One of the main reasons that a music artist will change their style/ appearance is because of a changing target audience previously discussed with the band 'Paramore'. However some bands such as McFly have changed because of their own personal attitude to their present style.
McFly started off as a support band for a similar but slightly more edgy band Busted, this was the basis of a platform which enabled them to survive successfully in the music industry with the album 'Room on the Third Floor' in 2004 going straight to number one in the charts making a new record for the youngest band to have a number one album!
From this in 2004 to...
This album also included many number one hits such as, 'Five Colours in Her Hair', 'Obviously' and 'That Girl'.
They had success at the Brit Awards winning Best Pop Award, and later that year they released a charity single, 'All About You'.
Over the years the band has been in and out of the record label Island Records to set up their own record label 'Super Records' were they self released the album Radio:Active.
Soon they left their adolescent pop-punk sound of previous records and embraced a pop style which they still hold their today.
This in 2012!
There is a noticeable difference between their music video styles as well.
One of their earlier songs 'Five Colours in Her Hair' shows there slightly pop-punk style with very styled hair with gel and bright colours reflecting their colourful and almost eccentric lifestyle as teenagers.
It demonstrates a performance based music video showing their young teenage attitude. With bright colours and almost comic look to the beginning to show their young nature.
Nowadays they have gone for the classy look with a very structured look to the music video. There are still elements of performance within the music video however it is a lot more serious and 'proffessional' looking as if they are taking their music career a lot more seriously now.
Music videos can be used for a range of different things, and in many music videos texts are referenced with in a text. For example music videos often make frequent references to cinema, fashion and art photography.
A good example of art photography being expressed in a music video is Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love'.This is a performance based music video with a very distinctive theme that has been parodied many times. I like the dramatic face makeup used in this music video as it dramatises the music video and makes it more interesting to look at and watch.
Bruno Mars combines aspects of a film in his 'It will Rain' music video from a popular teen movie Breaking Dawn from the Twilight Saga.
In this music video it relates to an existing film portraying the song lyrics with a film, this not only enhances the music video itself but it helps to promote the film with in the music video. I like the idea of this music video and the location which emphasises the real lifestyle this couple has.
Film soundtracks can be as successful as the film that features them, films have also shaped the music we know today. It all started with the silent movie which then developed into simple piano music being played over the top of the music. This gradually highlighted the importance of music in film and how it helped to bring a film to life!
Here are some films and a musical which are good examples of film soundtracks that made a lot of money from being featured or the film based on the artist (Walk the Line - Johnny Cash).
This music video present some aspects of the rock genre such as performing live during the music video, and in the case John Mayer, he is performing throughout the whole of the music video but with different situations and scenes that are not related to the lyrics of the song.
The aspect of the music video that stands out to me is the one continuous edit throughout the whole of the music video- continuously focused on the artists as the main object in the music video.
The music video starts off with a close up of the guitar played by the artist, immediately portraying an image of John Mayer. The glum setting of the bedroom seems to match the artists style/image almost making him blend into the background and the guitar stand out, this helps to symbolise the main asset of his music. This is a key aspect of many of his music videos and has built up a unique style that he uses, making him identifiable from this style.
At the beginning of the music video John Mayer seems to be completely oblivious to us as an audience, however when he starts to sing his attention is drawn to us and continues throughout the music video. Only leaving our eye contact during periods where there are no lyrics.
In some ways the music video has a casual link to the meaning of the lyrics however it does appear to be very random! We see him walking through different scenery related to the lifestyle of this 'Queen of California'. The lyrics describe a failed relationship with another women and this music video demonstrates him moving onto a better time!
These different montages of scenes are then mixed with a range of performance based sections where John Mayer performs with his band. He is seen to interact with the other band members and allows the audience to see the relationship between the members of the band and gives them an insight into the lives of the band members. Because of the continuous edit throughout the whole of the music video we find ourselves tracking around John Mayer past the band members almost singling him out from the others., suggesting he is the main 'attraction' in this music video.
At the beginning the lyrics say 'Goodbye cold, Goodbye rain' at the point in the song he has stepped out into the cold and rain and is moving through into nicer weather into a forest, this directly links the visual to the lyrics.
Throughout the music video the lyrics have a casual link with what is on screen but they do not highlight the negative aspects of the lyrics, only the positive parts as if he is moving on and has no hard feelings about the previous relationship.
The music video demonstrated the genre e.g
Rock genre manly includes stage performances
Pop genre Dance routines e.g
Cheryl Cole 'Fight for this Love'
There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.
Bruno Mars 'Grenade' is a good example of how the artists wants the emotion of the lyrics to be shown in the music video and portrayed to the audience.
There is a relationship between the music and the visuals.
e.g editing to the beat of the music.
The demand of the record label will include the need for lots of closeups of the artist, and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. Many artists have a particular style that they keep throughout their carer however some artists such as Lady Gaga have a continually changing style which keeps her interesting and unique.
There is frequent reference to the notion of 'looking' (screens within screens) and particular voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
There is often inter textual reference (to films, TV etc.)
