Music videos aren’t fun anymore like they were before 2010.
Act II : The Independent artists - The Art O f Rebellion
The rise of the independent artists. We all have seen a surge in independency in the music industry in these last few years. In the previous Act, I touch on the most common reason an artist departs from their label. In a label, the artist is mentored and prepped to pursue a professional music career but becoming independent suddenly places all of that work onto their shoulders. It is a bold move but ultimately, there’s benefits when being in control of your work and the authenticity of it all.
Being in control of the production and frequency of your art, requires a lot of initiative, creativity and the possibility of being on a controlled budget. The work would be cut out for them: we tend to dream big when imagining the concept for our next music video but get slammed in the face with reality; where we have to use our creativity to translate the core vision into a project despite being conscious about a budget.
The difference in music videos
Instead of the formulaic, performance-produced videos, independent videos has somewhat of a raw feeling. The main difference between those two spectrums is the element of ‘show not tell’ where label-backed music videos gives the audience the story; whereas the independent-led music videos urges the audience to piece the story together. Their creativities align in the way that, a detailed concept for a music video requires critical thinking and deep imagery; but differs by their own standards. The labels have no limit when it comes to the pursuit of an iconic music video. The message behind the concept is easily portrayed by detailed set designs, props, camera angles and performance. Let’s use Britney Spears’s ‘Oops I Did It Again’ music video- Before the song starts, there’s a short cinematic storyline being framed. Just by the outfits that resemble astronaut-like suits, the set being a space command centre and an astronaut on a planet, make-up being colours associated with the theme of space, the audience is spoon-fed the storyline. Although the lyrics may not paint the storyline vivid as the music video concept, every scene was related to the theme of space. The core appearances of the artist in music videos would be when they are performing (such as dancing, lip-syncing). Since choruses are the height of the song, that’s where the artists are the most energetic and expressive, this is the star scene, where performance ability thrives. There’s a lack of emotion in these sections in terms of the artist’s energy; they are saved for the nostalgic face close-ups and the main storyline scenes. These music videos urge for the audience to be entertained and leaves them wanting more. The grand production raises the audience’s dopamine levels, imprinting a strong impression on that artist.
However, independent music videos uses the essence of ‘show not tell’ incredibly. Unlike the labels, artists have limits and restrictions when carrying out a project. This forces them to create alternatively, portraying the storylines through being introspective. Instead of the revealing set design and costumes, independent music videos use effects, camerawork and prompting. These music videos do not tell the audience the concept, they guess it. Let’s use the example of the space theme- separating the differences in both types of videos, indie videos links lyrics to props or scenes and often present the theme in an abstract way. The lyrics of Britney’s song describes the story of her character playing mind games with a love interest, making him fall in love with her, for her to not take him seriously. Within the song and storyline, the lack of remorse for this love interest sits in the chorus (“oops, I did it again”) and her expression in the scenes she’s acting. This story is showcased through the relation to the astronaut going to mars and falling in contact (and ultimately in love) with Britney, finding a valuable gift for her from the depts of the ocean and back, simulating how far he would go for love- with Britney ending the scene saying ‘awh you shouldn’t have’ in a careless fashion; then the chorus breaks through. Using the same concept and lyrics but framed as a indie music video- space can still be translated but into a different vibe.
Imagine an empty, deprived street deep into 3am for a gloomy aesthetic or dawn for a lighter aesthetic , using long-shot camera angles with the love interest wandering in the middle. The story could continue with details of the deserted scene creating suspense to the height of the storyline. In the same way Britney lured the love interest towards her by placing a stone with the cover of her album, a poster of the artist’s album could fly with the gust of wind towards the love interest, prompting him to pick the item up. The same message, outcome and feeling, were portrayed but in different ways. In the scenes after that, it is heavily implied that the love interest fell in love with Britney. He was in her lair and Britney hooked him up to a chain and had helpers pull him up towards the roof, telling us that she has him ‘hung up'. The way a indie video could translate that same message would be placing the love interest in the same scene as the artist where they would get acquainted only for the artist to sneakily tie a rope connecting him to her- this could resemble his emotional connection to her. The artist would then walk away down the empty streets, stretching the rope up until the love interest has no choice but to follow. The following scenes could interchange rapidly showing different circumstances where the artist is disinterested. The final scene results in Britney cutting the rope that connects them, symbolising her ‘breaking his heart’. The scene inspiration in the actual music video is when Britney audibly said “awh you shouldn’t have” and walked away, leaving the love interest alone on Mars. The independent music video would end with a steadily zoom out of the love interest revealing the cut rope that was attached to him and the lonely street he is standing in between; accompanied by a loud silence. This indie concept that I made up may sound strange but interesting enough to urge the audience to discover more and generate more questions.
These music videos tends to be more emotion-packed, perhaps due to the abstract storylines. A performance would elevate this music video and implement that star essence, building dimensions to you as an artist.
An interesting detail to look at is the scene transitions. In the polished, up-scaled, 2000’s music videos, there would be a scarce amount of editing when introducing and ending scenes. I assume that the simple editing pulls together over-saturated and detailed scenes- had there been editing like modern day videos, the music video would have been overwhelming. For indie videos, there are demands for more editing between scenes to make up for the simplicity, adding that ‘cool’ effect.
In the end
Combining the surge in artist independence with the key differences in music video production between labelled-backed artists and independent artists, the essence of star power and iconic-ness could have been lost in translation…or not?
How do you define the essence that makes the 2000’s music videos memorable, nostalgic and iconic?
Are there any artists who carry the essence of the early 2000’s music videos currently?
