Music video case studies

Question 1

Who are Blackpink

Answer 1

Blackpink is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment and consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. Cited as the “biggest girl group in the world”, they are considered the most successful Korean girl group internationally.

The main concept that Blackpink often uses in their songs is “Black” or “girl crush”, taking the black tone as the main color, expressing a strong, individualistic and proactive image However, in some of their songs, the group changes their style when using the “Pink” concept, showing a feminine, youthful and cheerful image

Question 2

who are Blackpink’s audience?

Answer 2

C - possibly lower - lower middle class, catchy, simple lyrics, aspirers
A - largely teenage girls and young women, also targets a male audience due to voyeurism with revealing costumes in the HYLT music video
G - female audience, all members of group women, empowering video
E - global, largely Korean
S - any, mainly heterosexual

Question 3

outline the conventions of k-pop and how these relate to the ‘How You Like That’ music video.

Answer 3

bright colours
memorable choreography

Question 4

how has the k-pop genre changed in the past 20 years?

Answer 4

over the last 20 years, K-pop has become a cultural sensation as groups like BTS and BLACKPINK reached global success
this has led to Korean culture becoming more mainstream in the West

Question 5

what controversy was there around the ‘How You Like That’ music video?

Answer 5

some audience members complained about the Hindu statue which featured in the original music video, saying it was disrespectful and cultural appropriation
YG immediately edited the video and removed the statue - demonstrates the desire they have to please their audience - did this to control bad publicity; example of self-regulation
YG has also been linked to some scandals around drugs and corruption

Question 6

What makes Blackpink so successful?

Answer 6

a
A powerful combination of Marketing strategies, including
(1) the use of differentiation through a girl crush concept,
(2) the creation of extremely high-quality, but scarce content,
(3) the focus on personal branding, and of course,
(4) a big Marketing budget.

Question 7

4
Q
how is social media, particularly Youtube, important for Blackpink?

Answer 7

the music video currently has 1.2 billion views on Youtube
broke the record for ‘most views within 24 hours for a music video’ on Youtube
live streamed a concert on Youtube
Tiktok ‘How You Like That’ dance trend

Question 8

how successful was the ‘How You Like That’ music video?

Answer 8

very successful
- the music video currently has 1.2 billion views on Youtube
- broke the record for ‘most views within 24 hours for a music video’ on Youtube

Question 9

how are women presented in the ‘How You Like That’ music video?

Answer 9

powerful female representation

psychographics - each group member presented differently to appeal a broad audience - their individual personalities give the audience an opportunity to identify with whichever group member they feel their own personality aligns with eg. Lisa presented as more strong + aggressive, another member presented as more feminine and delicate
unity - dance break where group members and other female backup dancers are synchronised - suggesting women should unite and embrace themselves, highlighted by the powerful choreography

Question 10

Q
how does the ‘How You Like That’ music video engage its audience?

Answer 10

entertaining features - bright colours, memorable choreography

Question 11

how does the ‘How You Like That’ music video target a global audience?

Answer 11

various exotic settings, provide escapism, symbolic of various locations around the world, targets different cultures
hybrid genre - use of k-pop and hip-hop genres appeals to a wider audience - hip-hop typically a Western genre
lyrics sung in both Korean and English - English the most spoken language in the world, targets a wider audience
simple choreography that anyone, regardless of the languages you can speak, could learn - separate dance routine video posted on Youtube that has more views than the actual music video (1.3 billion)
collaborations with Western artists - Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa & have featured at the Grammy’s and on American chat shows

Question 12

apply Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory to Blackpink’s ‘How You Like That’ music video.

Answer 12

Diversion: music video conventions - performance, fast pace, entertaining, different settings, clearly high-budget
Personal relationships: Fan interaction online through social media is a key element of K-pop’s global success. Fans feel like they ‘know’ the band members - eg. TikTok
Personal identity: K-pop fandom often involves copying the look of band members - learning music video choreography, seeing their own style reflected on screen (HYLT reflects different personalities of women)
Surveillance: Western audiences gain knowledge of Korean music and culture.

Question 13

how was ‘How You Like That’ marketed and promoted?

Answer 13

A
the video’s release was preceded by a series of teasers on the band’s social media accounts (including posters, photos focusing on individual band members and videos)
- also a reality show (24/365 with Blackpink) - offered audience the ability to become familiar with the group members and build a fan base

Question 14

Who are Arctic Monkeys Industries

Answer 14

Rock Indie band release ‘IBYLGOTDF’ in 2005 and rode a new wave for digital downloads.
Distributed / Marketed through MySpace where users could like and connect.
Arctic Monkeys are self manufactured and did their own marketing.

