this theory into a different perspective and allow for the audience to question if this theory is still active.

Notably, with society and the media changing she has completely ignored the gaze on men. Her theory is gender bias as the gaze can also be directed towards men, due to the modern era and new age of commercialism, as there are films, music videos and adverts amongst many other forms of media used to promote the gaze on men. Most would have thought only women do stripping/striptease, but with the release of box office success 'Magic Mike XXL', and their constant use of promotion of the film which included all men topless in a performance-style posture, opinion has changed and Mulvey's Male Gaze has been questioned.  

Another thing is, she hasn't really considered the perspective of a female view on another female, she just states her theory from a males perspective. This makes it very difficult for the audience to understand and shifts the blame on men that women are exposed and manipulated by the male gaze to appease to their vague demands. Because they're from a heterosexual perspective and not any other perspective, this makes it harder for a director to cast a female actor in a sexually enticing music video or film, with the potential risk of negative feedback and backlash. This can be avoided if however, everything was seen from a neutral perspective, rather than that of a heterosexual. 

Conclusion

The genre we have chosen doesn't incite the need to bring in Mulvey's Male Gaze, therefore we will keep it at the back of our minds as a potential idea, it may be used to create a concept theme around the title of the song, because of this we can also manipulate the meaning of the lyrics and link it in with Mulveys Male Gaze. However based on the research i have undertaken on this theory, i have come to the conclusion that it may be better off to not use this theory within my music video as it is quite bias and will not have a positive impact on the feedback of the music video, the idea of using it will be there but generally, my group will choose not to.

Research: Censorship

What is music censorship?

Music censorship is the process of which a music video or a song will be censored by having the explicit section cut out, or in worse cases moving to ban the entire song through a main censorship institution. The BBFC control anything that is allowed or suitable to be produced and viewed in the United Kingdom and not global. They are the general commanders or head inspectors of the British film industry in terms of deciding whether a film should be banned, cut or censored. They have a main role and that is to protect the British viewing public from any offensive material or anything that could possibly cause harm to society, such as the visible promotion of violence and sexual assault. The BBFC are important in terms of providing safety and protection to a mass audience, and protecting those watching from viewing something so bad it may have the power to psychologically damage the viewer. For the music industry, there are different ways in which music can be censored, mainly by the label or the institution distributing it, this is to ensure that the reaction and feedback is less negative than how it would be if the uncensored version was released. An example of this is where ‘Judas’ by Lady Gaga, was banned in Lebanon as it was deemed an offense towards Christianity. 

Difference explicit content and explicit lyrics

Explicit content is anything in a music video seen as inappropriate for viewers under the age of 18. Content of an explicit nature is most likely to be evidently seen within the structure of a music video, whether it is a scenario or an action between the characters in the video. Examples of this would be the representation of violence, nudity, sexual content and realism, this could include a scene in which a male character is violently inflicting sexual assault on a female character, this would require censorship due to the content. An another example of this would be Serge Gainsbourgs’ Lemon Incest video, in which French music artist Serge was in bed with his 12-year-old daughter at the time, Charlotte. It caused controversy due to its glamorizing of pedophilia and incest, both due to her age and their relation. MIA’s Born Free video also caused controversy, as the 9-minute video showed red headed young men being dragged away by armed men wearing gas masks, with the youngest of the men later shot in the head. It was removed entirely as it was deemed too violent for user uploaded content, however it still managed to receive positive critical acclaim in 2010. The ‘Parental Advisory’ logo is seen on the back of CD covers, and allows the buyer to understand that the CD contains explicit content and/or explicit lyrics. Due to this being there, it allows the audience to challenge their decision to buy the CD and risk anyone under the age of 18 to view the content.

Explicit lyrics is any lyric in a song viewed as inappropriate for listeners under the age of 18. Lyrics of an explicit nature will most likely be evident in a song without the video as it is within the song structure and not the video structure, this could include a section or the entire song. An example of this is Eminems’ Mosh Pit lyrics where he indirectly mocks President George W. Bush at the time of the song, ‘Let the president answer a higher anarchy, strap him with an AK-47, let him go, fight his own war’, described as a protest song by Eminem in reaction to the presidents fight with the Middle East. Because of this, the explicit version was censored and re-released as a clean version in order to appease audiences and viewers, it was so explicit the CIA were involved. The ‘Parental Advisory’ logo is often displayed on the back of a CD cover, with the intention that the buyer will see this and understand they are exposing their mind to explicit content. The logo is used for both content and lyrics because they are still under the ‘explicit’ category.

Further Examples...

