Goodwin's 'Conventions Theory' & Halls 'Reception Theory'

Goodwin's theory is about genre conventions and their stereotypical characteristics. It looks at 7 different principles:

- Links between lyrics and visuals
- Genre characteristics
- Intertextual references
- Notions of looking; similar to the Male Gaze theory
- Voyeurism; the enjoyment of watching/ looking at the artist
- Demands of the record label
- Performance, narrative or concept based music videos.

When looking at the house music genre of music videos and the music video for our song, 'Finale' by Madeon, we noticed differing styles that the music video uses in comparison to other music videos. In 'Finale', there is a focus on the artist and there is a narrative of him performing at a live show. While there are shots of the artist, very few are clear; ruling out the belief that the audience watches the music video to look at the artist. The lyrics and visuals don't often match, but the use of 'go out young' with the audience appearing to be of that age group shows that is it not out of the question.

Other music videos of the genre also tend to use the performance/narrative with some intertexual references for their niche audience. There may be some links with visuals but will often depend on the lyrics and if it possible to make any graphic matches.

Hall's reception theory is how the audience view the music video and it's messages. There are three readings that the audience may have to a music video:

- Dominant - the viewer accepts the points made in the video.
- Negotiated - the viewer partly accepts the points but may question elements of the video.
- Oppositional - the viewer totally rejects the points made in the video.

The music video for Madeon's 'Finale' has very few controversial points, and is mainly about how the artist feels during a performance. Therefore, it is most likely people will have the dominant view of the video.

Few music videos of this genre raise controversial points due to already appealing to a niche audience. If so, the fan-base of the artist may possibly agree with the controversial points.