Monday 1 October 2012

RESEARCH: TRENDS

Over the summer there have been two particular tracks that have taken the world by storm. Those tracks are "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson and Gangnam Style. Both are synth led mainstream pop songs, however, Gangnam style could be seen as more suited as a club track. Both songs however, most defiantly have something in common, and that is that they both have some sort of memorable hook that the audience can easily retain in their minds and repeat. This is why they have become popular. However, the hook is presented in a different medium for each song. In Gangnam Style, it is the dance that the singer does, pretending he is on a horse. It is an extremely simple dance move that anyone, without any previous experience at dancing, can learn to do within a matter of seconds, and that makes it extremely accessible. The hook in call me maybe is the lyrics in the chorus "Hey I just met you, and this is crazy, but here is my number, so call me maybe". The melody of the lyrics, is based around a 4 chord progression that is invariably the same for any successful up beat pop song because it is easy to sing. The lyrics are simple and stick in your head (whether you like it or not) and so therefore (as is the case in school) if anyone sings the song to themselves or plays it out loud, most other people in the room tend to join in.

What can we learn from this?
Well, the song that applies most to our situation is Gangnam style, since we are producing a music video and the medium that made it popular is the music video, not the song. If I could include some kind of repeated hook/action in my music video that the viewer could join in with or retain in their memory, it would have more chance of succeeding if it were to be released commercially.



I have included the two music videos below. The first is Call Me Maybe, and the second is Gangnam Style.

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