Music video analysisBy Ollie Davison

Justin Bieber - Love yourself‘Love yourself’ is a song by Canadian born superstar Justin Bieber, the music video is primarily performance based and tells a story of a couple where the man is underappreciated as throughout the song he is consistently shown to be affectionate toward his partner and receive no attention back which eventually pushes him to leave her as the song ends, this is a clear use of Andrew Goodwin’s music theory as the lyrics are illustrated in the video creating a direct link between the two. This has the effect of making both the lyrics and visuals more interesting for the audience.

The ‘Love yourself’ music video furthers its use of Goodwin’s music theory as it also displays a link between the music and what is illustrated on screen, it captures this by implementing a dance routine into the everyday life of the characters on screen where by they dance in time with the beat of the music. This has created a triangular relationship that connects the music, lyrics and visuals and overall makes for a very successful video. The unrealistic nature of the characters behavior only increases audience interest

The genre characteristics that are displayed in this music video are very conventional, as it is a more pop style of indie music it is clear that characteristics from both genres show regularly. We see examples from its pop side through the use of dance routines, these are common in pop videos as it is a reflection of the ‘feel good’ vibes they give off, we can also see more examples of conventions as the video features a male and female who are shown to be in a relationship, this is again common in pop videos as love is a popular song topic within the genre.

Examples of conventions used from the indie side to the music video is shown through the clothing that the male wears, it is all non branded plain clothing, this is a reflection of the typical indie ideology of not conforming to social norms of branded clothes. We also see more examples of this convention through the design of the house they are in, it is a dated simple theme with no extravagant furniture, this gives the impression to the audience that the characters are regular middle class people which is so often promoted in the indie genre as it is accepted as being relatable to fans.

A way in which this video challenges conventions and Goodwin’s theory is that it does not include any footage of the actual artist, Justin Bieber. The resulting effect of this is less exposure for the artist and is not often liked by record companies as it may harm sales, however in this case it is not a problem because of the already global fame that the artist holds. Subsequently to this, there is also a lack of close ups of the characters but this is expected as the video doesn’t feature the artists meaning close ups do not have the same effect of increasing sales.

The Courteeners – Are you in love with a notion

‘Are you in love with a notion’ is a song by Manchester born band ‘The Courteeners’. The music video is a combination of narrative and performance styles, it shows a couple in a troubled relationship with regular cut aways to vocalist Liam Fray singing. Once again this is a clear use of Andrew Goodwin’s music theology as the lyrics, which are sung from the view point of the vocalist, are about liking a girl who is in a relationship, this is illustrated in the video. The effect on audiences is that they sense an actual meaning to the lyrics which they may be able to relate to through a direct link between what they can see and what they hear.

This music video furthers its use of Andrew Goodwin’s music theology by creating a link between the music and the lyrics. Whilst this link is less obvious than in the Justin Bieber music video, it can still be seen when the beat speeds up at 0:06 minutes in as lots of clips played at an enhanced speed are shown continuously until the beat slows down again. There are more examples of this as on each beat of the music the video switches shots. This works effectively on a subconscious level for creating a relationship in the readers head between the music and what is displayed on screen.

The genre characteristics for indie/alternative music is displayed throughout the music video for ‘Are you in love with a notion’, the first and most prominent use of these conventions are through the clothing styles of the band members. The non branded bomber jackets and shirts are typical of indie artists, combined with the clean cut facial hair and sunglasses of the vocalist it creates the usual stylish and trendy character associated with indie music. Conventions are taken further through the videos references to smoking as is seen at 1:24, once again this is a common trait amongst music videos for this genre to glorify smoking, drinking and drugs as it appeals to the audience of this type of music as it is generally young people aged 16 – 24 who listen to it.

Another noticeable theme that runs throughout the music video is the amount of close ups of the band members, from the start of the video we get shots of the entire band and many more of the vocalist, these shots occur repeatedly in the video from start to finish, it is a common theme in music videos as it meets demands of the record labels to have lots of exposure for band members and especially vocalists hence why Liam Fray is seen so much more than the other band members.

Owl City – Fireflies ’Owl City’ is the name that represents Adam Young in the music industry, his song ‘fireflies’ was a debut single released in 2009 that reached number one in the billboard top 100. The music video features the vocalist playing an electronic keyboard in a bedroom filled with children’s toys. The song itself is about insomnia and the inability to sleep at night, it is a personal song about the artist’s experiences as a young boy. Therefore the inclusion of the children's toys in the visuals is a link to the lyrics, there is further links between the lyrics and what is illustrated in the video as at 0:55 minutes into the video, a ‘speak and spell’ toy types out the lyrics as the vocalist sings them, this is a clear and obvious link between lyrics and visuals.

Once again this music video also creates links between the music and what is shown on screen, this is done in multiple ways throughout the video, the first is the various toys and objects in the room turning on with each beat during the opening 30 seconds of the song. Secondly, as the vocalist plays the electronic keyboard around 1:00 into the video, different lights are shown illuminated for each different note heard in the song. Finally, the radio is shown to tune to a station on a lower frequency as the vocalist elongates an individual word in the lyrics, these are all clear direct links between music and visuals which helps the video as a whole become better consumed by the audience.

A way in which this music video challenges indie conventions is by its lack of genre characteristics in the video, typical indie music videos will display little to no examples of brands or items that are conventional to the wider public. However, in this music video we see lots of traditional children’s toys. There is also strong links to the lifestyle of a child (large amounts of time spent in the bedroom), this is unusual and unlike most indie music videos where often the visuals associate the characters within the video to adult items such as alcohol and cigarettes.

’Fireflies’ is a song that falls in the ‘indietronica’ genre of music, meaning that it is a combination of both indie and electronica genres and so therefore adheres to conventions of both genres. Electronica is a relatively small and new genre of music and therefore does not have many conventions associated with it. Despite this, the video shows one of its few conventions through its use of lights, throughout the video many different multicolored lights are seen appearing on screen.