Applying Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin studied music videos and came up with 6 key characteristics that music videos will usually demonstrate. The first of these is that the video will be representative of the genre: for example, performances will usually be more heavily focused on in a rock video as opposed to the video of an acoustic singer. The second is that there will be a relationship between the lyrics or the visuals, whether the visuals illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. The same is true of the relationship between the music and the visuals, which is the third characteristic. The fourth is the idea that a music video will always contain lots of focus on the artist in order to sell them, and this is a demand of the record label to help them make money. The fifth characteristic is that music videos often use the concept of voyeurism: they play on the fact people like to look and often use the Male Gaze Theory combined with fragmented body shots in often to popularize music videos.  Finally, there is often intertextual references: the video will use the audience's knowledge of another text and build on that as a theme in their video. One video that appears to demonstrate  all these is Beyoncé's 'Best Thing I Never Had'. 

This video is a prime example of how Goodwin's theory can be put into practice. It is a video that illustrates the lyrics as the narrative of the video very much matches the story in the lyrics. In this video, Beyoncé is singing about the 'Best Thing (She) Never Had', and the video shows a failed marriage and relationship that turned into a successful one with another man. This shows it is illustrating the lyrics as she is presenting a story that runs parallel with the themes in the lyrics, but she is also expanding on it by giving details of the other relationship and the marriage. This was one of Goodwin's theories, as he said that the narrative of music videos would always either illustrate, amplify or contradict the meaning in the lyrics. As well as this, Goodwin proposed a similar theory saying that the music track would also either amplify, contradict or illustrate meaning. In this case, the music illustrates the song as it is slow, but uplifting, and these are the moods Beyoncé sings about during her performance. 

Beyoncé is a solo female artist, and by this she belongs to a genre. Most solo female artists sing directly to the camera and often appear as the only character in their videos. For example, Rihanna and Taylor Swift often do the same thing. This was another of Goodwin's theories: the concept that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.

 Goodwin also said that these shots were necessary in order to provide ample shots of the star for the record label, who would require them to be featured intensely. The purpose of this is obviously to sell the star, which is only furthered by the use of direct address as they look into the camera (creating a sense of intimacy between them and the viewer). These might also happen often against all of an artist's videos, which would create a motif for them: this is often true of artists such as Lady Gaga, who are famous due to a very prominent image which comes through in their music videos.

In Beyoncé's video 'Best Thing I Never Had', she is also shown through fragmented body shots and skimpy costumes. This shows off her figure and brings a voyeuristic element to the video: it allows those watching to look and admire her. Not only does this present a pleasure for the audience by allowing them to watch her, but it also presents Beyoncé in a positive light, whereby the viewers may want to watch her other videos and it would help to sell her music as well as her as an artist.