Music Video Comparison

Wham! - Club Tropicana (1983)                                             Chris Brown - Don't Wake Me Up (2012)

I am going to compare the way in which music videos have changed over time, using the music video for 'Club Tropicana' by Wham! (released in 1983) and Chris Brown's video 'Don't Wake Me Up' (released in 2012). Both artists represent the pop genre.

The most obvious differences between the two videos is the singers costumes and the special effects. In the Club Tropicana video the singer is wearing what appears to be underwear, thus showing a lot of skin. In contrast Chris Brown is either wearing a T-Shirt, jeans and trainers or a denim jacket. It can be inferred that the purpose of the costume in the Wham! video is to make female viewers attracted to the singer, with the aim of increasing sales. The purpose of Chris Brown's costume is to establish him as a style icon, by wearing clothes that could be worn day-to-day. This should help to sell the music by appearing attractive to females and fashionable to males.

The technical developments in Chris Brown's video are vast. While there are some special effects in Club Tropicana (the most obvious being that almost every cut is faded) the average viewer not analyzing the video is unlikely to notice any. In contrast Chris Brown's video is very futuristic. In the scene where Chris Brown and a girl are walking on clouds it can be assumed that it was shot using a green screen and that the thin clouds / mist blowing where they are walking were added during editing. This is an excellent example of technological developments in music video production as it looks as though all of Club Tropicana was shot on location. However the green screen was first invented in the 1930's.

From these two videos it can be assumed that over the period of 20 years the way n which music videos are used to sell music has changed dramatically. It seems the focus has changed from the artist singing the song to a more fast paced (faster cuts) exiting video. This is probably due to the fact that with so much media available to the consumer the consumer has a much shorter attention span. For example when watching a music video on You-Tube there are many recommended videos to the side that you can watch with one click if you get bored of the video you are watching. This is also another example of how technological developments have influenced music video production.

As both songs could be danced to, it is notable that there is no actual dancing in Club Tropicana, where as Chris Brown is shown dancing in what appears to be a dessert while the sun sets. This is evidence that the way music videos are used to sell music is partially based on the audience wanting to imitate what they see and perhaps even idolise the artist. This medium of marketing is further supported by other forms of media such as magazines.

Overall it is clear that over 20 years technology and the way in which society views artists/celebraties has dramatically altered the way in which music videos are used to sell music.