Music video is an intriguing genre of television due to the fact that music drives the images and ideas found in numerous and varied examples of the form. Pre-recorded pieces of pop music are visually written upon in a palimpsest manner, resulting in an immediate and entertaining synchronisation of sound and vision. Ever since the popularity of MTV in the early 1980s, music video has been a persistent fixture in academic discussion, most notably in the work of writers like E. Ann Kaplan, Simon Frith and Andrew Goodwin. What has been of major interest to such cultural scholars is the fact that music video was designed as a promotional tool in their inception, supporting album sales and increasing the stardom of the featured recording artists. Authorship in music video studies has been traditionally kept to the representation of music stars, how they incorporate post-modern references and touch upon wider cultural themes (the Marilyn Monroe pastiche for the Madonna video, Material Girl (1985) for instance). What has not been greatly discussed is the contribution of music video directors, and the reason for that is the target audience for music videos are teenagers, who respond more to the presence of the singer or the band than the unknown figure of the director, a view that is also adhered to by music television channels like MTV.

This study examined how young women audiences may make sense of music videos and how they relate music video messages to their own femininity. Studies of the representation of women in music videos mostly have focused on critiquing content, rather than audience interpretations. This study, using focus groups, looked at how young women interpret music videos featuring women artists and showed that young women perceive sexist and/or stereotypical depictions presented in the videos. During six focus groups, three music videos were reviewed by 49 college students, mostly consisting of young women in their early 20s. The researcher found themes emerging from the discussions recorded during the focus groups. Such themes reaffirmed previous critical scholarship on the content of music videos that women are presented as sex objects and objectified body parts in music videos, that portrayals of women function as unrealistic masculine fantasies, and that the videos contain narratives about cultural expectations for femininity. The results did support prior critical work, but they also uncovered interpretations filled with irony, contradiction, and paradox. This study examined women audience members' interpretations of feminine stereotypes in music videos and found that the women participants felt pressure to meet an impossible standard of an ideal feminine form, as defined by men. The results revealed the participants' concern about their own inadequacies in comparison. Participants generally observed that the women artists in the treatment music videos are not real women, but participants demonstrated a wistful desire to be more like the artists. The present study adds interpretive audience research to the literature on music video content analysis and supports prior conclusions based on content analysis.

Wong Chi Hang. / Thesis submitted in: October 2005. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-94). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / 摘要 --- p.iii / Acknowledgement --- p.iv / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- LyricAlly --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2 --- Singing Voice Detection --- p.6 / Chapter 2.3 --- Singing Transcription System --- p.7 / Chapter 3 --- Background and System Overview --- p.9 / Chapter 3.1 --- Background --- p.9 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Audio Mixing Practices of the popular music industry --- p.10 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Cantonese lyric writer practice --- p.11 / Chapter 3.2 --- System Overview --- p.13 / Chapter 4 --- Vocal Signal Enhancement --- p.15 / Chapter 4.1 --- Method --- p.15 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Non-center Signal Estimation --- p.16 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Center Signal Estimation --- p.17 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Bass and drum reduction --- p.21 / Chapter 4.2 --- Experimental Results --- p.21 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Experimental Setup --- p.21 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Results and Discussion --- p.24 / Chapter 5 --- Onset Detection --- p.29 / Chapter 5.1 --- Method --- p.29 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Envelope Extraction --- p.30 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Relative Difference Function --- p.32 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Post-Processing --- p.32 / Chapter 5.2 --- Experimental Results --- p.34 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Experimental Setup --- p.34 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Results and Discussion --- p.35 / Chapter 6 --- Non-vocal Pruning --- p.39 / Chapter 6.1 --- Method --- p.39 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Vocal Feature Selection --- p.39 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Feed-forward neural network --- p.44 / Chapter 6.2 --- Experimental Results --- p.46 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Experimental Setup --- p.46 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Results and Discussion --- p.48 / Chapter 7 --- Lyric Feature Extraction --- p.51 / Chapter 7.1 --- Features --- p.52 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Relative Pitch Feature --- p.52 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- Time Distance Feature --- p.54 / Chapter 7.2 --- Pitch Extraction --- p.56 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- f0 Detection Algorithms --- p.56 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- Post-Processing --- p.64 / Chapter 7.2.3 --- Experimental Results --- p.64 / Chapter 8 --- Lyrics Alignment --- p.69 / Chapter 8.1 --- Dynamic Time Warping --- p.69 / Chapter 8.2 --- Experimental Results --- p.72 / Chapter 8.2.1 --- Experimental Setup --- p.72 / Chapter 8.2.2 --- Results and Discussion --- p.74 / Chapter 9 --- Conclusion and Future Work --- p.82 / Chapter 9.1 --- Conclusion --- p.82 / Chapter 9.2 --- Future Work --- p.83 / Chapter A --- Publications --- p.85 / Chapter B --- Symbol Table --- p.86 / Bibliography --- p.89

