Research into chosen music artist

Introduction

We have chosen Avicii for our music video and the song we will be using is 'Wake Me Up'. The reason for this is because Avicii is a very current artist that is having success globally. Therefore, many youngsters will recognise this song due to its popularity and be able to relate to it. Also, I feel that as this is one of our favorite artists we can enjoy the process of making this video which will enable us to create the best possible video. Also, this so is constantly featured in the club scene and therefore is a big dance hit. We have therefore have chosen this song as it will appeal to our audience and it will attract them even if the video doesn't go to plan. Personally, I have always followed Avicii and my favorite feature of them is the music videos that they create. We have gained a lot of inspiration from these videos and the style and conventions that they use. However, we want to adapt some of these ideas whilst creating a unique video which has not been created before, and will stand out from the rest of the music videos. 

Artist profile 

After being initially signed to the label 'Se7en', Avicii achieved huge success and therefore they signed to the bigger record label, 'Universal Island'. The producers for Wake Me up, however was 'atnightmgmt'. This quote from Midweek Charts shows the huge success of Wake Me Up. 'Avicii's Wake Me Up has become the fastest-selling single in the UK in eight months after already this week surpassing 200,000 sales.'

Avicii first began their storm into the music industry when they released 'Bromance'. However, the artist Tim Berg was the featured artist of song and it was therefore not necessarily Avicii. They then released 'Feelings For You' plus hit remixes of Tiësto, Robyn, David Guetta, and Bob Sinclar which were all released in 2011. With massive monster tracks lined up and many of the world’s biggest events where Avicii were headlining, 2011 was clearly a very successful year for Avicii and acted as their platform to spring onto the world stage. No surprise when his first release in 2011, Street Dancer, went straight to #1. 

In 2010 Avicii released their first single, "Seek Bromance" which received 35,000 sales to date. Also, in this year Avicii release the song, "My feelings for you" which received 28,000 sales to date. They also have recorded their debut album called 'True' in 2013, which received 50,000 after 1 week. "Levels" which was released in 2012 went platinum in UK (600,000) and platinum in the USA (1,463,000). In 2013 Avicii have also release "X You " (600,000 sales),"We write the story" and "Wake Me Up" which has received 420,000 sales till this date. 

Artist music video analysis  

The first music video by Avicii that I will analyse is 'Seek Bromance'. The style of this music video is 50% narrative based and 40% concept based and 10% performance based. The narrative element is so large as this video consists of a story line of 3 friends being kicked of out of their houses and going on a road trip to Las Vegas. The audience sees all the trials and tribulations that the characters face along the way. The concept element is absorbed by the audience as the artist is promoting an ideology, which is the importance of friendship, being a rebel and having fun by doing this, as a young person. Also, the characters are represented as rich and therefore the artist wants to display his lifestyle through this. For example, they are seen leaving a big house in the first scene, implicating that they have a lot of money. There is only a glimpse of the performance aspect in this video and it is scene when the female character is dancing seductively at the end of the video. However, this also emphasises the concept idea of rebelling against society.

Dyers star theory is a huge factor is this music video and it has a big impact on it. The rebellion aspect of this theory is mainly due to this. In the first scene we see one of the characters leaving his house to go travelling. However, as he leaves he is instructed to 'get the hell out of my house' by what appears to be his dad or a significant figure in his life. Therefore the artist is promoting rebellion against parents. This rebellion aspect can also be seen as the characters smoke, gamble and drink alcohol throughout the journey. Sexual magnetism is also shown, relating to Dyers theory, when the girl is seen in bed with two boys. This is to show the 'bromance' that the 2 boys have and them leaving after sleeping with her emphasises this 'Bromance' relationship. Dyers star theory also states that the star must be 'simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer'. This idea is predominant throughout the video, as the youths are seen wearing normal clothing which the audience would wear, making them ordinary. However, the stars are also seen as extraordinary as they are so rebellious and can get away with just making a journey to Vegas. They are not seen as working to earn money to go on this journey or having to ask permition. Therefore it is unrealistic for any normal person to do this and they are seen as extraordinary by the audience. This music video does place fans for hegemony as the characters are showing dominance and leadership by travelling by themselves because the want to rebel. This will persuade the audience to empathise and feel the same way by wanting to rebel. This doesn't necessarily mean that they will by it is the idea which will entertain them. 

