Kanye West BBC Radio 1 - Zane Lowe Interview

In part 1, Kanye West discusses the tyrannical control of radio, not allowing better, undiscovered artists air play because they don't conform to radio's ideal of what commercial music should be. He also states the importance of an artist's responsibility to change their own image to cause a change in how music is commercially perceived. Kanye speaks about his aspirations to overcome the barriers of an artist, to become more than a musician and create an artistic and social revolution that transcends the influence of Michael Jackson. Kanye also emphasises the need for experimentation of modern music and how genres like hip-hop need to evolve and not be constricted to the conventional "16 bars". Kanye finally argues that hip-hop has lost its anti-pop culture and has been filtered to become commercialised music.



Despite his contributions outside of music, Kanye still feels under-appreciated and doesn't understand that despite his achievements (Nike Yeezys) major companies want to restricting to certain items of clothing and branding such as t-shirts and how they want to control the producer and the product. Artists have become promotional tools and the artist use major companies as a means of increasing income. Kanye also speaks out of how media perpetuates classism and self-hate. Kanye also clears how media has demonised him and labelled him as megalomaniac but clarifies his intentions and motivations to create art to help people. Kanye talks about how his controversial tracks and his attack on major record labels stopped him achieving commercial success and wants to continue the ideas innovators like Steve Jobs left.

 

Kanye is just a symbol to help people overcome whatever creative and oppressive struggles one of his fans are going through - a medium of motivation. Kanye states the reason as to why people wanting to pigeon-hole him are superficial and also mentions and praises fashion designers also; they dedicate their lives to making civilization better and are unwilling to compromise their principles or quality of fabric, but are willing to sacrifice everything else but their principles. Kanye expounds that unless you were child of a celebrity or you break a certain number of glass ceilings, it is impossible for one to afford high-end clothing. He wants to bring equality and make fashion on a democratic platform in the same music is received democratically. He also mentions other artists, 2 Chainz and Drake and praises their work ethic, and for those in power to deny them to express themselves is near criminal.



Kanye wants to use his music and other resources to spark debates that are currently non-exist. There must be an egalitarian society or collection of people who are working together to push cultural, sonic and other artistic boundaries. Mainstream marketing has polluted the minds of the people and causes a food-chain type system - survival of the fittest. People are depraved as to what people should one, we have limited to no intellectual freedom. Kanye takes a more personal note and that celebrities should have control of their own image and be able to market their own image in a way they see fit and also about how he wants to change his lifestyle for the benefit of his daughter. Kanye talks about how Black People do not want to temporarily feel like kings through material products, but be kings through intellectual freedom and the ability to create.

The reason as to why I uploaded these music videos was due to the fact it clarified misconceptions about the music industry and Kanye himself. It brought back the real image that young, aspiring artists (not, just musicians, but in the general sense) like myself, identified with. Also the tension and division the video provoked over social networking sites, between those that still considered Kanye to be a megalomaniac and those who perceived Kanye to be emblematic for what it means to be an artist and a symbol of hope.

Producer Strategies

Producer Strategies

Music Video Timeline

Narrative Theories - Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov

(1 March 1939 - Present)

Todorov is a Franco-Bulgarian Philosopher who established the equilibrium theory. Todorov stated most narratives start with an equilibrium, where life is normal and the protagonist is happy, then a disruption in the equilibrium occurs, usually caused by the primary antagonist. The protagonist recognises disruption and then attempts to repair disruption. The story often concludes with the protagonist being successful in repair, birthing a new equilibrium.

Equilibrium>Disruption>Recognition of disruption>Attempt to repair>New Equilibrium

Narrative Theories - Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey

(15 August 1941 - Present)
Laura Mulvey established the audience were placed into a masculine subject position and the role of women were objectified through the societal 'gaze'. Mulvey argues that films are constructed to reflect three societal concepts:

• How men (heterosexual) view women
• How women view themselves
• How women view other women.

Mulvey states the figure of a woman becomes the focus of the shot, the curvature of her hips, back etc.

Source A

Megan Fox is seen in source A wearing revealing clothes, denoting the curvature of her back and legs, which connotes sexual imagery in the audience. Also, Source A denotes her straddling a bike which serves as a phallic euphemism. Transformers series were primarily targeted at 12-year old heterosexual males and this poster is used as a ploy to reel the audience in. She is clearly objectified and acts as nothing but the medium for sexual fantasy.



The male response to Megan Fox and other celebrities causes young and impressionable females to reject the image of their body and wear provocative clothing and objectify themselves in hope of garnering similar amounts of attention as their media role models.

