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The State of Music Video
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Posted by Creative Review, 8 October 2008, 15:20 Permalink Comments (22)
Encyclopedia Pictura's stunning video for Björk track Wanderlust is one of the contenders at the UK Music Video Awards next week
Next week the first UK Music Video Awards will be held in London’s West End, writes David Knight, a new awards night to honour the very best work in music videos, celebrating the creativity and craft in a sector of filmmaking which has, over the past 30 years, been responsible for nurturing a fantastic array of talent. But the MVAs will not just be a celebration of creativity and technical ingenuity. Some will see it as a celebration of survival...
Sasha Nixon, head of music video at Partizan, who represent several leading video directors, explains it this way: “I think the state of the business has never been worse. What labels expect for what they pay is huge. A director no longer has any freedom – even with low budgets.” It is by no means an isolated viewpoint.
“What’s really sad about music videos at the moment is that it’s become ‘amateur’ in that directors are expected to work for free,” says Liz Kessler, head of music video at Academy Films, home to music video directing stars Jonathan Glazer and Walter Stern.
“With a few honourable exceptions, every video director has to have another job to have a decent lifestyle,” she continues. “And yet more than ever people want a visual to go with the music. Bands need visuals to express themselves, to lift the song, to feed the internet. It’s a twisted time.”
Plaster Casts of Everything, directed by Patrick Daughters
It’s twisted alright. On the one hand music videos serve a function which is arguably even more important than ever, and as a medium is arguably even more popular (and pervasive) than ever. Essentially YouTube has changed everything – and has probably impacted more on the music video than music itself.
On the other hand, its survival as a functioning creative industry is being threatened by the long downward slide in budgets. There are still lots of videos being produced in the UK and elsewhere – but many on tiny budgets. From a creative point of view it is a lot harder to make something really good without uttering the familiar, dread phrases ‘labour of love’ or ‘pulling in loads of favours’.
Everyone knows why. Music video production is dependent on an industry that is seeing its traditional source of income decline every year at an alarming rate, and desperately looking to develop new income streams to replace lost sales.
Tim Nash, head of videos at Atlantic Records in London says: “They’re still massively important. After the record itself it’s the most important thing. My MD is hot for them. And when I tell him that the video industry is almost unsustainable at the moment, he listens. But at the same time he’s running a business. If Universal is only spending 40k on a Kaiser Chiefs video, why would we spend more on one for The Days?”
Kaiser Chiefs, Love's Not A Competition, directed by Jim Canty
“It’s not 30k for a new band any more – it might be 5k,” confirms Mike O’Keefe, head of video at UK major Sony BMG. “Gone are the days of 150k budgets. Those jobs are now 80k – but we expect the same production values as before, and that’s obviously difficult.”
Sasha Nixon argues that budgets are only part of the problem. “Everyone on the music side is nervous as hell,” she says. “There’s a lot of indecision. Pitches seem to take weeks not days. Rewrites, single changes, dissention between band management and label ... this is the norm now – and frankly the A&R in the last year has been crap.”
“Videos are a bit unadventurous right now,” O’Keefe admits, noting that the indie guitar bands are probably now more conservative than pop acts. “Sure, in the 90s we got away with anything. But some of the best stuff is low budget, and you can still cross into the mainstream.” He cites The Ting Tings’ Shut Up And Let Me Go video by fine artists-turned-directors Alex & Liane, recently nominated for best video at the MTV Video Music Awards.
The Ting Tings, Shut Up And Let Me Go, directed by Alex & Liane
“The kids coming out of film school and art college are used to having a video camera and Final Cut Pro on their Macbook,” adds O’Keefe, indicating that technical innovation itself has softened the blow of lower budgets for music video producers, many of whom were quick to see the benefits of shooting on HD, and are now proving to be early adopters of the non-tape red camera.
O’Keefe also argues that lower budgets have given new directors an earlier opportunity to progress. “Companies like Pulse Films, who have lots of baby directors, have come on quickly and are doing quite well because of low overheads.”
Pulse has indeed bucked the trend by starting up in this difficult environment, and there are others – including Warp Films, the film company who have just opened a music video division, representing a roster including Richard Ayoade, and movie director Shane Meadows, plus young directors like Dan Brereton, Simon Green and Vincent Moon.
Arctic Monkeys, Fluorescent Adolescent, directed by Richard Ayoade
New skills needed
Mary Calderwood, md of Flynn Productions, with a decade-plus track record of nurturing music video directors, says a new skillset for directors is required. “It’s completely different now. We can’t develop directors with photographic skills. You have to develop directors with computer skills.” Calderwood’s current ‘baby’ directing team Youth Club actually work full time at Flynn in other jobs. One is the house editor, a job that did not exist at the company until the slide of budgets meant in-house post production, rather than using Soho post facilities, became an attractive option. “After ten to 15 videos they’ve just made their first one on film and it’s like starting again.”
