Research into the generally named 'Greatest' album covers shows examples of wide rangers of different artists including The Beatles, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols and Nirvana.
Main examples that were typically near the top of almost all lists were;

Arctic Monkeys 

The following videos are what were found on most top music video sites. I have selected the ones I believe are the best ones from those websites.

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' 



This video is considered one of the best music videos of its time and is still very popular today. During the time of its release, there were no other videos like it as it was one of the very first to exceed the usual length of a music video - it didn't follow stereotypical conventions and can be considered to be a 'short film' as it contains dialogue and lasts for over 13 minutes, which is one of the many reasons why it was so popular. 

a-Ha's 'Take On Me' 



The style of this music was very different during the time of its release as it was set in a half reality/half cartoon style that they merged together, which had never been done before. It was notable for using the combination of pencil-sketch animation and live action called rotoscoping (whereby real footage is traced over) which kept people entertained, and still does even now. 

Nine Inch Nails' 'Closer' 



Although very explicit, this was possibly the most popular of Nine Inch Nails' music videos as it was different and the lyrics, again very explicit, were able to keep people listening. It introduced a new type of music video as it is one of the first to show S&M without censoring. 

Weezer's 'Buddy Holly'



'One of the most creative music videos of the ’90s, Spike Jonze’s take on Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” transports Rivers Cuomo & co. onto an episode of the 1970s sitcom Happy Days. The band plays a show at (where else?) Arnold’s for Richie, the Fonz and the rest of the gang. Jonze’s seamless integration of scenes from the original show with stunt doubles (especially during Fonzie’s dance at the end) as well as the video’s snarky jokes (there’s a “To Be Continued” fake commercial break in the middle of the song) made it one of the most popular videos of the decade. It also cemented Weezer as the era’s geekiest, smartest band.' - TIME

Music video regulations were never considered strict as it has always been possible for people of all ages to watch any video they pleased, even if the video was not recommended for people of younger ages. Until recently, only videos considered to have 'extreme' visuals in them were forced to have regulations placed upon them. 
This year (2014) the BBFC have offered to put new regulations on music videos. 

Government has also asked the BBFC and the BPI to launch a pilot scheme to rate online music videos. At the moment online content does not come under the BBFC’s remit, and so anything sent to it for classification is done so voluntarily (which some labels do in some cases).
Originally, Ofcom was said to put regulations on music videos but they were not effective enough as people can still access all types and age rated music videos online as there is no restrictions online to stop them doing this. 

Don Broco - Priorities 

  The video conforms to the idea of a patriarchal society as all the band members are male. This is further backed up by the main focus being not on the woman, but the male band members. The music video shows objectifies the female figure in a number of ways, one being that the woman has no real focus at any point in the video and the entire concept behind the song and the video is that the woman in the video isn’t welcome in the current setting. The woman is made to look like a hindrance to the band members who are all male. This is because men and women are seen as differently in society because they have different ideals of socialising.  Similarly, in the second half of the video, women are shown in a sexual manner. This is can also be applied to Mulvey’s theory in that woman that appear in a sexual way in a music video is satisfying the male ego along with women being an image to be looked at. This is shown in the second half of the video where the woman is dressed only in lingerie and exposed while dancing on a table. The camera angle is at eye level although doesn’t match the eyes of the woman but this can be attributed to being the the viewing pleasure of men. Editing is used to show that the scene is moving quickly and adds pace to the song, the speed could also indicate excitement. The colour red is used to show that the scene is sensual and is commonly attributed to sex. This is common in videos such as this, with the members of the band being all male and women appearing in the video to sexualise the music video and thus the song. 

     The first time the woman appears in the video, there is a certain degree of arrogance and confidence within her surroundings. The first half of the video focuses on that the female figure is a hinderance to the men in the video rather than the woman being objectified and sexualised. This is where the video differs from conventions of Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory in that the woman isn’t there to simply be looked at for sexual or social reasons but rather the opposite where the woman is looked upon with respect, fear or being shown to be superior. Towards the end of the video, the music video differs from the conventions mentioned in the ‘Male Gaze’ theory. The narrative of the video takes a turn towards the end when the woman in the video is revealed as a police officer. This can be seen as figure of authority, a figure of power and a male dominated profession. 

Moby - Be The One.pdf

Moby Website.pdf

Lady Gaga ARTPOP Album.pdf

This is my Media Studies blog for A2 Media Studies. The focus of the blog will be music videos and on here I will post updates, work on video analysis, website analysis and progress through producing my own music video.