Digipak analysis

Music Industry

For this post I am going to be answering three questions about the music industry and I will be making sure to show evidence of my research and making sure it is answered in the best possible quality.

Who are the main television companies that show music video's?

There are many channels which still show music videos on them everyday and some of them are dedicated to this very well due to the fact that this is all they do. An example of these websites are Starz TV, Bliss and Kerrang. These channels still show lots of music videos and are rarely interrupted by other shows.  Below is a picture of the listings for some of these channels.

This is not always a good thing though as this can sometimes make them unpopular as it will mean they play a lot of the same songs over again and due to the rise in songs being uploaded to YouTube and almost everyone having some way of accessing this, they are becoming less and less popular. There are also music channels such as MTV which still show off a lot of music but they seems to have noticed that television is not as popular for music any more so they have started playing TV shows instead of music and this has been slowly increasing with other channels as well.

Where can you find music video's?

Music video's can be found in two main places but one is more easy to access what you are looking for than the other. The first which can be difficult to find the exact videos you are looking for is on a TV channel, most likely on what of the channels listed above. The reason that it can be harder to find what you are looking for is because as a viewer you are not in control of what is being played. This can cause people to leave the channel quickly if they hear a song they do not like or possibly even if it is one that they do not know. Due to this, there is currently less people watching music video's this way.

The second place that you can go to watch music video's is online, the most popular place of which to find a music video is on YouTube. This is due to it having almost all video's that have been made as they have been uploaded, whether it was by the artist themselves or by a fan who has their music and has uploaded it for them. There is a specific channel that is dedicated to big artists as it has almost all of their music on and this is the Vevo channel. Vevo was a big television channel but has stopped broadcasting as much about music on tv and has decided to make their own website and youtube channel as they have found that this seems to get them more views and therefore more money.

What is the purpose of music video's (Business and entertainment)

A music video's purpose is to entertain the viewer whilst they are listening to the song. This is used to help entice the audience to keep watching as not only do they get to listen to the song, they also get to watch a video. It can also be used to help portray the meaning of the song and help the audience understand the meaning of the video.  It can also be used as a way to make sure that the audience remembers the song as they will then link it or relate it to the video and if they then see something that reminds them of this then they will think of the song and hopefully want to listen to it or at least talk about it.

They can also be used to help promote the artists for more than just being a good singer or band. It can also help people see other talents that they have for example, dancing and acting. This could then spark them to get jobs for other things such as tv or movies.

The last reason is quite an obvious one which is to help promote the artist and therefore sell their CD's to create more money for them and their record label. As i have said before, music video's can be used to make people remember the song if they see something in real life that was in the video then they will remember the song and therefore talk about it and possibly, if they are able to at the time, go out and buy the album. 

Analysis of 4 Music videos of same genre - Watsky Sloppy Seconds

Online Survey for research for my music video

I have created a survey on https://www.quicksurveys.com/ for my music video asking people what genres of music they like to listen to and what their favourite music video they have ver watched is. I have done this so I know that if someone who is interested in the gene of music for which I am making a music video they can help me understand what it is about the music video's in that genre that they like and I could potentially include a few of these techniques.

Another question I asked was about me explaining some of the key techniques I am going to use when creating my video and I have asked for feedback as to what people think of this. So far I have mostly had positive reviews saying it was good and I am also glad to say that i have had some reviews which have criticised what i have said but i do not mind this as it has helped me understand what they then really want to see and therefore have been able to tailor my video plan better and hopefully for the target audience I am still aiming it at.

I am still going to continue checking the feedback for my survey as i know this will help me even when producing my video as it will help me make sure I am always doing the right thing and if there is something that i have added that a majority of people do not agree with then i will make sure to take this out and hopefully replace it with another idea or maybe one that has been put forward to help. Here is a link to my survey: https://www.quicksurveys.com/s/Ai3t6R7

Conventions of Rap/Alternative hip hop music videos

In rap music video's there are quite a lot of distinctive conventions that are used in the more popular rap videos and this is shown by how much these sorts of things and shots are used. As the song we have chosen to do is a cross between rap and alternative hip hop it does not use these conventions for the same reason and sometimes at all from other songs with the same genre as the song we have chosen that we have seen.