Question 15

Arctic Monkeys Mise-en-scene

Answer 15

Video filmed in the style of the ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’, an influential BBC music programme in the 1980s.
Intertextuality reveals the band as ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ to new audiences.

Sense of nostalgia through this filming style creates the idea that music is the most important component in an old location by taking away the glitz and the glamour

Question 16

Arctic Monkeys - singers

Answer 16

Scruffy teenage associated clothes for teens to identify and familiarise with.
Diegetic sound with lyrics such as ‘dynamite’ creates a sense of rebellion.

Question 17

apply Young and Rubicam’s theory to the ‘How You Like That’ music video.

Answer 17

Blackpink targets:
- mainstreamers - k-pop genre is a popular genre
- aspirers - younger audience who look up to Blackpink, teenage girls who feel empowered by them
- explorers - k-pop relatively new genre, Western audience members may be interested in it

Question 18

who are Blackpink’s record label?

Answer 18

A
YG Entertainment - SK record label that has diversified into other areas of the music industry - allows them to produce, market and distribute music (vertically and horizontally integrated) - have many subsidiaries which allows them to make more profit
- invested in by many wealthy tech companies, allows their music videos to have high-budgets
- want to appeal to a global audience to increase revenue

Question 19

how is the Asian music industry different to the Western music industry?

Answer 19

creation of synthetic artists - aspiring musicians sign up to become YG trainees - k-pop music manufactured through a strict audition process, including 4-6 years training and reality competitions

Question 20

how are music videos consumed nowadays?

Answer 20

convergence - phones, tablets and YouTube are the primary ways audiences engage with music video

Question 21

Who are the “Big Four” Label Companies - who are they owned by?

Answer 21

Major music labels are owned by multinational media conglomerates that also produce other media content. They are generally known as ‘the big four’:

EMI
Sony BMG
Universal Music Group
Warner Music Group
All other record labels are considered as independents.

Question 22

Who are the independent labels.

Who owns them?

Answer 22

Indie labels are much smaller than major labels, but there are many more of them around the word.
Although they are often seen as more fashionable or edgy, some major companies create subsidiary labels that appear to be independents but are actually owned by large conglomerates.
Some independent labels include: Domino, XL, Rough Trade, Fierce Panda

Question 23

List the key characteristics of Major Record Labels.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of artists signing up to a Major label?

Answer 23

(1) They have big financial resources, and established power and connections in the music industry.
(2) They often have global reach, with offices in most big cities.
(3) They control every step of the production process through their big staffing teams and subsidiary companies; from making the music, distributing the music including to online platforms and social media, and promoting the artists, including organizing concerts, TV interviews and selling merchandise.

Advantages for the artist.
(1) The big labels typically give higher advances to artists (more money upfront) as they have more money.
(2) Greater commercial impact (have ties with other big fashion brands for example, TV + film shows, merchandising).

Disadvantages for the artist
(1) Sometimes artists have less creative control over their material. The labels tell them how to dress, what songs to sing, how they should present themselves in music videos.
(2) Artists don’t own their own music. The artists only get a % of the sales of the music (royalties)

Question 24

List the main characteristics of Independents

What are the advantages and disadvantages for artists signing up to a Indie label?

Answer 24

(1) Indie labels are typically much smaller than major labels, although there are many more of them, and they tend not to have international reach or a lot of employees.
(2) They are typically not so well funded vs the Major Labels.
(3) They are often specialized. Artists could be from the same geographic area or play in a similar genre of music (hip hop, indie music).

Advantages for the artist.
(1) Artists typically have more creative freedom. Major labels have a reputation for being overly controlling, dictating the direction of an artist’s career and pressuring them to create music that is marketable rather than true to their artistic vision.
(2) Artists can sometimes benefit from more personal attention from a smaller label’s team.
(3) Indie labels are more likely to offer co-publishing deals that allow artists to have more ownership over their produced materials.

Disadvantages for the artist.
(1) Artists typically receive smaller advances (money upfront).
(2) Indie labels often have less commercial influence; less resources to spend on promotion.

Question 25

Who are the Artic Monkeys?

Who is their target audience?

Answer 25

Who is their target audience?

a
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band from Sheffield. Unlike bands like One Direction and BlackPink, they weren’t put together by a record label, they were all friends from school. They formed in 2002 and wrote songs based on their lives and what they saw on nights out in Sheffield. They played pubs and small venues in and around Sheffield, and built up a huge following online using Myspace.

They were one of the first bands to come to the public’s attention due to the internet, starting a new way that bands are produced and marketed.

