Andrew Goodwins' Theory

Andrew Goodwins Theory:

"Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements. As consumers, we make up our own meaning of a song in our minds; a music video can anchor meaning and gives the record company or artist a method of anchoring meaning"

Goodwin identified various parts of his theory:

1. There is a relationship between the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

This convention explains how Goodwin noticed a music videos visuals are similar or completely contrasting to the lyrics of a song, which is important to consider when looking at music videos.



Example: "Running down to the riptide" - Vance Joy

     2.   Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics; their own music video style and iconography.

Goodwin realised that most artists and bands have a trend of repeating actions in their videos to establish this as their signature action, making songs recognisable as it recurs often. This is a form of marketing as people will instantly associate the iconography with the artist. Genre can also be known by location, for example pop music may be filmed at a beach to convey happiness and fun, whereas an indie music video may be filmed in somewhere isolated like a warehouse to convey loneliness.


    3.  Demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist.


Goodwin discovered that in various music videos they include the voyeuristic idea with the artist by watching them throughout there video. This gives the audience more of an insight into their persona.



Example: Ellie Goulding 'Beating Heart' Video.
Shows the vulnerability and loneliness of Ellie which relates to the song she is singing about her heart, and her unique tone conveys the impression that the audience know her well as she is so individual.


     4. They frequently refer to the notion of looking and the particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.


Goodwin realised that voyeurism is commonly used to show the artist throughout the video but is particularly common with females as provocative angles are used to sexualise the artist and make the artist appear desirable to the audience.

Katy Perry - California Gurls Music Video.
Showing her body in a provocative way, despite the theme of the video being candy related the producers were still able to get voyeurism into the video clearly.


   5. Inter textual of other artists products and text
Goodwin recognized it was common to recognize visuals or lyrics of a song to be an exact reference to another media text. This is used to engage the audience and provide them gratification should they recognize it.

Madonna- Material Girl