And clearly the belief in music videos as a means of expression and chance to progress is still there for young directors. Tom Haines is a young director signed to Factory Films, with some excellent indie label videos to his credit including a beautifully cinematic new one for Full Time Hobby rock outfit White Denim.
White Denim, Shake Shake Shake, directed by Tom Haines
“I got into making videos because I was sick of applying for Film Council funding, failing and then not liking what they were making,” he says. “Although you’re pitching against other directors the odds are stacked a bit more in our favour. The band might be in them, but you can still make short films. Creatively speaking they still have a place and people definitely pay attention to them.” Haines also now has another job to keep the wolf from the door, making art documentaries for Tate Modern and the V&A. He’s fully aware that “the rules are changing”.
Meanwhile experienced directors who started out in video are now only returning occasionally, to perhaps work with bands they know (and have a legacy of success that allows them to have decent budgets) and most importantly to have creative freedom. But they have their own concerns.
Chemical Brothers, Midnight Madness, directed by Dom & Nic
Dom Hawley and Nic Goffey (usually known as Dom & Nic) are also with Factory for music videos, but they usually direct commercials and only return occasionally, usually to work with the Chemical Brothers, most recently on the videos for Salmon Dance, featuring a fishtank full of rapping tropical fish, and Midnight Madness, where a goblin climbs walls around the London Astoria. These excellent pieces could only be achieved by asking animation companies who do their commercial work to contribute their efforts on the videos for free. As Hawley points out, they effectively subsidise the videos themselves “because we love music and being part of music culture, and they give us the opportunity to bring our own ideas to the screen”. But afterwards the label sells the video on iTunes.
The online effect
“Historically music video directors have absolutely no creative ownership of their ideas and labours," Hawley argues. "We have no rights, and we don’t benefit financially from their sales. But in many cases we are contributing financially to making them. Things need to change to come in line with the way the music industry is changing. I think it could start with finding some way of video directors having some level of ownership of their work – at least for me, it would be an ethical thing more than a financial thing.”
Mike O’Keefe says that unless it’s a major international act, the income from iTunes video downloads is not significant. But then there is video streaming and sharing – in particular, of course, YouTube; that is a different story – the most significant element in music videos of all.
Gnarls Barkley, Who's Gonna Save My Soul?, directed by Chris Milk
Top US director Chris Milk – another director who tends to have to beg favours for his occasional music video excursions – recently made his second Gnarls Barkley video, a dark comedy which sees a jilted boyfriend pull his own heart from his chest, and give it to his jilting girlfriend. On release the video was soon ripped and added to YouTube, then embedded on hundreds of blogs.
“It was always the intention for people to forward it to their friends,” says Milk. “The main distribution of videos is the internet, and your demographic becomes your distribution channel. If they like it, they distribute it for you. So you’ve got to do something better than just shoot a band playing.”
What’s more, this beautifully tailored distribution system is also now starting to reap financial dividends. YouTube is now signing deals with all the major labels, offering per-view percentage points – very small, but representing a proper revenue stream when it reaches significant views.
“YouTube is fantastic for videos,” declares Sony’s O’Keefe. “With the sheer volume of people watching them and distributing them. The number of people watching videos must be greater than even MTV at its height.”
Radiohead, House of Cards, directed by James Frost
Tim Nash at Atlantic agrees that there is due cause for excitement. “I think the event video will come back,” he says. “From big artists there will be ideas, because it changes the game. Destination videos – that will open up creativity.”
Radiohead’s ‘no-camera’ video for House Of Cards, which was an exclusive on Google’s science site Google Code, became one such event, partly because it was ‘open source’ – viewers could download the technology and make their own versions of the video. Meanwhile, French director Romain Gavras (the son of film director Costa-Gavras) and the band Justice proved a few months ago that music videos still have considerable power to shock and offend, but can also be important and thought-provoking. The video for Stress, which follows a mixed race gang on their nihilistic, shockingly realistic trail of violence through Paris, caused outrage in France, and landed the video makers with several lawsuits.
Justice, Stress, directed by Romain Gavras
But will such rarities be enough to save music video production as we know it? According to Academy’s Liz Kessler being bold and brave is the only way forward. “Defy convention and received wisdom. Don’t worry about the rules and not selling records – you’re not going to sell records anyway! If it’s an exciting place to be, the place for artistic creativity, it will continue to attract the Sophie Mullers and the Jon Glazers. But if what we get is mediocre, underfunded and badly executed, people will disappear.”
David Knight is editor of the Promo News website and co-curator of BUG.