A celebrity famous for subjecting herself to a male object is Janet Jackson. She is known in her concerts for performing explicitly sexual dance moves and singing sexual lyrics, particularly in her Live In Hawaii performance of Would You Mind? (There is no way I'm posting this link, I value my A-Levels, but you're welcome to search on youtube)

I'll leave you with this: "To gaze it implies simply more than to look at - it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze" - Jonathan Schroeder 

Narrative Theories - Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes

(12 November 1915 - 26 March 1980)

Roland Barthes was a French theorist, linguist, philosopher, critic and semiotician. Barthes suggested that narrative works with five different codes that help the reader or audience comprehend the text.

Denotation and Connotation

(Signify)              (Signifier)

Action - A narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action e.g. a shoot out.

Enigma - Narrative devices which tease the audience by presented a puzzle or mystery to be solved. It serves to delay the story's ending pleasurably.

Symbolic - Symbolic codes are the connotations of the images or imagery presented e.g. an allegory or a theme motif.

Semic - The denotations of the image/imagery.

Cultural - A device which the audience recognise and associate with a particular culture.

Narrative Theories - Claude Levi-Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss

(28 November 1908 - 30 October 2009)

Claude Levi-Strauss was a French structural anthropologist, meaning he researched into the structures of human life past and present, discovering structural patterns. 

 Levi-Strauss examined how stories unconsciously reflected the values, beliefs and myths of a culture.

These are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions.

His research has been adapted by media theorists to reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts.

Western Binary Oppositions:

Christian versus Pagan

Domestic versus Savage

Weak versus Strong

Garden versus Wilderness

Inside Society versus Outside Society

Narrative Theories - Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp

(29 April 1895 - 22 August 1970)

Propp was a Soviet formalist and literary scholar, who focused on Russian fairytales and folklore.

Some characters had interchangeable roles, such as the dispatcher, false hero and the villain e.g. Lord Farquaad in Shrek (as shown below)

Music Video Infographic

Sources:
Best Animated Music Videos - http://www.radarmusic.com.au/news/news/top-20-best-animated-music-videos-.aspx

Facts and Figures - https://www.bpi.co.uk/assets/files/Music%20Video_2012%20Yearbook.pdf

http://pigeonsandplanes.com/2012/12/fascinating-music-industry-stats/s/users-have-streamed-1500-years-worth-of-music-with-spotify

 Music Videos | Create infographics

Music Video - Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal

This music video falls under the category of hybrid; a compound of narrative and performance. This video is edited well, especially in the interlude where the frequent use of dissolves slows the tempo of the video and presents the illusion of the camera tracking the performers when in fact the camera is stationary.



The set production and costume accurately represents the 1920s jazz clubs, coinciding with the theme of the song. The music video has a clear narrative of one man (Michael Jackson) taking on a club of gangsters by himself in pursuit of a woman. It also includes a heart-warming side story/sub-plot with a group of children peering into the club. The video cleverly incorporates performance with the narrative without seeming unnecessary and acts as emotional code and in result has become iconic.

Purpose Of Music Videos

A brief summary of how and why major record labels distribute music videos from the 1980s to present day; the evolution of strategies used to help market their media product globally.

Codes and Conventions

Codes and Conventions

Music Video Structure

Narrative

Narrative music videos present a story which usually tie into popularised narrative theories, for example Todorov's equilibrium theory. The narrative usually helps to create a visual representation of the lyrics.

Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved

Performance

Performance videos are where the video includes some element of performance from the artist or band, typically in the form of singing/rapping or the playing of instruments.

Abstract

The visual text bears no relation to the lyrics of the song. They tend to be the most creative type of music video as they have the least amount of restrictions and is presented more as visual poetry rather than just a means of promotion.

Hybrid

Hybrids are the amalgamation of any of three types of music videos described above in one visual text. An hybrid will incorporate narrative and hybrid elements, narrative and performance, hybrid and performance or all three. 

Auteur Theory

Originating from the French word meaning 'author', New Wave Movement director Francois Truffaut stated that a film, or in this case music vidoe, should reflect the directors personal creative vision.

Film Theoretician Andre Bazin, explain Auteur Theory: "a way of choosing the personal factor in artistic creation as a standard of reference, and then progresses from one film to the next".

A case of a modern director to be considered an auteur could be Martin Scorsese.

• Known for use of slow-motion panning or tracking.
• Use of iconic pop-cultural music.
• Including an element of food or banquet.
• Use of long tracking shots.
• With mies-en-scene, the woman who plays Propp's princess or object of protagonist's love is usually dressed in white.
• Slow-motion flashbulbs.
• Frequent collaborators: Actors: Robert Deniro (8), Leonardo DiCaprio (5), Victor Argo (6), Harry Northup (6), Harvey Kietel (5), Joe Pesci (3). Editor: Thelma Schoonmaker. Cinematographer: Michael Balhaus. Writer: Paul Schrader.

Diamond Nine

We were asked to rank what the most important factors are for successful promotion of a music video, artist and it's product to an audience.