By Tanya Batson, Staff ReporterThe power of the music video is probably most cleverly wrapped up in the phrase 'The MTV Generation'. The term connotes that there is an entire generation of people who not only watch music videos, but live by a music video culture. Long gone are the days when artistes exclaimed, 'I want my MTV!' These days it is What!!!? You don't have MTV?'
What the music video does is provide great visual impact, when it works that is. Some persons may believe that music videos cause the death of quality music, but whether or not this is true, without a music video, it is hard to get into the big time. In other words, to move from being a ghetto superstar to going multi-platinum.
Of course, this situation has serious implications for the reggae music industry, as it is not music video-driven. The radio star is long dead, having been shot by an angst-ridden, Middle-American teenager with too much pocket money and not enough chores. The simple truth is that the music video, no matter how great it looks, is nothing more than an expensive marketing campaign. It goes by the rule that those who love the video may also buy the album. Of, course, a great music video also achieves that ultimate marketing gimmick, helping the song to remain almost unforgettable.
Mikey Bennet of Grafton Studios says that the visual impact of the music video makes it a great tool. "It is probably the most significant marketing tool in the industry," he says. More and more local artistes are making use of the music video for local purposes. Bennett states that the local music video is hardly much more than a 'presskit'. This press kit works however, and a close look at who is ruling the dancehall and who has videos, rotating on local television reveals there is a correlation between the two.
Of course, since the creation of one of the greatest 'movies' ever created, Micheal Jackson's Thriller, the music video business has simply continued to snap, crackle and bubble gum pop to greater heights, and in some case, depths.
Even so, the 'King Kongs' of the music world spend
oodles of money on their music videos and that is how they got their position. In fact, Sonymusic.com reports that in 1982, CBS Records, now known as Sony Music Entertainment, made a music video a mandatory part of the recording contract.
The fact that reggae and Dancehall have received international acceptance is indisputable. However, the discrepancy between the sales of local artistes vs. the sales of reggae artistes from other countries is glaring. The latest phenomenon being reported is the situation in Japan., where the major Japanese reggae acts almost double the record sales of Jamaican acts.
In the same vein, reggae has been making a great come- back in Germany. however, it is possible that here too, local artistes will suffer the same fate. While it is easy to argue that the reason for this is the language barrier, the role of the music video cannot be ignored. Very few Jamaican acts have music videos which are good for much more than local consumption.
Unfortunately, according to Ellen Kohlings, one of the editors of Riddim (Germany's first reggae magazine), "In Germany nothing really happens without having a video, that's sad, but that's how it is. Reggae and dancehall are becoming more and more successful here, but the artistes need to come with good videos in order to break through." Kohlings goes on to explain that German artistes, such as Gentleman and SEEED, who have the backing of major recording companies, have videos, and they are also very successful.
Persons such as Ibo Cooper readily point out that the lack of video does cripple the music's ability to cross-over. Additionally, recent and not so recent evidence seems to indicate that a good video, which receives air play, can make the break.
The current success of Gimme The Light and Tropical Storm on the Billboard charts. Beenie's album has received tremendous visual support, due to the video for Feel It Boy. The album went all the way up to number 28, on the Billboard 200 album charts. Gimme the Light is still on its way up the hot 100 charts, having experienced a 10 space jump this week, landing at position 41.
Of course, there is also the Shaggy factor. It cannot be ignored that all his major hits had high quality videos to help to push them. Others argue that Shabba's success also received this push. Housecall, and Slow and Sexy, which came in his international heyday, all had international standard videos.
Additionally, when it was announced that No Doubt received two Video Music Awards (VMAs) for Hey Baby, 'Best Pop Video' and 'Best Group Video', many Jamaicans saw it differently. For us, Bounty Killer had received two VMAs, for No Doubt's appearance in the song. In fact one young man was heard telling his friend excitedly, "Yuh hear seh Bounty Killer win two award pon MTV." The fact that the song credits stated No Doubt featuring Bounty Killer was of no consequence.
The question is however, how many Jamaican songs, regardless of how good, can come even remotely close, to receiving a VMA? We could simply note that we do not produce sufficient videos to begin to make a dent in the market. The other quick argument which springs up is that the videos not of a good enough quality to compete with the gloss and hype of videos from North America and Europe.
This factor is far more than just guess work. There are issues of technical compatibility as well as the look of the work when it is shot on video as opposed to film. Jade Lee, Sean Paul's publicist, notes that many stations such as MTV and BET, who control the music video market, are not willing to take music videos not shot on film. Fortunately, hope in this area seems to be raising her weary head. Persons such as Dennis Howard point out that with the surge of technology, the music video product is greatly improving.
Nonetheless, members of the music industry reveal that it is a multi-faceted issue. One of the major factors, and one which has been talked into breathlessness, is the cost of making a video. With the advent of CG-graphics et. al. the cost of making a music video is becoming limitless. However, it has been noted that on average, a music video made in the United States costs US$40,000(J$1,960,000), while on average we spend, $100,000.00 per video.
Dennis Howard argues that of what affects the music video output is lack of organisation. "We don't have an organised industry," he said. "We don't have record companies in the true sense, where they invest in the artiste and promote the artiste." Bennet, shares this view and explains further. He points out that under the present organisation of the industry, only the artiste and his/her management really benefit from the promotion of the artiste. Bennet argues that producers have little to gain from the artiste's popularity, because the real money is being made in stage shows, where the artiste and the managers benefit.
As such, the bills for most videos are footed by the artiste and management.
Dennis Howard, points to another issue. He argues that there is a bias against local videos. He says that they are perceived as not being of a high enough calibre.