The general conventions in music videos which are the same genre cross over as the one we are doing tend to use a lot of close up shots, some sort of narrative story, lots of body language and outdoors settings.

The use of a lot of close ups is due to how the artist wants to get their emotions across but they may not feel that just the lyrics to the song are enough or they may be worried that a line may be misunderstood when decoded by the reader but when you see the emotions of the artist, it will help you understand what they mean by what is being sung and it will help you feel how they are feeling or were when they wrote it.


A lot of songs of this genre tend to tell a story in the song and will have snippets of this in the video but they will not end up telling the full story or they may not necessarily end with a happy ending but with the artist being quite sad and down. This once again helps show emotion and it makes us think about the artist and what they are going through and how they are now and how they were when they wrote it. Usually the story is about a relationship that may have not gone well or how they wanted and this is usually shown by them being close at the start of the video but as the video goes on they are separated and sometimes the person who was the partner may have found someone else.

As previously stated, artists who write songs of these genres like to try and get their emotions across and when they don't feel it is enough to just use the lyrics another way that they may try and create emotion in the audience is by using body language or hand gestures. This helps the viewer as they may see something that they recognise from their lives and therefore it will feel more real and they feel a stronger connection between themselves and the artist. It also helps stop the song from being misinterpreted and heard in the wrong mind set which can happen a lot with rap songs due to the reputation that they have.


The last main convention that is used in almost all rap/alternative hip hop music videos is some sort of outdoor setting at some point. I think that the reason for this is due to its link with rap music and rap music being known to have a lot of shots on the street. This is where this comparison end due to there no being any gangs involved or much else of what would be in your stereotypical rap video but I feel that this is used to build a link t show that some rappers, like Watsky, who have also added alternative hip hop to their genres, can show that they are still true to their roots and still have some of that rap genre in them.

Analysis of 4 Music videos of same genre - Watsky Woah woah woah

Watsky - Woah woah woah

The first music video I have chosen to analyse is Watsky's song, Woah woah woah. I have chosen this song as the artist is very similar to that of the I have chosen to do for my main product and the song is of the same genre which is Rap/Alternative Hip Hop.

Watsky himself is the main actor in this video which is therefore the use of star imagery. The video is split into two parts which demonstrate the two main conventions of rap videos going wrong. These two conventions are A gang on A street causing havoc and property damage and then the sexualisation of women. These go wrong in both parts though as in the first the he sets himself on fire while trying to set a Lamborghini on fire and in the second he is try to have sex with a woman who is not wearing much through the scene and this goes wrong when part of the room catches fire due to the candles in there.

In the first scene, watsky and his 'crew' are dressed wearing what looks like slightly higher class than stereotypical street wear. This is because he is wearing a proper shirt and he is wearing jeans over joggers. This therefore shows that this is not his usually 'Habitat' so to say and is probably why the scene ends badly for him. In the second scene he is not wearing as much as he is getting intimate with a women. One again the scene ends badly for him with the room catching fire which shows that this is also something he is not comfortable with.

In total in the video there are the same amount of men as there are women but one of the women are very sexualised in the way that she is acting and from what she is wearing. This is not shown as much with from the men or watsky but they have tried to add add this slightly but not as much. The body language that is shown from the second scene is that of a very sexual nature and that the scene is going to be very intimate. The first scene however portrays body language of a menacing feel from the way that they are acting by throwing gasoline over a Lamborghini.

Through the entire video, Watsky (The star), has power over most of the other but every time this is shown he then loses it by being brought down by a flame that ruins something in someway. In the first scene the flame stops him from burning the car by burning himself, The second there is a fire which ruins the mood of scene which stops what was happening or going to happen.

After looking at the lyrics of the website Rap genius, it says that the meaning of the song is 'A song that Watsky described as “verbal flexing” to prove that he is a real lyricist to those who doubt him. He always stays true to his roots bringing in some fast rap and quirky lines.

Hard hitting and powerful; A new Watsky classic.' I think that the message of the song that watsky is trying to get across is that he can still do music like he used to and he is the same person despite being more famous now but as a viewer i personally feel like it is about him showing off how strong he is as a person and trying to show how he can make it through anything no matter what the challenge. I fell like he does this more so through the verses though than through the chorus.