The type of things that get censored, is content that promote and glamorize unsuitable representations of violence, sexual orientations and excessive nudity. In some cases, the representations may not be too explicit to be censored, and instead be mildly explicit allowing for viewers under the age of 18 to view and listen to the content. The artist may say words like ‘shit’ or ‘f***’ once or twice, and language of this nature wouldn’t be particularly censored as in some songs it may not be used often and could come across just once or twice in the song.  There are many songs in the music industry being censored with the explicit version kept somewhere away from the audience in order to protect them, or younger audience being exposed to this, offensive taboo words get replaced with something cleaner or just ‘bleeped’ and the explicit visual sections are either trimmed or entirely removed.

Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us, caused huge controversy due to the content originally shown to the audience. Initially a protest song over the way the government looked down and dealt with the less advanced civilians, the lyrics were what encouraged a censorship in the song. It was considered antisemitism, which as a sort of hate crime against the Jewish community, ‘Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, k-ke me, don’t you black or white me’. Due to persistent public complaining over the clear explicit lyrics, the lyrics were then changed to, ‘Do me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, strike me, don’t you black and white me’, with Michael Jackson having to apology for this.

Another example of a song censored from the audience due to its explicit nature is Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night, it may seem like a happy go lucky song and video but due to the way in which Katy Perry shows off her body to the media, it isn’t all as it seems. The song had a line, considered very naughty, cut from the song due to its deeper meaning and link with the song, ‘ménage a trois’ which in French means a threesome was not allowed to air with the song because a threesome is a matter which isn’t allowed to be promoted due to the common age of the audience of singer Katy Perry.

Radio Censorship/Edit

Radio censorship is the process of the lyrics of a song being edited before playing on a radio station, this has become a common thing with radio edits of songs being released away from the radio station. This is the same thing as a clean version, yet rather than it being done by a bigger broadcaster, it is done through the radio to be played through the radio. It goes through a modification where the explicit lyrics are trimmed out to make the song suitable for airplay. Offending words may be censored, trimmed, reversed, bleeped and even blanked to keep the rules imposed on them by the national communication commissioners of different countries.

An example of radio censorship is the conversion of the lyrics, “F*** You” to “Forget You”, due to the risk of the age of the potential audiences listening to these lyrics and preventing any problems within the radio broadcaster. Some words may not be replaced based on the demand of the record label, with just the most profane lyrics being trimmed and edited. “Let’s Get It Started” by Black Eyed Peas, was originally “Let’s Get Retarded”, but changed due to the risk of negative public outcry, being ‘retarded’ can be considered as being linked with mental health, which could lead to the audiences deeming it a mockery towards the disabled community.

Difference between cut and banned.

There is a distinct difference between content being cut and content being banned. Where content is cut, it is the process of which explicit content will be trimmed, or blanked, or replaced with something cleaner as suggested before to prevent the audience from being exposed to such content. To ban something is to completely prohibit the broadcasting and release of it, and this often happens only when content is incredibly provocative and deemed as an offense. Cut content has more of a chance of being distributed than banned content, yet artists still make music with explicit lyrics and content with the slim hope that it will go through the cutting process and not be banned.

Advantages

It allows for the younger audience to be guarded from overly explicit content, allowing for their young, innocent minds to be kept safe from content they may be way too young to see or experience.

It also prevents backlash from audiences towards the artist as their star image can be modeled around the type of music they release, whether explicit content or explicit lyrics, the audience and the media can generate enough skeptical feedback over the future treatment and reaction to the artists’ productions.

Disadvantages

Totally censoring a song will often be covered in mass media, potentially drawing even more attention towards the song than it would have received if left untouched. This could increase the fame for an artist and generate a star image of the artist, potentially opening the door for artists to purposefully produce songs of an explicit nature.

Conclusion

In terms of content in lyrics and video, I will make sure they are moderately explicit in terms of what is said and what is shown to the audience. The target audience will be a factor in the use of censorship on my song, as it will be more for the young adults of society and not those who are sensitive over taboo words, and get overly touchy because of footage of cleavage or anything influenced by the notion of looking. I am planning to do Summer Friends by Chance the Rapper featuring Jeremiah and, Francis and The Lights. I will read over the lyrics and check out what is explicit and what may harm the audience, however, it may not need to be censored as it isn’t a cause for concern in its own right, there is only one version and it hasn’t been censored which is a clear indication that my take on it may not need to be censored.

