Analysis: Music Promo

Jason Mraz: Music Promo Analysis 

This music promo is based mainly of a narrative however shows some illustration of the lyrics, as well as amplification of the theme behind the song. Being set in an exotic looking setting, gives the video a very laid back feeling which relates to the lyrics of the song. The promo is conventional in the way that the artist is performing the song throughout and appears/act during the whole of the promo.

This promo has a range of different shots throughout, most of the promo looks as though its been home filmed which creates a really nice casual effect. At the beginning of the promo not much is given away as to the artist or the location. Shadowed lighting gives away no detail, which creates quite a calm and quiet effect matching the music well. 

A range of different shots are seen throughout this promo, some are unrelated to the lyrics however still follow the narrative well. The shot is an close up/ extreme close up of a fish tank, in the promo we see a shadowed figure over the tank which lets us infer from images seen before of the plane, that he is going on a trip.

As the promo carries on we begin to see more of the artist, and some performance comes into the video as well. This shot is a close up of the artist, from this we can deduce that he is on a plane, from the windows seen in the empty space of the shot. 

This video throughout shows a range of different locations, illustrating different people as well as places, seen above the promo shows the artist at a skate park and below gives an idyllic scene that the artist later visits. Showing these different scenes gives again the idea of travelling around and a relaxed lifestyle that is idealised in the song.

I like the way that this shot is simple but still really effective in the message its putting across and the links it has to the song. It shows a love of life. The way in which the artist has been silhouetted makes him appear normal, as though he's not anything important- the same as everyone else.

Cross fades are used to change the scenes and shots, the way that this shot has been transitioned works well in the way that the hat can still be seen in the sky even though the scene has completely changed, it creates a good link between the different shots.

Towards the end of the promo the artist is seen, following the conventions seen in a number of music promos, to finish with the artist.

I think that this promo is very effective, and works well for the acoustic genre. Music promos within this genre work well when they are left relatively simple as it puts most of the focus of the music and lyrics, which usually have a lot of meaning and emotion behind them.

Analysis: Music Promo

Ed Sheeran: Music Promo Analysis                      

Prezi Presentation

In this music promo the main point of focus is on the man that is signing the lyrics, I think this is a very effective method of performing the song rather than having the artist lip syncing along, It creates a much stronger image and makes each lyric seem much more important. The lighting and mise-en-scene throughout this promo is black and white, these colours alternate with the different shots and along with the music, which creates a much more interesting effect compared to what would be created keeping them exactly the same throughout the promo. The shot editing starts slow, however when the tempo of the music changed so does the shot editing, and much faster cuts between the shots can be seen. A montage of images can begin to be seen towards the end of the promo, that illustrate the lyrics, however this teamed with the signing and lack of performance from the artist make this promo quite unconventional compared to other acoustic artists. Throughout the promo the main point of focus being either the performers or the images, are created by the use of spotlights, which makes them appear much more important than the artist himself who is only shown quickly at the end of the promo and it shot quick shots throughout. A wide variety of shots have been used throughout this promo, giving it a much more creative feel and giving the simple mise-en-scene a more interesting appearance.

This shot shows the illustration of the lyrics. This images gives this promo a more sinister feeling as although this images would normally be related to positive aspects is has been presented in a negative with, with aspects of the images being dark and unwelcoming for example the eyes of the man. This show is a mid/close up shot.

This shot shows a mid- long shot of the performer. The way that some shots throughout this promo have been edited to create a blurred effects when movement is shown works really well in putting a lot of emphasis on the signing, which shows the importance of each movement and so the importance of each word being sung.

A number of different shots have been used throughout this promo, mid and long shots have been used to show performers, however some close ups and extreme close ups have been used to illustrate emotions and put importance and emphasis onto certain lyrics. I like the way in which only the face of the performer is highlighted in this shot, it looks quite haunting and creates a lot of thought and emotion for the viewer. 

The way in which the artist doesn’t appear in this video to perform him own song gives the impression that he is trying to make the point that he is not a conventional artist, which I think works really well in showing who he is as a person and what he stands for, him not appearing really illustrates the lyrics that are being sung. 


