CD cover analysis - 'Talk That Talk' by Rihanna

On the cover of Rihanna’s album, ‘Talk That Talk’, there is a close-up of her face. However, she is pulling quite a seductive expression and pose, with her eyes fiercely and flirtatiously staring at the audience, her tongue suggestively licking her lips, and her hand on her head. This sexualised image of her helps connote that she is a synthetic artist as she is sold on her looks which are an important aspect of her appeal, where the music becomes less important.

Rihanna is wearing lots of jewellery with bright red lipstick and dark, heavy eye makeup. This emphasises her femininity and indicates that she is a glamorous woman with a fashionable and provocative star image. This again demonstrates that she is a synthetic artist and not an organic artist as she has focused on her star image to help sell her music whereas an organic artist would focus solely on the music.

Rihanna’s name isn’t shown on the cover - only an ‘R’ which is the first letter. It is big, bold and formed from newspaper print. It symbolises the strong star image she has created as her name doesn’t even have to be on the cover of the album for it to be recognised as hers. This implies that Rihanna is being used as a brand to sell the album rather than the music itself and further determines her to be a synthetic artist.

The name of the album, ‘Talk That Talk’, is presented as a tattoo on Rihanna’s wrist which is highlighted due to the bright lighting. This matches her star image as it signifies her rebellious and outgoing nature which could also be inferred by the bright lighting itself as it could suggest a party of some sort. In addition to everything else, this forms a perfect synthetic constructed brand that can be easily sold to fans.

CD cover analysis - '19' by Adele

In Adele’s album, 19, she is seen to be looking downwards with a reflective and serious expression. This connotes that she takes her music seriously and that she is not a pop artist. It is clear that she is a natural artist who isn’t sexualised as the image is an extreme close-up shot and so it doesn’t show the entirety of her face. The fact that the photo was cut off at her mouth specifically emphasises this as expressions formed by the mouth can often be used to sexualise. In the photo, Adele is avoiding eye contact and it is darkly lit around her. This suggests that her image is not what will sell her music like many pop artists, and so enforces her position as a real artist. Her makeup is not as heavy as that which is common for numerous female singers and indicates that she isn’t trying to be glamorous as she takes her career as a musician seriously. In addition, the eye makeup that she is wearing appears to look quite old fashioned. This creates an implication of her type of music and insinuates that she doesn’t sing the sort of music that is the most familiar currently.

The bold white font in capital letters for her name is used to get her name out into the world as she is an up and coming artist who needs to be noticed amongst the other more established stars. But it does also suggest that she will be a big star in the future. The album name ‘19’ is typed in an almost handwritten font. This signifies that the album is personal to her (as she wrote almost all of the tracks), and connotes her to be an organic, honest artist who differs in this way from many singers in the music industry nowadays.

How has Miley Cyrus developed over time?

Organic and synthetic musicians - Keith Negus

Keith Negus identifies two contrasting ideologies between synthetic and organic artists. These differing approaches form how an artist develops in the music industry and how they are marketed to their target audiences.


SYNTHETIC ARTISTS (the combinatorial approach):

- Their image is often constructed by the record company
- They will be given songs to be successful, instead of writing them
- They are commonly aimed at younger, less cultured audiences
- The emphasis is given to single sales and promoting their debut albums
- Their generated profits are usually part of an immediate, short-term strategy by the record company

ORGANIC ARTISTS (the naturalistic approach):

- They already have the ability to be successful, but are supported by the record company
- They are given time to develop in their own way to move forward in their career
- Their image is 'enhanced' by the record company
- They are often aimed at older, more sophisticated audiences
- The emphasis is given to album sales and establishing a successful back catalogue
- Their generated profits tend to be part of a long-term strategy by the record company

The male gaze - Laura Mulvey

The Male Gaze from SamMullerMedia

Music video analysis - 'Bad Blood' by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar

'Bad Blood' subverts part of Andrew Goodwin's theory concerning the features of music videos. According to the theory, music videos for pop songs such as this should include a performance element such as a dance routine, however this is completely contradictory as the whole video is instead focuses on action sequences. It contains no characteristics that usually represent the pop genre but is effective in this way and can make people remember it so they remember Taylor.