Target Audience
Arctic Monkeys’ audience are likely to be white, middle class and reasonably young. The Indie movement came from the council estates of Manchester. The music trends to appeal to more working class people as they are able to relate to the music easily.

Question 26

Arctic Monkeys could have signed with pretty much any major label before their debut came out. They were massive already. But they chose a little indie record label. Why?

Answer 26

Artistic control. The band have complete control over their clothes, hair and the narrative of their videos. This meant they had to market themselves but they had new digital techniques to do that (see next slide).

Question 27

How did Artic Monkeys build up their brand and following without a big marketing budget

Answer 27

(1) Built up a fan base via internet.
* In their early career, the band gave away CDs and posted a lot of music on websites such as napster and myspace for free. This meant that lots of people were hearing their songs despite not making money.
* The sharing of their music encouraged people to talk about and share their music, which created a buzz about the band.
* Their fan base moved online, creating online communities where they could share songs and information.

(2) Videos helped to reinforce their image and connection with audience.
* Because they had no input from a record company, the band was able to have complete control of their clothes, hair and narrative of the video.
* The audience can gain a sense of identity as they recognize something of themselves or relate in some way to the group.
* The audience is interested in dressing in a particular way that emphasizes their love of the “indie” music genre and could be seen as rather rebellious.

Question 28

Sometimes record labels “manufacture” bands, through TV shows or private auditions. Can you think of examples?

Answer 28

(1) Recently many artists or bands have been discovered via talent TV shows like The X Factor. The artists that are successful on these types of talent shows have a prime time media presence that helps develop a fan base before they even release a record. One Direction is an example. After finishing the show, they signed a record deal with Syco Records (Simon Cowell’s record label) which is part of Sony, one of the ‘Big 4’

(2) Other bands have been formed through private auditions, for example Blackpink, which was formed by YG Entertainment.

YG Entertainment is a major firm in the K-pop industry, which recruits young musicians to become “trainees” in a highly structured system that eventually turns them into “idols,” or highly produced pop stars with a particular image curated by the entertainment company.

Question 29

What are key aspects of Blackpink’s marketing strategy.

Answer 29

(1) Concept of scarcity. This is widely used in Marketing. It is a tactic that creates a psychological need for people to acquire a certain product because it is exclusive or for limited-time only, which artificially increases the demand. YG Entertainment is applying the same strategy for Blackpink as well. Instead of releasing regular content within a shorter period of time, the music videos that they release are very rare and there might be up to 1 year of time between comebacks. This lack of content creates hype and gets fans impatient for the next video, especially considering that they don’t know when it will be released.

(2) Generating a buzz. Blackpink has mastered the art of creating buzz and anticipation before a new release. They do this by strategically releasing teaser images, videos, and concept photos leading up to their comebacks. These teasers generate excitement among fans and the media, creating a sense of urgency and curiosity.

With all of these tactics, the moment YG and Blackpink decide to release a video, everyone rushes to see what all this waiting was about. Which boosts the views to higher and higher records.

(3) Impressive Marketing budget: YG Entertainment is one of the “Big 3”, and they can afford to spend a lot more on promotion than other production companies. The company has a huge Marketing budget for each of their music videos, concerts, shows, and all content that’s created around them in order to not only get maximum visibility in South Korea but also internationally.

(4) High-quality production. They are spending more than $1 million per video. The production is high quality, supported by very high music video professionals, and the end result is that it exciting and pleasing to watch. For example, for the solo single of Rosé, they actually set a real car on fire:

(5) International audience reach.
* The diversity of the girls (born in different countries, speak different languages) not only attracts fans from these countries but also from all over the world.
* They use a lot of English words in their songs, which makes it easier for non-Koreans to adopt these songs and sing to them.
* Many of the songs have English names as well, which increases the exposure opportunities to a more international audience.

(6) Social Media: Blackpink attracts a large number of followers on social networks and streaming platforms.

71.1 million subscribers on YouTube;
20 million followers on Spotify;
44.5 million followers on Instagram;
17 million followers on Facebook.
(7) 6. Focus on personal branding: A part of the group success is thanks to the fact that each member is quite popular on its own as well, not only as a group.
* YG is spending heavily on solo promotion, and Jennie, Lisa and Rosé already released their solo singles – with only Jisoo left to go.
* Additionally, each girl gets her own shows, promotions, campaigns and initiatives (Jisoo is staring in a K-pop drama, Lisa is a dancing mentor, etc.). They are becoming very successful on their own as well, which only adds to the popularity of the group.
* As opposed to other K-pop groups, each member has an individual Instagram account as well – with a lot of followers: