Before the transition to digital platforms like YouTube and Vevo, music videos were typically made for one or two selected songs by artists to be utilised as ‘promos’ for the artists current or upcoming album at the time. These ‘promo’ music videos on channels like MTV had to be as Vernallis (2013) suggests, checked and approved by a decision-making body and so music videos ideas were tailored and stifled so as to pass and be broadcast.

With the rise of YouTube, music videos now arguably had a place with less scrutiny and “…little vetting of clips…” (Vernallis, 2013:208) before being distributed and access to a wider audience through the internet. Such freedom has allowed for artists to create music videos for an entire album creating a ‘visual album’ for the audience to experience. An example is Beyoncé’s Lemonade which brought to attention to the black female experience in the US through its videos and is what Steven Shaviro (2017) suggests being an innovation in turning music videos of songs into an entire almost narrative based movie.

However, I would argue that visual albums with its own embedded statements existed at an earlier time during the transition to digital media. This can be seen in Daft Punk’s Discovery where each song had an animated music video that when put together created a whole animated film. The plot detailed the transformation of an alien band into a human super group that was controlled by an old white music producer that aimed to collect golden records for the hits the band made. I argue that this plot point presents a statement around the music industry and its cherry picking of artists to create industry pop groups that can be seen in more recent times like One Direction and BTS.

James Hutchinson (BA – 33662498)

References

Beyoncé – Formation (Official Video). (2016).  YouTube video [Online] added by Beyoncé. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ&ab_channel=Beyonc%C3%A9VEVO [Accessed on 23 November 2023]

Daft Punk – Interstella 5555 full movie clip best quality. (2022). YouTube video [Online] added by justborney. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E28JMBKK3WQ&ab_channel=justborney [Accessed on 23 November 2023)

Shaviro, S. (2017). Digital Music Videos. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press

Vernallis, C. (2013). Unruly Media: YouTube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema. New York: Oxford University Press