There is a strong relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals of the music video because a line repeated a lot in the song is 'now we got bad blood' where the 'bad blood' is caused at the beginning of the video where Taylor's ally betrays her and kicks her out a window. This 'bad blood' that she is singing about is the reason for the events occurring in the rest of the video where they are preparing for and eventually engage in battle because of it.

The music and visuals are also linked such that all the cuts between shots are in time with the beat of the music. Additionally, there is lip-syncing of Taylor Swift to the song which amplifies the link as well. Other examples that illustrate this relationship include some punching following the beat of the music, Taylor closing her helmet exactly when she sings 'hey', and the rocket launcher being fired in time with the beat.

Almost straight away the camera zooms in to a close-up of Taylor's face to signify that she is the star of the song and video. Even with close-ups of all the different famous people in the video, there are many more of Taylor which meets the demands of the record label. There are also more close-ups of Kendrick Lamar as he is in part of the song and so meets the demands of his record label as well to sell his brand in addition to Taylor's.

The video had references to the notion of looking as Taylor's 'ally' watches her in the reflection of her makeup mirror before she pushes Taylor out the window where Taylor can also be seen in the reflection of the shattered glass as she is falling. In addition, when she is lying down on a white surface in a very revealing outfit, the camera pans up her body which could represent the male gaze and, coupled with the set, it is like she is on sexual display and is being examined. In addition, Taylor and the other women wear revealing outfits throughout the video and encourage voyeurism. She is also singing at the camera sometimes and always appears angry so we can easily see the grudge she holds.

The music video contains many intertextual references to different films, the first being 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' as at the beginning Taylor fights a group of men dressed very similarly to the Crazy 88 who fight the Bride in the film. The video also makes an intertextual reference to 'Sin City' with the colour and style of the title 'Bad Blood' in the video which mimics that in the film. After this Taylor is seen lying down being analysed which imitates a scene in 'The Fifth Element' down to the white bandage outfit. Another intertextual reference that the video makes is to 'Tron' where Taylor and another woman are riding light motorbikes. There are many more intertextual references but a final example is at the end when they are walking away from an explosion behind them. This is common to a lot of action films, 'X-Men Origins' being one of them.

Music video analysis - '...Baby One More Time' by Britney Spears

Most of the music video for '...Baby One More Time' by Britney Spears is taken up by a dance routine which is the only performance element as this is a pop song which follows Andrew Goodwin's music video theory. She is evidently a synthetic artist as she uses dance as a way of performing instead of playing instruments like a rock band commonly would.

There are links between the lyrics and the visuals as we see Britney lip-syncing most of the song which amplifies the relationship. Other examples include her singing 'show me' as she puts her hands to her chest, when she sings 'my loneliness is killing me' while there are shots of her alone looking miserable, and when she sings 'I still believe' as the entire video is a dream. These examples all illustrate the relationship between the lyrics and visuals.

There is also a relationship between the music itself and the visuals. The dance was choreographed to fit with the song and so the timing of the moves match the beat of the music. In addition, the cuts between shots, camera zooms, and flashes of light all match the beat as well to amplify this connection.

The demands of the record label are met within this video as there are many close-up shots of Britney as she is the only singer and therefore needs to be the focus of the video so she can be a recognisable brand who can be sold on her star image.

There isn't a lot of references to the notion of looking in this music video, however, when Britney is singing she looks right at the camera like she is singing to whoever is watching, which is emphasised with the close-ups. The way in which she is dressed could also lead to voyeurism as all of her different costumes show off her stomach to sexualise her and add to her star image.

