“Where are the edges, the ends,
the distinctions between different elements, modes, activities, spaces,
technological actions and human ones, in ‘new’ new media systems?” (FibreCulture,
Issue 13) These questions appear, when one seeks to find a distinction in our
ever-converging technological capacity and media. Digital media has gone through
tumultuous times to arrive at an “industry conglomeration and concentration”
(Dwyer, 2010), a pinnacle to which it has come today. At the end of each era,
the mediums we use to access information and entertainment converge into a form
which is more convenient, easier and cheaper to get across to the mass audience
and accessed at more places at more time, where Dwyer has referred “ubiquitous
computing and intelligent user-friendly interfaces” as “the new black”. Digital
media convergence is an encompassing concept, where all aspects of technology,
social and cultural factors and practices in the media industry, converge to a
point. One media form which has gone through this technological convergence is
music videos.
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| The move from traditional media... |
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| To digital media. |
Music videos are essentially what they’re called; a video which is played along with a music clip. Originating in the early 20th century, they gained prominence in the 1980s, with "Video killed the Radio Star" by the Bugles, airing on MTV US, marking the advent of the television music video scene. This era saw many Australian television music video shows, which ranged from Countdown and Rage, to Video Hits and V, each airing music videos for the audience’s viewing pleasure and the industry’s way of making more money through product placement and record sales advertising. Although they differed slightly in the music content they provide, they all set out to achieve one purpose, which was to bring music to a wider range of audience. Music videos brought about the convergence of two separate media forms which had a distinct audience group, where television would be used to watch shows and movies, while the audiophiles were tuned into the radio for their music needs. Through music video, it allowed these two media forms to be conjoined on a single medium, providing various benefits to the music industry and the consumers, which ranged from advertising and consumerism, to a merging audience and converging mediums.
Television music videos provided
a way for artists to emphasise the message that the song was giving, giving
them an incredibly effective but expensive medium to get this across. Madonna
was such a star who endorsed sexuality and independence in women, with music
videos such as, “Like a Virgin”, and “Like a Prayer”, amounting to controversy
during the 1990s. Michael Jackson has also proved to be an artist who delved
into controversy, with the music video, “They Don’t Care About Us”, bringing a
sensitive message for listeners and viewers. This trend in subtle messages in
music videos gave artists a level of empowerment, where television viewers and
audiophiles could listen and be emotionally affected by the music video and the convergence of messages and music through the music video. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" also brought about a convergence of two separate media, filmography and music, where the use of film revolutionised music videos and the way the music was represented through these film techniques.
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| YouTube's new layout and its iconic logo. Image taken from phone. |
The launch of YouTube in 2005 brought
about a phenomenon which was unprecedented, bringing a revolution in the way
consumers and producers acted and blurring the lines between the two resulting
in “prosumers”, someone who “has emerged to become a central figurehead in
contemporary culture” and “the outcome and agent of the new civilisation”
(Comor, 2010, p. 311). This also meant on embarking on a “quest to be included
in a cultural tapestry of exchangeable commodities” (Comor, 2010, p.320) where
one need to rely on the variety of forms of exposure such as social media and
word of mouth, due to the sheer number of videos out there. These were vital
mediums for online music videos to be spread and as a result of the worldwide contact
YouTube was capable of, artists have been able to break the local barrier of
exposure for their music through the use of online music videos, forging new
international stars.
The capability to make music
videos with just a single video recorder, has allowed anyone to gain worldwide Internet
fame by just uploading their music video onto YouTube and waiting for the viral
hits to come through. OK Go is one such “hipster pop group band [that] has
staked its fame on ironic synchronised dance routines in videos that have gone
viral” (Hildebrand, 2007, p.51), with their music videos just single takes, a cheap
setting and simple choreography, garnering over tens of millions of views. The
song “Here It Goes Again” is such an example, with band members dancing around on
treadmills almost as if it was the normal thing to do on them. Evidently cheap
and easy to produce, albeit with some long hours of practice, it has proven to
be an effective method to gain fame on the Internet, which can be described as,
“an elaborate joke – which, of course, it would be if the scene wasn’t so well
choreographed and rehearsed.” (Hildebrand, 2007, p. 51)
Rebecca Black is one such example of a person who's made an elaborate joke of herself by posting this music video of her song, Friday.
Online music videos also has the
advantage over television of being able to view the content at any given time
and place, where we have been labelled the "Media Generation", as "more than any
past generation, [we] have access to a wide, and still expanding, array
of media—in [our] homes, in [our] rooms, and, with the emergence of
miniaturization, in [our] backpacks and pockets". (Roberts, 2008) With technology dominating our lives, we have become immersed into
the digital realm, where instant demand for innumerable amounts of entertainment
becomes commonplace and advertisements and product placement being bombarded on
our monitors and touch screens while we indulge ourselves in the aforementioned
entertainment.
In hindsight, the convergence of
music videos is a significant notion, and one could almost call it a necessity
with the changing nature of life, as it becomes hectic and offers little time
to watch or listen to music videos via the way of the past. Online music video
has allowed the industry to soldier on, with advertising becoming more
lucrative and profitable, and new artists can enter the scene without having to
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just to be able to make CDs for
distribution. Now, with YouTube, and other streaming distribution sites, making things much cheaper and
simpler to do, anyone can get out a camcorder and become an international
superstar themselves.
Bibliography
- FibreCulture Journal Issue 13: After Convergence - http://thirteen.fibreculturejournal.org/ Issue edited by Caroline Bassett, Maren Hartmann, Kate O'Riordan
- Hildebrand, L (2007), Film Quarterly Vol 61, YouTube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright Converge.
- Donald F. Roberts and Ulla G. Foeh (Spring, 2008), Trends in Media Use, The Future of Children , Vol. 18, No. 1, Children and Electronic Media, pp. 11-37
- Comor E. (2010), Contextualising and Critiquiing the Fantastic Prosumer: Power, Alienation and Hegemony.
- Rebecca Black, Friday - Official Music Video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivyfield/4731067716/
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/62693815@N03/6276688407/
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