Music Videos – Art Vs Recession Specials

Published: Thursday 14th Jan 2010 by Trent
Cinema-full

‘Thriller’, ‘Bad Romance’, ‘Get Your Freak On’ – each song provided one of the biggest hits in the careers of  their associated acts. What were the defining factors that helped to catapult these singles to the top of the charts? The answer is simple: music videos.

Videos grant artists a unique opportunity to project their music into the visual arena, targeting larger audiences in the process. With grand cinematic designs and artwork, such clips have allowed some of music’s heavyweights to engage consumers through an entirely new channel and bring their music to life. In fact, acts including Madonna, Janet Jackson and, of course, Michael Jackson (MTV’s King of the Music Video), were sometimes able to ascend to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 fueled by the hype generated by their music videos alone.

However, in recent years, the epic design of such productions have begun to wane as a ramification of financial constraints. This has given rise to low budget releases called ‘recession specials’, characterised by poor editing, cheap graphics and cliche concepts. Even some of music’s biggest names have resorted to producing  such clips of the most amateur design. Mariah Carey, for instance, released two of the worst videos of her career last year with ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ and ‘H.A.T.E.U.’.

Interestingly, artists generally fund their own videos with little label assistance, hence it is quite baffling why acts who clearly have the financial resources to afford better productions, put forward a continuous string of recession specials. In contrast, Lady GaGa, who debuted in 2008, has thus far created some of the best productions of the last ten years, spending large amounts of money to ensure that each venture is of the highest quality she can afford.

Coincidentally, big budgets are not needed to create grand productions. Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ was shot in front of a plain screen, focused almost solely on the dance routine without any other elements, yet became one of the “best videos of all time” according to Kanye West. The same can be noted with Ciara whose ‘Love Sex Magic’ video was one of 2009’s best. Conversely, Beyonce’s ability to manipulate a small budget did not channel into her other clips, which were all prime examples of the recession special.

In closing, it is becoming increasingly evident that few artists are willing to go the extra mile to create cinematic productions on the silver screen. As the economy continues to struggle and budgets continue to shrink, the recession special has taken centre stage. It seems that Michael Jackson’s vision of the “short film” is hanging on by a thread.

Is it safe to say that the era of the music video is

coming to an end?

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  1. Quit it January 14, 2010

    jeez, quit it…

  2. Kyle January 14, 2010

    You sound like Sam’s puppet sometimes. Nothing wrong with that, just saying.

  3. Anne January 14, 2010

    Personally, I don’t think the it’s worth it for an artist to give a video a big budget now-a-days. It was a different story when it was something new like in the Thriller days but now people are not as easily impressed and I don’t think it will have the same effect on how they feel about the song. For example, I like “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga and “Bad Romance” is okay, but in neither case does it have anything to do with the video. Some of those big budget videos are not even that memorable. I think minimal will suffice when it comes to videos b/c the point is to have the video shows play your song so that people can be exposed to it outside of radio and just about any visual will do. I think people will either like the song or they won’t and I don’t think an expensive video will have enough of effect on that to make it worth the big bucks. That money could be donated or invested elsewhere. Artists should find ways to keep the viewers attention w/out spending big bucks and/or mainly rely on the quality of the song.

  4. B. Mike January 14, 2010

    Great post! Videos, like today’s music and overall caliber of artist, have greatly decreased since Madonna, Janet, and Mike ruled the world. They tried to paint beautiful pictures and tell awesome stories. I wish people still did that. And you don’t need a HUGE budget to do that, either. See Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” for proof.

  5. qc January 14, 2010

    I completely agree Ciara’s Love S** Magic was an AMAZING video done on a budget!