22 Comments
A great article. Production companies and directors need more rights and protection of their creative ideas - I have heard currently there is a lawsuit in the US for breach of a directors intellectual property. There also needs to be an industry standard against free pitches to stop the current everything for nothing mentality.
2008-10-09 01:58:48
as long as labels as moshi moshi give away 300 quid for their artists' next video, there's nothing to be done.
2008-10-09 08:17:11
why is the dog whisperer on the cover of CR?
its so very dangerous.
a new director gets 5K, pulls in favours, makes a video that looks like 20K
but can you blame him/her for that.
the production companies hate that.....they loose out big time, the producers know this and say to the directors make a 5K video look like it cost 5K.
but no TRUE and passionate director will ever do this, especially early on in their career. The need to stand out, the need to achieve, the need to make great visuals and deliver an outstanding video is ALL.
blame the colleges and universities for offering SO many film courses. Blame the media, blame heat magazine, blame mirrorball for portraying directors as superstars.
before gondry et-al.......did anyone know who steve barron was?
2008-10-09 11:56:16
Steve - why on earth would ANY producer/production company go out of their way to make a £5k video NOT look the VERY BEST it could possibly be? Not only would they look like they've done a bad job, but they would also be denying their director AND themselves the chance of working in a bigger budget arena.
Why would you want to sabotage your chances of actually earning a living????
This is a highly competitive industry, and every opportunity is taken with both hands - by EVERYONE.
2008-10-09 14:25:59
normally i´m not a big fan of Björk but i have to say that this video is marvellous. good article either, please keep up the good work it is always fun to read goo written articles.
Greets from TheJunction
2008-10-09 14:38:29
great discussion. plenty of people making references to being paid 5k etc etc....is that in Yen or pesos?
2008-10-09 15:23:52
you funny you
2008-10-09 15:40:52
Very refreshing to read this article and hear industry professionals addressing the drastic situation of music videos.
With budgets being so low, labels should have to pay a pitching fee (making up for some of the drop in budgets) and until top industry professionals put a stop to this, the situation is never going to improve.
Young directors pitching for free are being ripped off and influencing other works to receive nothing in return.
Further info on that case in The States would be very interesting...
2008-10-10 00:21:00
I think the has to be a brash but a bold one!!
It's not the labels faults really. The market, and thus the budgets are changing.
It's not the Productions fault. They want to make great films, even if it means
killing themselves financially.
So back to the brash solution!!
The whole industry needs to go under APA or a new body ruling. Not that difficult to set up.
APA has set minimum rates for all stages / crew working in Advertising/ Commercials.
This is truly the only way to go in the Music Video industry, so that no one is seen
as the scape goat/ the apple cart rocker, or the trouble maker.
No more "can we do this cheaper" from the label, no more "o.k, o.k's I'll make it work", from the poor Producers....
Labels will know what costs are, Producers can turn around and say, sorry , but that is the set price for a focus puller, etc etc.
Slowly but surely the industry will begin to stabilize, as the reality of it seeps in.
Then we can all concentrate in making some truly genius videos again, instead of what is happening now, which is an industry wide bitching and slanging match.
Everyones pissed off and it's not creative in any way!!
2008-10-10 08:39:54
blame it on the up and coming talent and the fan base as well.
they're willing to make videos for next to nothing for their favorite artists. if they only knew how and when to say 'NO'
2008-10-10 11:33:29
I don't think that this article goes far enough in addressing the problems in this 'industry'. Record labels are never going to reveal the financial rewards being reaped from direct commercial exploitation of videos unless forced to, and that will mean a change in the nature of contracts along the French model, where the director gets a payback from sales of the video. The ridiculous budget levels need to be addressed. Not doubled or revolutionized, just addressed. Reason has to come into this, so arbitrary budget limits (like Universal's £40K) need to be abolished as not every job costs this amount. The pain and fee slashing to hit this magic number is causing a great deal of stress and financial pain to those of us trying to implement it on the ground. Production companies and directors are in effect subsidising the careers of artists for nothing more than the promise of bigger jobs next time. Except more often than not, these bigger jobs never materialise. Labels carry on their merry way, and morale goes through the floor. We are now losing talent hand over fist. Best director at the CADS last year. Not doing many promos now. Ever wonder why? Most working directors look back at their time in promos ruefully, often with a shudder. Producers all just want to leave promos as no-one wants their 'business' anymore. There is a limit to the begging and scraping. It's a sorry state, and the opinions of people who work for labels, well meaning though they may be, are never going to be very illuminating or helpful to those of us at the sharp end. Turkeys will never vote for Xmas. There needs to be a re-balance towards fairness. Labels are able to bully production companies (whether they mean to or not) with the constant threat of 'someone else can do it cheaper' or 'don't bite the hand that feeds'. This means that production companies and directors are unable to defend themselves on the most basic level. Again, I'm not talking revolution, just fairness.
