The History of Singer - Songwriter Music

The singer songwriter genre is a sub genre of Folk Music. Many will protest how singer songwriters actually being converted and mixed into Pop genre, however it completely depends on the sub genre the artist is supporting.



Early Folk music was basically artists performing chants and poems which was usually accompanied by a classical instrument such as a Harp or a Piano. The Origins of Folk music date back to Northern America from the 1960s with artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger being one of the first artists to produce this genre of music. They first wrote songs focusing on social issues and on working class society, which greatly influenced Singer Songwriter artists.




By the later 1970s the original wave of Singer Songwriter genre had been largely adapted and altered to fit a more general pop and soft rock sound. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Kate Bush fit into this category. This allowed up and coming artists to still be classified as a singer songwriter, however still produce music to the mainstream 'pop' audience.



Within the decade of the 1980s, the Singer Songwriter genre started to become more and more popular and interestingly enough through female artists. Female artists such as Tracy Chapman, Nanci Griffiths and Tori Amos all did well within this period, it's also interesting to note; they where all subverted into the idea of the pop side of the Singer Songwriting genre. The same occurred within the 1990s with strong musical artists such as Mariah Carey, Sarah Mclachlan, Alanis Morriset and Jewel all found strong fame from there musical art. Also in the 1990s artists such as Dace Matthews and Elliot Smith created a sub genre within the Singer Songwriter genre, this being Acoustic- Based. Artists such as Ray LaMontagne, Antony and the Johnsons and Damien Rice all became strong within this new sub genre in the later 2000s as it took a few years to fully establish as a genre where people will notice the type of sound and characteristics where developed for the Acoustic - Based artists and music. This is a quieter sound, with largely impressionistic and ambiguous lyrics which is why this sub genre can be seen as a type of art.

My chosen song!

After much deliberation and advice and feedback from our media teacher, i have decided to create a promo video for the song Eskimo - By Damien Rice which is a song from the genre Singer Songwriter.

I've chosen this song for the strong ambiguity and the pure beauty of the song. I felt there was more challange for me to create a music promo for a Acoustic / Singer Songwriter song as well as try to make it more interesting as some people will critisise how acoustic / singer songwriter music can be boring and drags on for a long legnth of time. I saw the sheer beauty within the song and it also includes a climatic element within the song where an operatic artist starts singing in Finnish. These elements are much more complex and interesting then pop music would create as the ambiguity of Singer Songwriter music atracts more artists and people who are interested in different music, not just mainstream pop.
The lyrics are as complex as the structure of the song, which again is a total contrast to pop songs. Even rock music may seem like the total opposite, but most Rock songs include the same structure Pop songs use:

Verse -> Pre-Chorus -> Chorus -> Verse 2 -> Pre-Chorus -> Chorus x2 -> Bridge -> Chorus x2 -> Instrumental / Voice fades out / Ends.

However the interesting thing about Singer Songwriter music is the idea it's described as art, which the songs are much more creative and structured any way the artists wishes their song to be structured. Whereas pop music may only be seen as a tool to make money, this type of music takes much more time and dedication to create the songs. I feel i can create a strong promo video for this song, it may be more challenging to view the 'art' side of music and create a storyline to, like the song, create ambiguity and provoke the audience to really think about what they just watched. I find it fascinating, when the audience see an action sped up in fast forward, which catches them by surprise, i then like to rewind the footage back and play it at normal pace, it creates slight confusion, this also makes the audience have to pay extra attention to the video as well, which draws more focus to the song and the storyline itself. People are expecting an artistic ambiguous music video to accompany the song and the ambiguous lyrics, the audience is expecting answers from the 'confusing' lyrics and an insight into how much this artist will have control over the finished music video, whether it be more imaged based etc.

Deciding the main song for my coursework...

There are many different songs which I wanted to choose to involve within my brief. With the genre ranging from Pop to Folk to Classical.



The first song I wanted to chose was:


Britney Spears- Every Time

I wanted to do this song for it would have been interesting the image i would have given my actor to be the artist for this song. The pop genre is a strong believer in the artist having a controversial, strong image therefore i would have had to create an interesting image for the female artist. The song also has very interesting lyrics which are obviously written from a personal account and obviously co-written by the artist herself, this would have been interesting to create a story surrounding these lyrics, however i also feel with the lyrics being ambiguous, i could have made the video story equally as thought provoking.
The reason i didn't choose this song was basically i wanted to create something individual, really use the creative energy from a truly powerful and wonderful song which i would bounce ideas off. I just felt this song seemed limp, nothing much interesting within the song. I admit, I personally love the song to listen to, however i wanted a more interesting genre of music, not just pop, i wanted a different type of song and i wanted to create my own individual type of directing and become my own independent director to a song which allows me to do this.