The emergence in recent years of strong female musical artists asserting their sexuality as empowerment (Andsager & Roe, 2003; Gauntlett, 2002) has necessitated an evaluation of their depictions in music videos as perceived by contemporary target audiences. This study attempts to determine how viewers’ gender role identity, based upon gender schema theory (Bem, 1981; 1993) and measured through Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), relate to perceptions of female pop and hip hop artists’ music videos. It was hypothesized that sex-typed respondents would perceive portrayals as traditional more than other groups, whereas cross-sex typed respondents would perceive empowerment more than others groups. A convenience sample of 177 female undergraduate students was used for this cross-sectional study. Results did not support the hypotheses. Though some of the traditional items were found significant, no other significant differences emerged. Overall, gender role identity was ultimately found to have little relationship to perceptions of music video portrayals.

This research studied three women who have performed in hip hop music videos. Previous literature concerning these women, including memoirs, men’s magazine interviews, and Black feminist scholarship, has situated them as video vixens, terminology that all three participants disputed applied to them. The research was completed in two parts—a face-to-face phenomenological interview and a semi-structured telephone interview. In the phenomenological interview, the initial question—what are your experiences as a woman who dances/models in music videos?—was posed. The answers ranged from musings about professionalism and the lack thereof in the industry to the politics of skin color and nationality. The semi-structured interview allowed the participants to clarify or expound on experiences they discussed during the first interview.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The purpose of this research is to explore gender representation in music videos on MTV Base Africa. The study attempts to determine if dominant hegemonic portrayals exist or whether space is made for alternative gender portrayals. The research involved observing and analysing a range and recurrence of masculine and feminine constructions. A random sample of 20 local and international music videos broadcast between January and May 2009 formed the basis of the analysis. A qualitative research design was used and data collected through a focus group method and semiotic analysis of music videos. The focus group sample was representative of selected groups in KwaZulu-Natal (Bluff and Westville). The results show that contesting discourses of power relations (race, class and gender) are in play. It appears that both counter hegemonic and hegemonic gender representations were present within the sample of music videos. The study demonstrates that competing gender discourses, including subordinate, ambiguous, high-class, low-class, middle-class, hegemonic and counter-hegemonic femininities and masculinities are operative. The conclusion reached is that contending gender constructions are present in music videos on MTV BASE Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

This study investigated the relationships between young women's attitudes and exposure to violence, objectification of women, and sex-role stereotypes. The research analyzed whether or not viewing sexual content or violence in music videos affected young women's current moods or changed attitudes about sexual beliefs. Music videos were selected from cable television networks and music Web sites. Sixty-six undergraduate women at a Midwest university were exposed to six music videos with violent, sexual, or neutral content. Pretests and post-tests were used to assess any change of mood or attitude after viewing music videos. Results showed no significant change in sexual beliefs for any of the three groups. The group viewing neutral videos demonstrated a significant change in mood prior to viewing the music videos between the groups. The data suggested the method of selection of participants, use of pretests and post-tests, effects of music, and desensitization to violence and sexual content may have played a role in the outcomes of the study. / Department of Journalism

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Includes filmography and discography.

Since YouTube was founded in 2005, prosumers have been uploading karaoke-style “lyric videos” of their favourite songs in order to creatively and visually accompany the song, while making it available online to other listeners. In the last few years, more and more artists have adopted this trend and are releasing official lyric videos that follow and expand on this tradition, thus commanding immediate visual attention to new singles. Additionally, these videos control the images and sounds associated with the song and artist, while profiting from advertising revenue tied to online video content. Though scholarship on music video is increasing, there is no evidence of scholarly research on lyric videos. Seemingly simple, these videos create meanings that impact artistic personae, song and album reception, and genre identity formation. They are not merely promotional devices, or placeholders for “official” music videos. Grounding my analysis in genre theory (Frow 2015, Brackett 2015 & 2016, Fabbri, 1982, Holt, 2007), I claim that lyric videos comprise a new visual genre of music video, following their own parameters, connections, and histories, while simultaneously participating in the ideologies and tropes of their musical genre. In order to illustrate the framework, I offer a history of the genre by focusing my analysis on the lyric videos released by Katy Perry over the course of seven years, from 2010 to 2017, from the promotion for four of her most recent albums. By offering a historical analysis, I show how the lyric video has emerged, evolved and become established as a distinct visual genre. I include brief interludes in my analysis to highlight other important moments in the development of the genre, and to discuss how the lyrics, sound, and images are diversely represented in lyric videos depending upon musical genre. Drawing from feminist theory (Gledhill 2000), as well as persona theory (Auslander 2004, Moore 2005), I conclude that lyric videos offer unique possibilities for artists to amplify the meaning of their song and the spectator’s understanding of the lyrics, while portraying information about the artist’s subjectivities, and as such, deserves more scholarly attention as a distinct visual genre.