The only products that are really advertised in this video are a Lamborghini and watsky himself. Personally i do not understand the use of showing off a Lamborghini as a product trying to advertise it as by the seems of it, most of Watskys audience would be that of whom have not got much money so i feel that it is more of just something to show off. Watsky himself is being advertised here because, like most of his other videos as well, He is the star of the video and he always puts as much effort as he can in his videos to try and people to watch more and listen to more of his music. There are no actual brand names shown and i cannot find, apart from the previously stated Lamborghini, any brands that would stand out to be iconic.

In the first scene there is a slight narrative story arc to it and this is shown from how things progress from the start to the end. Also the camera angles and shots show this by portraying that the first person, who we see who is only seen for a around 30 seconds, has a lot of power and this is due to the way that the camera is mostly using low shots to look up at him making him look bigger than he really is. However as his scene comes to an end the camera starts to use shots of the same height or higher shots showing that he is starting to be put down or looked down upon.

This is quite similar as with Watsky, the camera is almost always looking up at him and i think once again this is to give him power and make him seem bigger and tougher than he really is. As we can see, he is seen to be the head of the group that is causing what is happening and using low angle shots makes him seem tougher than he really is which once agin. As we see in the video, after setting himself on fire he is not really as strong and tough as he is made out to be.

I really like the editing i this video as they have used a technique i have not seen many other music videos use which is where the video keeps jumping back but the lip synching still continues as per normal. After looking up how they have done it, It was from filming the video normally then they lip synched the video again but with Watsky keeping his head in what is basically a clamp so that there is no movement of his head. They then cut his lips out and superimpose it on top but there had to do this frame by frame to get it exact and to look so natural.

Media evaluation

In this essay I am going to be evaluating how I feel my 30 second music video went. I will be explaining what I think went well and what didn't and why I think this. I will also be suggesting improvements I may have made if I were to do one again or had more time to improve.

The first thing I am going to talk about is the research. I feel that the research for my music video went quite well and if I were to rate how I think it went out of 10 I would give it a 7 or an 8. I would say this because I made sure to research to music genre I liked and then tried to find an artist I liked and would enjoy doing a 30 second video for. I  also made sure to find a back up in case I did not think that it would turn out as well as I would have hoped but it did not come to that but I am still glad I had a back up just in case. I also researched the genre finding out what sort of things are generally include in this genre of music videos and I tried to include as much of this as I could.

The improvement I would make to this If I were to do it again is try and do a slight bit less research as I feel I looked at this genre too much but I would also make sure to write everything I find out down as I did not write down as much as I found out therefore making it look like I did not do as much research as I had actually done. Also the reason I would try and spend less time on the research is because due to this taking longer than expecting I had to push back when I was planning on doing the planning and the actual producing of the video but I still got all of it filmed on time and to what I feel was a high standard so I am happy with that.

The next thing I am going to evaluate is the planning and I think that this went well in some aspects but not so well in others. The reason for this is because I think that I managed to plan out my video and what I was going to do but I did not write much of this down. I still feel that I managed to make a good video due to this fact but I feel it may have been better and I may have been able to produce it faster had I written everything I wanted down and made sure that I knew what I was doing.

Due to that, if I were to make any improvement on the planning stage of my 30 second music video it would be to write any ideas I have and anything I know I am going to use down so that I am able to include every shot and every idea I thought of into my video and also be able to show proof of what I have done and make sure that all of the timings are okay and I don't just have to estimate them like I had to with one or two shots but luckily I knew the timings for the rest.

Lastly is the production of my 30 second music video and I feel that this was the part that went the best. I think this because I feel that my video came out just as good, if not better, than I expected it to. This is due to the fact that I have included all the shots I wanted in my video and I feel the editing is all in time and works well but the thing I am most impressed with myself for is that I feel I managed to sync the music with the lip syncing which can be difficult so I am glad that I managed that.

Personally I do not think that there are any improvement I would make to the actual production of my video but I do think that if I had made the improvement to the earlier things then I would have had more time for the actual video and therefore been able to make it better and possibly think of others things to include but even now I cannot think of any improvements to my video which I am very happy about as it feels like a success