Genre Conventions

There are key elements that usually define the genre of pop music which include very electric sound and an upbeat track. They also have elements of urban, dance and rock styles borrowed and included. The same format is conventionally used throughout majority of pop songs with the idea of a catchy chorus repeated as a hook for their target audience – which is typically youths. The idea of pop music stems from it being an abbreviation of the term ‘popular’ and therefore this type of music is aimed at a mass audience. This increases the importance of popularity within this genre/music industry and how important it is to sell the artist.

Within music videos there is conventionally a strong link between the lyrics of the song and the visuals in order to create a strong narrative to follow and help to sell the song and the artist. Videos are used to sell the artist by giving off an ideology the represents the artist and their beliefs and to build their fan base. This is the reason the artists/band feature in the video themselves to allow the audience to connect with them, as it is essential to sell the music and make money.

A great example of the link between lyrics and narrative is the music video by one Direction – Night Changes, which also is an example of how they sell themselves as a band to their audience.   

This particular music video involves their audience massively through the use of cinematography and editing, with the point of view shots which allows the audience to place themselves into the as if they were actually with the artists. This was obviously an intentional production choice to further include the target audience into the boys life and get to know and understand their personalities better, selling them as a band.