Research: Star Image

Star Image

Star image is the way an artist is represented to the audience. Sharing similarities with Dyer’s star theory, it is the image in which an artist aims to forward into the music industry, TV and social media. The audience is there to take in the messages conveyed by the artist, therefore helping to emphasize with the image the star aims to portray. Within the industry it is easier to find a gap to fill and stand out from other artists, this can help to increase an artists’ potentially successful notification and help gain notoriety from music institutions if the artist isn’t already signed to one. There are many ways in which music videos help boost an artists’ career. Creativity for one, is a skill any artist would love to carry, as something as small as creating a narrative based music video using elements of concept and/or performance, can create a masterpiece. Accessibility in terms of music and music videos are taken into careful consideration as an artist needs to question how fans and audiences can listen to their music. 

Some artists like Drake who release their music exclusively through Apple Music, which is iOS based, make it hard for fans without Apple Music, or even an iPhone to listen to newly released singles or albums. This can gather a negative reaction and lead to the loss in sales as they could easily pirate his songs and download them for free on the internet using file sharing and other illegal software. A music video can really help boost an artists’ career as linking in with synergy, other forms of media like magazines, adverts, radio and newspaper, are used to pave the way for an artist to be recognized.

An artist like 50 Cent has had a lasting influence on the audience ever since the media got news of how he survived being shot in the neck more than 3 times, since then he has proudly accepted this bulky macho man image, yet still hanging onto the magnificent tinge of being the incredibly rich hood guy with a millionaires style pad surrounded by a bag of 'bitches'. He hasn't particularly gained attention because of his positive messages and his constant objectification of women, yet his rapping style has caught the attention of an audience, allowing him to influence their opinion on him as an artist. 

Most artists’ personal lives are not entirely kept under the wraps with majority of the world knowing about his divorce from Shaniqua Tompkins, and him going bankrupt yet still have his own TV series, Power. None of his arts portray him to have a sexual or political star image, but the manner in which his videos are coordinated, allows the audience to judge his personality and character based on what he includes in lyrics and the visuals within his video.

Star Image – Sexual

There are four main star images that artists/bands like to portray to the media and audience. A sexual star image may be most common amongst female artists/bands due to the matter in which society models them around sexual attention from the media. Some artists’, male or female, can use music videos to exploit or to feel comfortable with their sexuality. Take Alternative-Pop group, Years&Years, their lead vocalist is openly gay and uses his sexuality to convey it in deeper subliminal messages within their music videos, allowing for stand out effects and elements of conventional representations on gender identity just as much as sexuality.

Star Image – Political

Then there is the political star image that an artist intends on putting forward, or tries to put forward to the media and mainly their fans, in order to be noticed as a political person. As I stated before with Annie Lennox, she helps with charities for HIV/Aids amongst other diseases, and charities working to help with poorer communities, while also producing music and sometimes adding an intertextual reference within her work. Some artists can use music videos to share their political views through their fans and social media, e.g. Twitter, Facebook. 

Macklemore’s politically controversial song, ‘Same Love’, caused a stir in the media as he performed this also at an awards ceremony with soulful singer Mary Lambert. The song was based on the social acceptance of same sex love and marriages, rather than judging these people blindly just because religion says so. It teaches society to accept those attracted to the same sex just as he does, his loyal fanbase will be influenced by this and also others who have never listened to his music, others may disagree with him, but it will be the majority that take this political work of art and use it to place a political star image on him as an artist and person.

Star Image – Moral

A moral star image is not as common as a sexual image, however it still has a lasting effect on the media and does help the artist transfer their opinions. This allows some artists to use their music videos to express their personal opinions on issues that they believe are important or significant in their life. UK rapper, Black the Ripper openly smokes weed and posts it on social media, labelling his actions as a way of allowing the government to see him breaking the rules. This may have elements of a political star image, however that is not the image he chose to portray, he also has a song in which he and other featuring artists are seen smoking ganja, another term for weed.

Star Image – Social

This star image is common within the music industry as artists can be portrayed to the media dependent on how they conceive their selves. With social media allowing fans and the media to get a more accurate insight into how the artist is away from mainstream coverage, artists’ can use music videos to represent a type of lifestyle or ideologies. Bryson Tiller allows fans to get in on his everyday adventures through smartphone app Snapchat, and because of this, an artist can be portrayed as being a happy person, showing the media that their songs and lyrics and what the media may represent them as isn't who they really are, thus allowing for their star image to reflect their home life. 

Conclusion

Having a star image with an artist is more important than you think as it helps the audience understand a specific representation with the artist and the messages their productions are trying to convey. To have a star image, no matter if it’s a moral, social, political or sexual, can have a lasting significance on the media’s coverage over the artist. If the artist is sexual, the media will make sure that all headlines and identifications are linked with the artist and their star image, e.g. ‘Rihanna in raunchy outfit showing off her slim thighs at the Grammys’. I may plan to represent my artist through a moral image, it may be to oppose the negativity over a simple matter within society, and by using my artist it could inadvertently model the influence to channel positive opinions.