GOODWINS THEORY

CONVENTIONS Goodwin explains his theory by six different conventions within a music video.


1) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
This convention explains how Goodwin noticed a music video's visuals either had a complete similarity or direct contrast to the lyrics of the song.

2) Thought beats: seeing the sounds (the relationship between the music and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.)
Goodwin identified that the visuals within a music video may be edited in time to the lyrics/ change in pace of the song. He also stated that these visuals are commonly repeated within a chorus to emphasise the repetition in lyrics and beats.

3) Genre-related style and iconography present.
Goodwin recognized that most artists have a trend of repeating certain actions within their music videos in order to establish this as their 'trademark' action and therefore making their songs recognizable due to it reoccurring often. This represents the style of the music the artist is representing and is a marketing strategy in order to be remembered in later years.

4) Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a recognizable brand image.
Goodwin identified that it is a common feature for record labels to use close ups of the artist/vocalist in order to promote the sales in the single. This convention is used in order to show the artist throughout the video but is most common with female artists as provocative angles are often used to sexualize the artist following Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory causing a fetishation from the audience towards the artist.

5) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
Goodwin recognized that many music videos included voyeuristic angles of women in order to entice a male audiences interest in the artist and also the lyrics to which these shots represent. This is used to sexualize the artist and cause a fetishistic connection for the male audience.

6) Intertexual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous videos.
Goodwin recognized that it was not uncommon to recognize either the visuals or lyrics of a song to be a direct reference to another media text. This is used to engage the audiences and provide them gratification if they recognize the link.