Music video analysis - 'Video Phone' by Beyoncé ft. Lady Gaga

This music video for 'Video Phone' by Beyoncé (ft. Lady Gaga) conforms to Andrew Goodwin's music video theory which I will be using to analyse it.

The video clearly indicates the genre of the song as it includes a dance routine which is common to pop music videos. The dancing is performed by the two female singers and is quite provocative which may allure male viewers rather than females who might prefer the song. But this allows Beyoncé to gain a bigger audience.

The visuals presented in the music video have an obvious connection to the lyrics in the song as the whole song is about being watched on a video phone (with repeated lyrics being 'watch me on your video phone'), and the male dancers, who are dressed as cameras, are watching her. Also, when we see a close-up shot of a camera zooming in, Beyoncé can be seen in the reflection in the lens, further displaying this point. In addition, she sings 'you say you like my bag and the colour of my nails' while showing her bag and her nails, showing that that there are more links in the video to the lyrics.

The video is perfectly cut to the beat of the music which amplifies the relationship between the music and the visuals, especially when there are very fast beats and the editing speeds up to match. This relationship is also illustrated when the firing of the guns and the flashing lights are all in time with the beat.

The demands of the record label for lots of close-ups of the artist are definitely satisfied in this music video as there are many close-up's of Beyoncé's face. In fact, there are even mirrored close-up's faded into the background of other shots. This allows her to become more recognisable as an artist and as a brand.

As previously mentioned, the whole concept of the song and music video is being watched through a video phone. Therefore, there are frequent references to the notion of looking within the video. Beyoncé is being watched by the cameras, seen on the reflection on a lens and is shown on screens within screens, making her the focus of the video. She is always in the center of the shot apart from when Lady Gaga is with her, where they share center. This signifies that they are the center of attention along with the suggestive dancing and lack of clothing, which acts as voyeuristic treatment of the female body to sell her star image which is common to pop music videos.

The music video also contains an intertextual reference where the beginning resembles the opening titles of the film 'Reservoir Dogs' with the suits, the way they are walking, and the slow-motion. This creates intrigue and makes the video more likely to entertain a wider audience which will again give Beyoncé more recognition.

Conventions of a music video - Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin, a media theorist, has identified 6 key features of music videos that can be easily recognised by us as an audience throughout the different genres of music, even if we tend not to think about it...


1. Music videos demonstrate the quintessential characteristics of the genre being heard.

This means that the style of music will not contradict what is being seen in the music video. For example, a boy/girl band might include a dance routine of some kind in their music video, whereas a rock band's music video would probably show them performing on their instruments.

Pop boy-band One Direction dancing in 'Best Song Ever'.

Rock band Muse playing instruments in 'Uprising'.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

This means that the visuals of the music video should reflect the music by either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

'Man on a Wire' by The Script has the lead singer on a wire.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.

This means that the style and atmosphere of the music should affect what we see in the visuals.

'Jar of Hearts' by Christina Perri is a very sombre and dark sounding song which is reflected in the dull and gloomy atmosphere in the video.

4. The demands of the record label will be incorporated into the music video.

This means that the music video is likely to have lots of close-ups of the artist to promote them and make them more recognisable. In addition to this, the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work to give them a visual style, which the record label can use to create their star image.

In Ellie Goulding's 'Burn', there are many close-ups of her face to gain familiarity.

5. There are constant references to the notion of looking.

During the music video, we will see the artist in a variety of ways, this may be through screens within screens or in mirrors. This will be more likely to be used by synthetic artists where voyeurism can cause the focus to be on the artist.

In 'Telephone' by Lady Gaga we can see her through a security camera in her underwear to add sex appeal.

6. There will often be intertextual references.

This is where the music video will imitate other media products such as films, television programmes or other music videos.

The puppet section from 'Walks Like Rihanna' by The Wanted (left) mimics that in 'N Sync's 'Bye Bye Bye' (right).