The Influence of Music Videos

     
     Music videos are often more talked about and analyzed than the music itself, and have a large influence on what people discuss and how we regard artists. Music videos are greatly varying, and everyone seems to wait the most for music videos from their favorite artists, more than the music itself. Because of this, artists often create strange, touching, or influential music videos. Due to the widespread nature of music videos, it is often hard to avoid the discussion around them and not to be pulled into that discussion. Music videos provide a platform for people to discuss the meaning of the music video as well as offer their own opinion on what they think of the artist because of what they put in the music video and what they think of the music video itself. Music videos become a reflection of culture, and a reflection of what the audience of that music genre or any audience in society is looking for. By looking at music videos and the discussion surrounding them, one can see what the focus of society is.
     There are many music videos that caused a lot of discussion and judgment from everyone. A recent music video that caused a flurry of analysis and discussion is the music video for "This is America." In this music video, by Childish Gambino, there are many references to the gun culture in America and issues with race, all of which were interpreted by individuals on the internet. Experts, common people, and almost everyone were discussing what each individual second meant in the music video and what the message was. The theories were impossible to avoid, and everyone must have watched the music video five or six times based on the coverage on every social media platform and even the news. Everyone was, and is, so focused on the connotation of the music video itself, so much so that it has bled into everyone's daily conversation. This music video was also extremely influential because of the issues it brought up, and this shows how the spread of information quickly and an easily accessible form of art, in this case a music video, can truly influence so many people regarding major issues in society.
      Another music video that caused much discussion, though not necessarily in a good way, was Nicki Minaj's Anaconda music video. This music video was relatively, well, vulgar, in its presentation, and the shock factor fueled much discussion. Everyone was definitely caught off guard, and this prompted much discussion as to how to react to this. People were divided as to whether she should be allowed to show her body in a confident matter, while others felt it was too much. This brought up a bigger issue of "slut-shaming", and whether Nicki Minaj had the right to truly show off her body without having to conform to the standards society have for women to be modest, or if she was pushing the boundaries too much. Though this music video is now "old" by today's standards, it did prompt a lot of discussion and remains a prominent music video.