Towards the Audio-Visual The Music Video and Popular Music The latter half of the 20th century was, if anything, a time for change. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the globe was affected by a fundamental shift in the balance of power, economics, politics, and technology. The Cold War brought about the emergence of computers, space exploration, and increased emphasis on national research and development. The sexual revolution of the 1960s emphasized the need for balance between morals and progressive sentiment, and the Vietnam War created a new form of American consumer – liberal in philosophy and radical in action. So much was transformed during this era that almost every aspect of American life was affected. Given this sociopolitical …show more content…
In so doing, they established visual style as a pre-eminent aspect of performance (Shuker 125). During this time, music videos became an essential part of music industry promotional strategy. Virtually every single released, by both majors and independent labels alike, was supported by a video. Of course, like with any other technological advancement, music videos had – and still have – its pros and cons. For one thing, it enabled artists and producers to capitalize on the growth of television. This was a healthy development for the music industry, as it predicated the means for new alternatives for growth and development. All of a sudden, artists and musicians were no longer limited to radio or the traditional methods for distributing their music. They tapped into the visual spectacle that is television and managed to reach out to a wider audience, one that is concerned less with hearing and more with telling a story through both sound and the moving image. Artists and musicians also had more freedom for expression, as they were not constrained with the lyrical texture or melodic harmonies of particular songs. They expanded their artistic avenues towards the moving image, as Michael Jackson particularly did well in his now-legendary music video for …show more content…
These elements have, time and again, been pointed out not only by music critics, but also by the general public. Firstly, the music video had made ‘image’ more important than the experience of music itself, with effects which are to be feared. There is, for example, potential difficulties for artists with poor ‘images’. It is hard to imagine someone less appealing as, say, Britney Spears breaking out and achieving widespread chart success. Moreover, the adoption of the music video as a primary distribution tool also ran the risk that theatricality and spectacle would take precedence over intrinsically ‘musical’ values (Vernallis 50). This is the qualm that dominated hip hop music videos in the 1990s, for example, when enlarged bosoms and buttocks littered the image, to the detriment of the music itself. More philosophically, the emergence of music video also deprived the individual listener of a fundamental interpretive liberty of the musical text. Rather than read a particular song in a particularly individual way, for example, the listener is thrust into a visual stimulus that “dictated” whatever it was that the text was saying. The video, rather than the listener, now has visual or narrative interpretations of the song lyrics, and these are thrust into the consciousness of the listener, allowing for an affective
Both constitutional and social developments greatly changed the United States to a revolutionary proportion between 1860 and 1877. The new amendments and the fight for civil rights altered the previous way of life and forever changed American society. Inequality, fear, and corruption sent the United States into turmoil that would transform the country and lead to a revolution of change.
After the war, the American people made the change from "old" ways to "new" ways. Many factors, such as new technology, fundamentalism, new looks and church led to tension between the old and the new. The 1920s were a time of conflicting viewpoints between traditional behaviors and new and changing attitudes.
period of American history. Those working for a social change did so under a variety of
Music videos are apart of humans visual language, they are an artform and although they are arguably on the decline, music videos are an important factor of an artists career. Due to new technologies music is consumed on the internet and forgotten about daily. So from a record label point of view, an artist needs something bigger than an a song to get noticed; artists need strong creative visuals to give them a substantial competitive advantage over their peers (Boardman). A music video takes the artists voice and gives them a visual language to connect to their listener, and gives the listener a chance to connect with a wider audience. There are risks associated with music videos, they can either turn out really good and be a cultural phenomenon
Although there are various time periods in American history that have implemented a change in the nation, there are three significant periods that ultimately changed social, political, and economic aspects of America. These three periods are the era of World War II, the Roaring 20s, and the Civil Rights Era. Multiple events occurring in each of those time periods greatly influenced specific individuals, reciprocating society into what it is today. Thus, improving characteristics that America fundamentally represents.
“If you want change, you have to make it. If we want progress we have to drive It.” - Susan Rice. The author of this quotation had it right because the only way that anything in life becomes better or worthwhile is through change. When we talk about change in reference to music, Michael Jackson definitely comes to mind. Michael Jackson changed a lot of things starting with the change of pop music and how it was presented and gave it a “new sound”. The same holds true for the music industry. ” For starters, the record industry as a whole was in a bad slump, with shipments industry-wide down by 50 million units between 1980 and 1982. CBS Records' own profits were down 50% and sales were down over 15% for the year. As a result, major company-wide layoffs occurred in mid-August, on a day the company would remember as "Black Friday." CBS desperately needed Jackson's album to be a hit, but market conditions appeared daunting.” - Steve Greenberg. Michael Jackson brought the youth back in to buying albums and started to get the youth back into listening to good music instead spending all of their money on video games and going to arcades, which in fact was the thing for the youth to do around the 1980’s.
