4/7

I realize that I have been growing up during a time where Music Videos are seen almost as often as films which attract teenagers and other people in my generation. I look at music videos as a combination of experimental films and short television shows. This is a way to sell experimental films as a form of popular culture. It reminds about our topic on consumer culture. We, as a country, base ourselves on our economic structure, capitalism. Everything is competition and has a price. Even art is a part of the structure, and music videos are a prime example of the music industry combining using art as a form of business. The artists compete for the “top spot” on MTV shows like TRL (Total Request Live) and shows on VH1. One way bands compete for the number one spot is through music videos. Every band or music artist is trying to either use a unique and controversial idea which no one has used before or they use sex and love to tell stories in a video. Madonna is a common example of a controversial film where she also uses her sexuality to sell the videos. Many of the rap artists today rely solely of sexuality to sell their music. This represents how music videos have evolved from seeing the artists dance, to unusual and controversial visual representations, to half-naked women dancing around in a bar. There are still many artists who use symbolism and artistic representations for their music videos, but there are fewer of these videos than the others.