Evidence of Goodwin's theory being used in this music video is predominant throughout. This video demonstrates the dance genre characteristics when the audience sees the characters dance and the fact that the video is based on a relationship between a boy and a girl. Goodwin's theory specifies this and it is a key convention to the dance genre. This entertains the audience as they get to see a fictional story and they want to copy the characters dancing as they look up to their idols. Also there is a clear relationship between lyrics and visuals and the lyrics often illustrate the visuals. This is seen by the relationship between the two boys referring to their 'bromance' which is part of the songs title. This makes the target audience see this idea and the importance of friendship is a lesson for them to learn from this. 'I'm into you' is also a common line used in this song and it describes the girls' feeling about the boy. The lyrics also says 'I want you to treat me good', but these contradict the visuals as the viewer sees the boys tormenting the girl on several occasions such as pretending to leave her by herself in Death Valley. There is often voyeuristic treatment of the female body. An example of this is when the girl is seen dancing seductively towards the end of the video. This appeals to the male audience as they want to be with the girl and the female audience as the want to be her. The music often amplifies the visuals as when the chorus is played, the characters are seen dancing. However this is not true for every time the chorus plays. 

The artist is not seen in this music video, however characters have been implemented to portray the artists' ideas. This is a common characteristic used in the dance genre so that the audience can relate to the video better as normal people have been used. This relates back to the Dyer theory as ordinary people have been used to create an extraordinary effect.
The target audience for this music video is clearly young people aged between 18-26. This is because of the rebellion concept which is so commonly used throughout. Also the characters used are very young in order to make the video more relatable for the target audience. Also dance music is very popular amongst the youth generation of today and therefore they will want to watch this video. It is also often played in clubs where young people are and so they will watch the video after hearing the song. 
The setting is in a car for most of this video. This is a convertible car which will appeal to the audience as the artist is displaying his wealth. Another setting is Las Vegas, which is the perfect partying and 'rebelling' setting for this video, as this is the concept that the artist is trying to portray. As this is a world renown place all the audience will recognise it and therefore they can relate to it. This will lead them to think that the artist is cool as he has rebelled by going to this place which is represented as a gambling state.

Normal clothing is worn by the characters. This links to Dyers star theory that ordinary people have been created to give an extraordinary effect. This makes the audience relate to the character more and they will therefore enjoy the video they can imagine themselves doing the same. 

For the majority of the video, high key lighting is used in order to show the unveiling story about these characters. However, low-key lighting is used when the characters are in the clubs and casinos in order to represent rebellion. Also this relates to the partying lifestyle as clubs are often dark and the audience see this as a cool place to go to as it is rebellious against society. 

Iconography such as a convertible retro car is used in order to promote the cool lifestyle that these youths lead. Also it shows how they are rebellious as they are seen standing up in the back of the car which is illegal. Chips are used by the characters to symbolise that they are gambling and this rebellion concept once again. 

Mid shots are often used in the music video so that the viewer can see the emotions of the characters faces but also to show that they are 3 friends. This is because the mid shots always have the 3 characters in, joining them together. This highlights the concept that the artist is trying to portray which is the importance in friendship. This effect makes the audience want to have the same feeling with their friends as they can relate as the target audience is young.
Panning shots of the car going along the highways are used when the friends are driving to Las Vegas. This shows how fast they are going and it relates to the dance genre as the music in dance is often fast paced. This also corresponds with the idea that they are rebelling as it shows the speed at which they are running away to be rebellious. This makes the audience relate as this is seen as cool.

Summary

The research that I have undertaken of my chosen music artist will help me with planning my own music video as I can learn from a lot of the techniques that they have used in order to create this huge concept idea. As my video aims to also promote a large concept idea, I can use techniques such as low key lighting to show rebellion, which is a concept that I want to portray to my target audience who is also young people.