  6. TRUTH January 14, 2010

    THE BIGGEST BUDGET MUSIC VID WAS ONLY $7 MIL – MJ’S THRILLER AND TOOK A MONTH TO FILM. STILL CHEAP ASS COMPARED TO TV SERIES LET ALONE MOVIE PRODUCTIONS TODAY. SURE BUDGET CONSTRAINTS, LACK OF VIDEO/MUSIC SALES, AND INCREASE IN TECHNOLOGY, HAVE MADE IT CHEAPER TO MAKE MUSIC VIDS. THE REAL PROBLEM IS LACK OF QUALITY PRODUCTION VALUES IN VIDS WHERE UNRELATED SNIPPETS OF IRRELEVANT CLIPS ARE TIMED TO THE BEAT AND VIDEO STORIES VIA A SCRIPT PROCESS NO LONGER EXISTS. SORT OF LIKE AVATAR… ALL ICING BUT THE CAKE HAS NO SUBSTANCE. SMFH.

  7. Rob January 14, 2010

    quit it Trent. Your articles suck.
    Bad Romance putting in a same sentence with Thriller? Whats wrong with you?

  8. stan January 14, 2010

    when MTV (MUSIC television) doesn’t even play music videos, why would artists even bother creating good videos?

  9. parisian girl January 14, 2010

    YES!!!@stan
    you’re right!mtv doesn’t care about music anymore

  10. B**** Please January 14, 2010

    I agree with Stan. If these channels like BET,MTV,and VH1 played videos the right way maybe artist would care about putting out not just big budget videos but creative videos.

  11. shelly-chelle January 14, 2010

    I see no point in making a video if it isn’t going to be played. The only time MTV,BET,VH1,etc. plays music videos is at 5 in the morning when everyone is asleep. So, no one gets to watch them. The only thing that kept people interested in music videos were shows like 106 & park and TRL and with TRL gone and 106 & park slippin music videos will soon be extinct.

  12. S*** January 14, 2010

    You do know that none of Beys low budget videos have anything to do with the recession Right??

  13. kj January 14, 2010

    Big up!!!!! to Lady Gaga for bringing back the music video as an art form. Hopefully, her contemporaries will see this as a challenge and step up n stop being such lazy cheap m************.

  14. kj January 14, 2010

    Big up to Lady Gaga for bring back the music video as an art form. Hopefully dis will cause her contemporaries to step up n stop being such lazy cheap m************. Maybe den Mtv will start playing music again n stop their 90% reality nonsense crap.

  15. sadface January 14, 2010

    trent, you make me frown.
    1. the writing is tragic, but thats not the issue
    2. this recession special that you guys (toyaz world) like to blast make NO SENSE
    3. who the hell is spending millions on videos
    4. dont compare thriller to bad romance. thriller set the bar, didnt break the bank, and STILL ROCKS THE S*** OUT OF LIFE. this time next year no one, but you, will give a s*** about bad romance
    5. you all LOVE talking s*** about beyonce, then going to the concert and queening out. get your life in order.
    sucks cause you fine as s***.

  16. VaunTV January 14, 2010

    Nope, Lady Gaga & Rihanna ALWAYS. Deliver great video.. now some other, including Bey can tend to do cheap vids.

    But shiit i dont blame some folks because MTV, BET, VH1 Hell even Fuse arent playing vids liek they did..unless you have MTV 2 or MTV Jams or VH1 Soul, your not going to see vids much other than 106 & Park or during a MTV commercial

  17. nate January 14, 2010

    Did you really just put Bad Romance on the same level as Thriller and Get your freak on????? damn yall stay on gaga’s d***..

  18. tiff January 14, 2010

    videos and music ! IMO

  19. Ben January 14, 2010

    Another good post. I do feel that many videos are becoming more and more watered down these days. 2009 saw the most recession videos of all time, and a handful of them were done by Beyonce, someone who once was being quite crafty with her videos. I think that directors should be held accountable too, many of them have just run out of ideas and tend to use the same concept over and over again. I guess one could also argue that because channels like BET, MTV, and VH1 barely play videos anymore except late at night until the early morning, that shortens the interest. But to counter that theory, how many of us log on to youtube these days to watch out favorite video, past or present? Lots! Youtube and myspace music,(and once the now defunct “imeem” r.i.p.) are the new MTV, the market is still open. And what is funny is that a lot of those legendary videos like Thriller, didn’t even take a ton of expensive locations in order to get the job done. You don’t need a complex concept and a large budget to make a nice video. That is what a lot of artists didn’t understand last year, they figured since funding was scarce, they would just be lazy and throw something trashy together. All you really need is about 4 simple shots, good lighting, a good editor, and a simple yet effective story. On the other hand, I have seen a lot of videos that did have a large budget, but didn’t have an effective theme, or just had too much bling flashing going on to make it worth watching.