After choosing not to include 'Every Time' within my media coursework, i searched Itunes for a range of different music specialising in different genres. I came across an artist called 'Kate Rusby' who is most famous for singing the theme tune to the BBC sitcom Jam and Jerusalem.


Kate Rusby - Underneath The Stars


This was the second song which i considered choosing to use for my brief. This song has been categorised within the 'Folk' genre, which is a very calm, collective and acoustic genre. I felt this song would make such a wonderful storyline within the music video as it's basically a love story within a song, which is connoted within the title 'underneath the stars' which seems a romantic name at a glance. This song's so interesting, you have a truly individual voice, backed with an acoustic guitar, which is completely different from pop music, as it's nothing over produced to make it mainstream, it just requires a truly talented artist singing their emotions. I felt this would allow me to become a creative director and allow me to really challenge conventions of music videos.
I didn't choose this song overall, because the song it's self just repeated. The song is absolutely gorgeous, it's just i didn't feel it would allow to me create a climax within the promo, I thought it was just drag on and the audience would lose interest within the first 2 minutes which is not what a music video should arouse, negative attention.

My sister introduced me to the artist 'Antony and the Johnsons' and their song 'Another World' it's truly an enchanting, beautiful piece of art placed into music, which i took into consideration to also choose to include within my Media Brief:


Antony And The Johnsons - Another World
This song starts with acoustic piano, and Whales singing distantly in the background. The music is so gentle and calming it sends the audience into some sort of Ecstasy and meditation and with the gentle artist singing how he craves another world with 'peace' and away from 'anger' and 'war.' It would be good to create a music promo with this song, as you could really capture something beautiful to substitute this piece of music.
However, i didn't chose the song due to I felt this would be hard to create a story surrounding this song, really thinking outside the box and not creating a story which would be cliche for this song i.e: Showing nature, destruction and secondary recourses, as i felt it could be Rather difficult for me record some primary footage of war and natural disasters.



Slow Moving Millie- Beasts
This was another musical choice i had, the lyrics are so simply beautiful as they are backed with an acoustic harp sounding instrument. The artist sings how she 'will be the Alice, of your wonderland' and how she 'will be the rabbit, of your magic hat.' This song is basically a love story and i really wanted to use this song over any other, as it features a climatic element within the song which features a full choir all harmonising 'oohs' and 'ahhs' which give the song the endless enchantment and climatic feel. I felt i could produce a strong love story music promo with this song, as a girl finally finding her love at the end, hence the harmonizing climax.
The reason i didn't choose this song, was because it had recently been featured on a global advertisement for 'Virgin Media' with basically the same idea i had to use for the promo therefore i thought it would be a better idea not to use that certain song.

First Ideas of chosen music to include within my brief and the characterists of Pop Music.

The first song i initially thought of was 'Every time' - Performed and written by 'Britney Spears.' Pop music is the commercially friendly genre of music which was at it's prime during the mid 90s and started to become less popular during mid 2000. Pop music seems to be strongly targeted at a mainstream audience, starting from the age around 13+. These are some of the conventions of the genre and the artist performing music from the genre:

The music is extremely marketable - Most of the songs within pop music, is about having a good time, either at a club or a party. It's aiming to appeal to the mainstream audience who enjoy going out and having a good time, as they can connect with the subject the artist is singing about. The music is usually up-beat with including a feel good factor which wants to persuade the audience to get up and dance and just have a good time.

A few lyrics from songs which back up this convention are:

Lady Gaga - Just Dance. Where the lyrics state:

'Just dance, gonna be okay,

Just dance, spin that record, babe'

Pop songs can also be a ballad as well, mostly about love, these slow songs can be used within teenage TV dramas such as Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill (in which included Britney Spears' - Every time.' to target their audience if they're not completely perfect to dance to in the night clubs. A pop ballad usually shows a softer side to a mainly pop genre situated artist, and can create a connection from the artist to the audience, in which a fast, dance track wouldn't allow. The slow ballads can also get remixed therefore they can be played in the dance clubs. Slow songs are usually about love or romance with the opposite sex, and telling a story about a problem within their relationship or how they're moving on and are not strong.

A few lyrics from a slow pop song:

The pussycat Dolls - Stick Wit Chu:

'I got you,We'll be making love endlessly.

I'm with you (baby, I'm with you)'

The artists are strongly image driven- Through lyrics, live performances, music videos and other forms of exposure: the image of a pop artist is as strong as their musical material. They have to remain edgy, idolising and remain at the top of the news. Artists including Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Madonna have been strongly criticised for their image upon their CD covers, which conventionally are there to sum up the genre and type of songs in which the artist performs, not surprisingly all represent a 'sex' image and all are understandably controversial, however with this media attention, drew more attention onto your music and products which you wish to sell.

