Music is to be heard not seen...

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Permalink Reply by Matt Gowdy on August 21, 2008 at 11:05pm

You mean like the majority of the rap / pop / rock / country videos out there? ;)

I think that music can take many forms and to be honest, it can be enjoyed as purely or as hybridized as anyone wants. I think that is really the beauty of music, or any art form really, is that people will take away from it what they want to take away from it.

A new artist can focus however they want, at the end of the day, they always have the option of starting in a different direction. Music videos not working? Try building the base for the music instead, then shift back.

Art may hurt, but it doesn't get hurt. It evolves, it purifies, it lives, breathes, dies, and is reborn in someone's imagination. If music videos are a person's art, then more power to them, I hope they get great at what they do.

Mediums speak loudly. Art speaks even louder.

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Permalink Reply by Laurence on August 22, 2008 at 2:03pm

Many artists seem to think that they have to have excessive amounts of money thrown at their videos for directors, special effects & whatever.

The thing is many Videos I see these days follow a distinct formula and few seem to offer any visual originality. One recent exception to which is Weezer who showcased many famous internet memes in their video for recent single, Pork & beans

Also another way to enjoy music is in Videogames. Guitar hero and more recently, rock band being such examples. However another recent game along these fronts is Audiosurf where you feed the game ANY MP3 of your choosing and it generates a kind of wipeout track cum tetris game for you to play, for example. here someone fed it The breaker of everyone that played guitar hero 3, Dragonforce - through the fire and the flames...


\m/ \m/ :P

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Permalink Reply by MosesMonster on September 1, 2008 at 10:33am

Audiosurf roxors.

To add a little bit to what you were saying, I believe that visuals are important as it seems that our generation is EXTREMELY visual. No more of the radio sit down and listen for hours, we all need something to watch otherwise we might get bored. And I'm not saying everyone, there are people who slip through the cracks and don't follow the norm, but as part of Generation Y and the inevitable Z (The digital generation) it seems to me that if it ain't visual, it doesn't exist. I think that is why we have to blog about everything and take pictures with our camera phones, because "pix or it didn't happen".

Back to music though, I believe that visuals are one huge influence. Remember the song, "Video killed the Radio Star"? That is partly true, which is why most singers you see today are all dolled up, at least in the pop genre. This extends past the music videos, I'm a concert guy and I partly go to concerts to see how the artist deals with his music. One thing I love about Fiona Apple is viewing on an actual plain, how affected she is by her music to this date. She still throws tantrums on stage because her music really moves her. I love seeing that, visually it adds an extra layer or emotion for when I go back home and listen to the track.

I think visuals can help an artist, but I do agree that some go a little to far (Britney Spears anyone?) Concerts are another layer to the visuals that I think are important and have been around since the classic days of crooning. Call me oldschool but I rather watch a person live than watch a music video.

Also Laurence, being an independent director for select music videos, most companies, Even the big guys, actually don't invest a lot of money into videos, it's an underpaid industry. It's all about the team who invest in the time. I believe that it's the team that actually lose sight of what the music video is suppose to do, and instead make it this crazy art project that really has no connection to the song.

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Permalink Reply by tubejay on September 1, 2008 at 5:04am

it's a question of priority. if your priority is to create a video for television, and the music doesn't matter, following this rule exclusively is going to hurt music, and maybe it has.

if your priority is to make good music, and you don't care about video, then you're going to be suitable for radio but not television, and half as many people will find your music.

but imagine it another way, imagine two mediums like paint and clay, and one artist saying "now that we have clay to sculpt with, this is going to hurt painting."

art needs mediums. the only way video creates an extra challenge for musicians is in the realm of commercial entertainment. the real hurt is done to people making records, not people making music. and, there is an opportunity for artists to come together on projects that contain high quality music and high quality video.

i would say don't worry about the mediums, worry about the industry. if you want to get to the root of the issue, it's money, not pictures.

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