Putman, D. (1990). THE AESTHETIC RELATION OF MUSICAL PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE. British Journal of Aesthetics. 30 (4), 1-2.
It became apparent that making a music video could be a profitable venture. Every artist had a music video for his or her hit single. Making a video has proven to be the best way, especially if you are a new artist, to allow fans to see your face. This allows the public to become more intimate with the band and its members. This held true for new as well as older more establish acts such as Michael Jackson. He did not need to sell his image however it did help him. He wanted to be an innovator not only in music, but in video as well. He accomplished this when he produced his classic video epic “Thriller”. The million-dollar video paid for itself when “Thriller” became the top selling album of its time. From then on, it was safe to assume that videos will make a large impact on the music industry for years to come.
For example, music is becoming more widely available to the general public with the introduction of mp3 players and the growth of the online music industry. The essay is concluded with my personal feelings towards the use of electronic technology within the live music industry, as well as the recording studio environment. This conclusion reveals that while the use of electronic technology has become crucial in the modern music market, it should not detract from the quality of live music produced. In this way, I feel that the use of electronic technology – namely drum machines and computerised backing tracks – have had a negative effect on the live music industry, because the majority of artists within the ‘pop’ genre now use computer-generated backing for live performances.
American Society on the Change during the Post-World War Years. After World War II, Americans experienced a time of rapid social change. American soldiers were discharged and returned home from the battlefields, hoping to find work and to get on with their lives. Marriage rates increased dramatically after the war.
Rock and Roll, as a music genre, has evolved greatly with each decade; some of this is attributed to technology. One of the biggest leaps forward made for technology and the music genre is the widespread commercial popularity of the television. Since its introduction, television has caused the growing genre to rapidly reach mainstream audiences. Though it is this day hard to pinpoint the full impact of this invention to Rock n’ Roll, it is hard to argue that it didn’t help shape it into the powerful industry that it is today. From the Rockabilly era, to the British Invasion, all the way to the formation of MTV; television has attributed to these eras and changes seen in this genre. The importance of television is very high as it allowed stars to be made and stars to be pushed aside. Television has also allowed even the most remote people to know what the latest stars were doing. It can be said that Rock n’ Roll would not have gained its social acceptance without television to bring it into the lime light and causing it to rapidly reach the youths of the era.
The music industry is an ever-evolving revolutionary entertainment industry for the masses. Music provides entertainment to all different masses due to the variety of genres produced. Music is a very profitable and complex industry. Music has expanded to a worldwide industry for musical artist to express their art through the form of song to the masses. Music not only appeals to the ears but to every aspect of a person. Music allows for individuals to explore and let their imagination expand as they here a song. Throughout the years the industry has undergone dramatic changes. Whether it is genres, forms of how it is distributed, or even the impact the artist have had. The industry is diverse and ever changing as the years continue. In the past 20 years the industry has changed with help of the technological breakthroughs and adoptions.
Development in computer technology has also made a big impression on music. Many things within these fields have enabled artists to connect with their fans in ways they couldn’t before, and on a lower budget. In this paper, the discussion will be about all of these topics, and about the factors that help transform the music industry into something altogether easier for new people to contribute to. History: Back in the early 1980’s, record labels controlled what people could hear through airplay, record distribution and manufacturing, and selective promotion of music based on their judgement of their audience.
Music videos originally served the purpose of creating an outlet through which artists could generate publicity for their work, broaden their popular appeal, and reach wider audiences with interesting audio-visual content (Berry & Shelton, 1999). Over the years, the visual imagery in music videos has increasingly become as significant as the music it represents, as music videos have now become major outlets for propagating views and stereotypes that influence popular culture.
When music is created, it integrates the cultural and emotional situations that occur in everyday life. People create dances to the transformation of music. For example, a comedian, Judson Laipply has create the “evolution of dance.” This dance incorporates different genres, songs and dances of each generation. He shows dances that people have created overtime to interact with beats of songs. These two videos show perfect examples of how people have created their own way to connect to different music. Both videos demonstrate how music has evolved over time. Judson incorporated songs that have defined past generations and songs that define generation y.