2008-10-10 13:39:05
I know Radar doesn't resolve any issues that many people have around the music video industry, but it is a model that works for some people - not least filmmakers outside London or LA. It's good for unsigned bands too and clients who want to run competitions. We've got an open access brief up at the moment with a £10k production budget and £8k prize. Filmmakers who've got work out of Radar range from multi-award winners to people starting off.
It doesn't offer a career structure in the way that production companies can, but it does give either a step on the ladder or an opportunity to build reels that some people may want in order to get on and make commercials where they can have a career.
Caroline
2008-10-10 14:59:18
would it be impossible for all of us music video directors / production companies to organize a "union" like Once suggests?
2008-10-10 15:00:07
i wouldn't brag so much about radar. these two big budget briefs are the exception. usually the briefs they post on radar are very very low. and the deadlines very tight.
2008-10-10 16:05:13
sometimes they're low and sometimes they're tight. Sometimes they're not. There isn't a 'usually'.
2008-10-10 18:32:46
what's the biggest budget you have ever posted?
what about those pitches budgeted at 85 pound?
2008-10-10 18:46:03
The issues I've come across haven't been with labels as much as the bands themselves. The labels I've worked with have generally been overly grateful if you can give them a traditionally broadcast worthy video. It's the artists that seem to have unrealistic expectations. They're gung-ho at first, but when the delivered vid doesn't have that mid-to-late nineties gloss they want a whole new video with a whole new director, which inevitably looks worse due to even less budget, and then they wonder why they're not selling more albums. I don't think a lot of artists and bands even understand that the director doesn't actually OWN the camera or the lights.
2008-10-10 21:23:04
This article though very welcome, has a very 'softly,softly' approach when the reality on the production floor at the moment is pretty grim.
A set of promo rates & working guidelines as 'Once' raises would be very simple to establish (they exist already in an unofficial capacity) and very welcome in leveling out the playing field. It would go some way to addressing the rats from a sinking ship scenario that has occurred this year and keep the crew who provide the means to create videos from feeling like they are being taken for fools with one favour after another. You treat people fairly, they’ll give you that extra mile when you need it- but not if you keep taking and taking. It’s in everyone’s interests to address this before it blows up in our faces.
It wouldn't address all the issues, which currently make pop promos a fairly trying area of film making to work production in, but it would at least make it manageable again….
But do I believe we’ll ever get such a set of guidelines in place and more to the point, guidelines we'll all adhere to.... hmm.
2008-10-11 10:46:49
Radar's biggest budget: the current Aviv Geffen brief £10k production budget plus £8k prize, will attract the award winning, lots of previous label clients level of filmmakers, smallest budget: £85 for an unsigned artist, aimed at new filmmakers looking to move beyond 'making a video for friends'.
Two others on the site for £425, again aimed at newish people. Last commission was £2,500. One before for £1500 went to someone v experienced in Italy who I guess likes the idea of making a video for a UK artist. and etc.
2008-10-13 14:02:59
The reality of music video 2010 is that it will be a new film makers, ( make that Hd makers) medium and for hobbyist that pop in and out to do them. Record companies are not going to save the production companies and the Prosumer market of cameras and software have all but done away with needing, editorial houses, telcine and fx. On the lower budgets this all still being delivered, but not paid for by the Record cos.
It is not the fault of the record companies for getting great product at low prices. it is the fault of the Music Video community for delivering it. Basically we allowed ourselves to cut each others throats, which in turn killed the business. Video killed the Radio Star. In my opinion it is not reversible. As long as no one says NO, it will be a self fulfilling prophecy. It is production Darwinism.
2008-10-13 22:16:13
You can't go into the Ivy restaurant and expect a six course dinner and wine for the price of a Big Mac and fries but that's what's expected of music video makers. There are a lot of conflicting economic forces at work in the music game at present but the reality is that it has become impossible, for the majority, to make a living out of making videos any more. Unless it's shot with puppets in a white box on miniDV, and cut on a lapper in Shoreditch, that is. The point has been made that music videos have become essential as a marketing tool so the investment in this them should reflect this. This situation has happened because record companies have been aware that they can always find someone to do a job for less and as a result there has been a gradual erosion of the economic base for the production side of things over the past fifteen years. Simon Napier Bell has interesting things to say about record companies from his 40 years of management.
As an exercise, try the promo budget model on a plumber or lawyer and see how far you get.
A big cheer to Grace Bodie and Tim Nash, beautiful and deserving winners last night.
2008-10-15 18:07:51
ditto the joke is on us.
as long as we filmmakers don't start saying NO, no-one else will
2008-10-17 10:58:16
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