Diversity of Music Video's

Diversity of Music Video's

Using examples from famous artists, such as Madonna and Alphex Twin, I will explain what is meant by the diversity of music video's.

'Frozen' by Madonna is very slow and unconventional to the style of music she creates. The typical stereotype known for Madona is happy, fun and joyous, making her image appeal to a large target audience. In contrast to this, 'Frozen' has an opposite effect on the audience as it is more sad, lonely, gothic and uses large amounts of dark colours. The video also shows a large amount of emotion portrayed through close-ups of the artist. Madonna is holding a black handkerchief in her hand matching her clothing. She is dressed as though she is in mourning of death. The video is completely performance based, not linking to Andrew Goodwins theory, showing Madonna isolated in an empty wasteland. As this is unlike any other video's of hers it is likely that the artist has tried something different in hope of gaining a wider target audience, aiming for people with tastes in other genre's to show that she is diverse and versatile.

The next video which is an example of a diverse music video is Aphex Twin's 'Window Licker'. This video is extremely unconventional to the genre he is in. The music video is solely concent based and like Madonna's 'Frozen' could be another attempt to widen her target audience. Because this video is something nobody the audience that watches would expect, it makes the artist unique to any other artist in the same genre category. Whether the video is liked or disliked, it probably has caused controversy with his fanbase and maybe people from the genre he has tried to reach for being something he is not. The clothes worn and the cars shown in the video, show how the artist is trying to be something seen in a hip hop/r'n'b category. The first four minutes of the video includes swearing and a lot of sexist talk about women, a stereotype not seen is his usual genre. It has been made quite difficult for the audience to build a relationship with the artist Aphex Twin as he doesn't appear in the video. The video, like 'Frozen' doesnt conform to Goodwins Theory because it is solely concept based instead of having a bit of all three.

There are positives and negatives about an artist having a diverse music video. The positives show the creative side to the artist and how the artist can be diverse and versatile. It can also represent a deeper side to the artist, something possibly not shown through the media.
A big negative point would be that the artists consistant fans may not be overwhelmingly impressed with the drastic change as they like the artist the way they are. Which brings controversy although that may be what the artist wants. Famous artists such as Madonna have the power to manipulate the industry and maybe make a divrese music video, therefore with the power she has in the industry, one bad/diverse song won't break her career. By creating a diverse video that isn't liked by the audience they are aiming at can be detrimental to the artists reputution and damage their career.
Diversity brings large amount of publicity to not only the artist but the record label and the genre of music the artist is currently in. More publicity whether good or bad will make the audience want to listen to what all the controversy is about and also results in more advertising and fame.

Both music video's were directed by Chris Cunningham which shows that his idea's are unconventional in all types of the word. He seems to focus on the outrageous and not care about what the stereotypes of the artist's genre there are but to make up his own. Chris Cunningham is best known for his work in 'Window Licker' as the visuals are over 10 minutes long and he was nominated for a Grammy for the Best Short Film Music Video.

Overall I think I understand the message the artist wants to bring that they are able to be something other than the image created, star theory by Richard Dyer, however neither of these videos personally appeal to me and I think maybe they stretched a bit too far out to create something that wasn't necessary. Both artists are very talented but the visuals of the videos were strange and not something an audience is used to seeing from these artists. After watching these video's I don't think I will be making my music video to the song 'I Won't Give Up' very diverse.