  20. SASHA January 14, 2010

    Beyonce’s vids have nothing to do with th recession but more to do with her concept that “less is more” hence the simplicity of Single ladies video and If I Were A Boy(although IWAB wasn’t a dance song it did tell a story)

  21. Gilberto January 14, 2010

    I understand why MTV and BET doesn’t play video anymore. Why do you have to wait them to play your favorite video, when you can, simply, go to youtube and watch it over and over again? About Beyoncé’s videos, she’d been doing two videos with budge of only one on I Am… Sasha Fierce era.

  22. gh_Mikie January 14, 2010

    @stan I do agree…music video quality is getting poorer and poorer. But other comments are right, what’s the point of putting more money into music videos if the main channels dont even bother to show them anymore? The channels do show them on their subsidiary channels like mtvj and vhsoul, but still who watches those anyways?I believe something can be done on a small budget, you just have to be creative with the treatment and the cinematics of the video. You dont need uber expensive stuff to shoot video-just be creative! As a music vid’ fanatic I am sad…but the music video era isnt ending…the decline is only the beggining of greater things to come.

  23. number1k9 January 14, 2010

    Music videos have been on a steadily decline ever since MTV became an all out reality TV affair. Trying to compete with E! instead of sticking to the format that they initially created.

    Luckily the world has become computer/internet savvy and can view media online in great deal. If this wasn’t the case, music videos would all be on low budgets nowadays.

    From what I know and have learned in college, record labels still do pay for music videos. In a few situations do artists pay for their own music videos. And that is when there is a conflict or issue between the artist and the record label. Artists do this for their fans.

    I can assure you that Akon’s label and Interscope Records are definitely paying for Lady Gaga’s big budget videos. She isn’t laying the money down for those videos, she doesn’t have that much money to drop on them (I don’t buy that at all). Her label knows that she is big and the “it girl” right now, so I’m certain they are willing to spend the money on her music videos.

    As for Mariah’s lower budget videos I do not know why Def Jam isn’t spending alot on them, probably because they aren’t happy with the project as a whole-would be my best guess. Because Rihanna who is signed to Island Def Jam Music Group too, has been getting some high budget videos.

    In the end, it’s all a business and a market game. They have to pay for whats selling and hot, in order to recoup the funds spent. if they don’t think in return they’ll get it back, why spend the money on music videos. With the end of shows like TRL and music videos on MTV in whole, why pay a ton for music videos-now that’s the real question!

    @number1k9

  24. J January 14, 2010

    Did you just end an article with “In Closing”. Are we in Ms. Johnson’s 10th grade English Class?

  25. Jolie January 14, 2010

    The reason y B’s videos were probably low-buget to ya’ll is tht she pays for them out of her own pocket(she mentioned this during the B’Day era) whereas others are paid for by their labels…

  26. ACE January 16, 2010

    I know Im late so no one will probably read this but I need to say something…

    Now a days artist give us crappy videos or simply bad single selections because they’ve either got full of themselves or the label doesnt give a rats ass. Artist who take the time and deliver a watch worthy video are always rewarded with success. Crapy video usually means crapy album for me. Soul artist need to take more time developing stories to the videos that make sense and pop artist need to give us just that POP. Brittany’s comeback would not have been a success if the videos were whack point blank. Theres nothing worse then seeing a video that either doesnt make since or even fit the song. Some artist are entertaining enough to do a plan screen or background video and dance there way through the frames but all arent as fortunate. Ashanti’s mass appeal became reality for her because of her lyrics and her movie like videos … when she went low budget or stop caring as much everything slipped. THE SONG SHOULD BE 1ST to sell the material but the music video is almost just as needed as a prime tool for making an artist heard

  27. DH January 19, 2010

    Kanye West is still putting money and thought into all of his videos………………

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