History of Artist
Ed Sheeran was labelled the geek throughout his school life however he made sure he was not going to be defeated by his gingerness, poor eyesight and lack of hearing in one ear. He does however still describe his childhood as "slightly depressing"

It was a chance meeting with Damien Rice that led to him beginning to write his own music. After meeting his idol backstage at a gig in Ireland he took the artists advice and wrote his first song the next day. Soon after he began selling CD's which he recorded in his bedroom, the initial earning going on CocaCola and Twix’s. At the age of 14 with the support of family, he travelled to London over for the summer holidays. A chance meeting with Julian Simmons in a Limehouse studio, led to Ed's debut album with he titled ‘Been Born’.

Adding to his repertoire, beat boxing, rapping and the loop pedal became a staple part of his style. After getting attention from a management company he soon became a regular face of the acoustic circuit. Around this time he has gotten himself a job with Nizlopi ('JCB Song') as their guitar technician. "I did a cover of one of their tracks on YouTube which they saw and liked. They invited me to join them on tour and I learnt everything I know about singing, song-writing and live music from them." Some other musicians he took influence from were The Beatles, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Planxty which his parents played on road trips, and personal favourites like Foy Vance, Nizlopi and anything with hip hop credentials. 

History of the Music Promo

The idea of the music promo had not began becoming popular until the 60's, artists began to make short films with little performance, however still putting across their music to an audience without having to perform it live.  


Bob Dylan 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' (1960s)

This video is conventional in the way the artist is shown in the video, however there is no range of shots or performance in this video making it unconventional of a music promo.


One of the key ideas that led to the rise of the music promo were TV music programmes such as 'Top of the Pops' these featured chart based music with with either live or mimed performances, short films were used to fill band absences, this is what started the music promo.

The Beatles ' Strawberry fields forever' also made in the style of a short film, plays the song as well as featuring the band, but still does not have any performance aspect to it. However in this promo compared to Bob Dylan's, a range of different shots and effects have been used. Not much money was spent on this video as the idea of a music promo was not seen as a worthwhile thing.  

The Monkeys, were the first constructed band, it was there music and videos that established some of the main conventions for music promos such as: surrealism, jump cuts, wacky comedy, action plus performance. It was this band that introduced the idea of telling a story for song within the promo.
It was Mike Nesmith from the Monkeys' that came up with the idea for a promo based cable TV programme, this was the beginnings of MTV.

Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' were considered by some to be the first pop promo. They gave it free of charge to the networks. They were one of the first bands to sing along to the song in the music promo, and used a number of different special effects throughout the promo. This promo goes back and forth from the performance and studio based aspects of a music promo.


MTV was established in 1981, and grew rapidly in the US. The potential of this medium was quickly realised by different artists. Early audience demographics led to dominance of white acts/male rock. Whereas now that have expanded to allow a number of different MTV channels that specialise in a variety of different genres of music. MTV at the time tended to ignore a lot of black rap videos, most of these artists didn't have a large budget and tended to have some threatening content. It was Aerosmith and Run DMC 'Walk this Way' that provided a cross over and broke the white dominance on MTV. by 1983 MTV was firmly established as a key channel for the music industry. The company produced its own Oscars for music promos. As more music TV channels started appearing, MTV became more of a lifestyle orientated channel, and covered popular culture in television- e.g. film, music, tv ect. In the 1980s artists realised the effectiveness of a music promo and production budgets soared. Duran Duran 'Wild Boys' spent $1 million on their music promo.

Michael Jackson 'Thriller' was an influential music promo, it was directed by a film director, and cost him a small fortune, the promo itself starts as a movie, and its not until around half way through that the music and performance aspect of the video begins. This promo however was effective in boosting Michael Jackson's popularity around the world.


The present


Compared to then, there are now a much larger range of music channels that show a range of different genres, as well as these channels music promo can now be shown in a number of different places, showing convergence between different mediums such as the Internet.

Music Promo: Key Words

Illustration- Using the music promo to illustrate exactly what is being said in the song. 


Amplification- Taking one key idea/theme from the song and showing it in the music promo.


Disjuncture- Ignoring the song’s meaning or concept completely and instead, creating something completely unrelated to show the song (a more artistic type of video).


Intertextuality- Taking ideas from an exsisting text and showing it in the music promo. e.g. Robbie Williams in 'Let me entertain you' has make-up like the band Kiss.  

Conventions of a Music Promo: Mis-en-scene

Conventions of a Music Promo: Editing

Conventions of a Music Promo: Camera

http://prezi.com/wmuou86951fs/copy-of-conventions-of-a-music-promo/