Goodwin's Theory of Music Videos

Goodwin's Theory

 

In 1982, Andrew Goodwin published a book that explained codes and conventions of music videos after years of research, this was called 'Dancing In The Distraction Factory'

 

Goodwin's Theory identified these key features:

 

1. Music Videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics e.g. hard rock: performance, girl/boy band: dance routines, rap/hiphop: women and expensive jewellery and cars etc.
2. There is always a relationship between lyrics and visuals, often this is illustrative but it could contradict.
3. There is a relationships between music and visuals e.g. the mood which could also be contradictory or illustrative.
4. The demands of the record labels will be for lots of close ups of the artist.
5. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work.
6. There is a frequent reference to the notion of 'looking',filming and cameras.
7. There are often a lot of intertexual references to film, television and popular culture.