Through a pop artists performances, a rememberable, strong and highly choreographed routine seems conventional. With the MTV awards mainly there to award mainstream artists, an amazing performance is essential. Usually, these performances will be again, controversial so media attention is assured and possibly a new song will be performed. Promos for the awards ceremony will include mention of a big pop artists will be performing, thus the performance will create suspension and more media attention.

Recently, Lady Gaga performed at the MTV's Video Music Awards, performing her recent song 'Paparazzi' which featured Gaga performing in her underwear dancing around the stage. However more shockingly towards the end she pretending to knife herself in result, fake blood was covering her body. In the last stunt, she pulled out all the stops by replicating a position in which looks like she's hung her self suicidally. This created a media storm, from charities complaining 'she's romanticising suicide to the younger generation' to artists fighting in her corner defending her performance and labeling it as 'art, visionary and smart.' In other performances has seen the collaboration of two or more artists performing together, artists such as 'Madonna, Britney Spears, Missy Elliot and Christina Aguilera' performed at the 2003 MTV VMA awards, in the end of the performance they all exchange a same sex kiss, which once again created a media storm of attention.

Their music videos have a combination of exposing and promoting their image, which they wish to shout and can include a story of the song. In many fast pop videos, choreography is strongly used, artists such as Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and Take That have all used choreography within their music videos. This makes the song seem more appealing for the clubs to play as if you view the artist having a strong dance to this song, and having a good time the audience will wish for that same feeling. The music videos will include shots of them 'Micky Miming' their song in either a close up or medium close up shot, this allows the audience to see their facial beauty and also allows the audience to become 'closer' to the artist, and see them in a light and performing in which they possibly wouldn't ever see in real life. Their music videos have to be edgy and entertaining in order to achieve maximum interest and media attention, all pop acts including Michael Jackson have created music videos to these characterises and have proved to work, as less interesting videos e.g 'One True Voice' seemed to have a cheap budged on their video therefore that was possibly part of the problem why they failed to become a success.

(Britney Spears - Me Against The Music)

(Michael Jackson's Thriller)

Other forms of exposure include television interviews, magazine interviews, documentaries and books which the artist may want to become involved with to create some media attention. Recently the boy band JLS have been on talk show after talk show promoting their new music, as well as promoting their new book. Controversial and shocking magazine interviews may be appropriate for the artist keen to promote themselves. A famous magazine cover was recently, Miley Cyrus when she appears topless for a magazine shoot and interview in Vanity Fair, she was just 15 at the time. It seems exposure and promotion has no limits, with even Britney Spears being a victim of this, as she posed in her bra for Rolling Stone when she was just 16. Pop music seems to attribute to bold statements in lifestyle such as: Sexual Expression which Madonna and Britney Spears are strong believers of, general individual expression and consumer habits which does seem to target such a wide audience.

The music is commercially friendly- Pop music is friendly enough to appeal to any gender of the mainstream audience. As i mentioned before, the music surrounds the idea of having a good time at a party or in a club. It doesn't usually mention anything inappropriated which could be deemed as offensive, political or religious, which makes it very 'friendly' and appropriate for many types of people within the mainstream target audience. The chorus usually involves the artists voice being layered which creates an overpowering catchy chorus which is used to embed into the audiences mind thus makes them singing it for the rest of the day. A song which recently made me do this, personally was Alexandra Burke - Bad Boys after a big performance on the talent show 'The X-factor.'

Pop music is appropriate for many things- Because of Pop musics friendly ideology, radio stations, music channels, adverts and films chose to play this music. Pop music rarely includes inappropriate offensive language, it automatically has a wider audience base, therefore adverts and films will chose to play either an instrumental for that certain popular track or include a section of the song within their advert, with that pop song attracting such a wide audience perhaps using that song within the advert will also attract attention by a wide audience to that certain product in which they are advertising. Also radio stations seem to play pop songs more, due to the fact the songs a hit with audiences as it's not censored with the high pitches 'beeps' therefore it's less annoying, rather than a song Eminem would possibly perform which seems to have every world censored out, which is defiantly more annoying than just listening to an easy flowing pop song with no gaps or 'beeps' censoring out certain words. Films may use that certain rememberable pop song to advertise their film, as, like in advertising, since pop music attracts such a wide audience base perhaps using that popular song within their film trailer, it may attract a wider audience response. They also use pop songs to identify a genre, usually within Action / Crime films, Rock music is played, whereas in Romantic Comedies, Comedies and general feel good films pop music is played within the trailer, which is one of the most popular genre of film in the world, as once again it's attracting the all important mainstream audience.

Pop artists can hired to promote a product- Artists from Michael Jackson to Pink have been known to be hired by an advertisement company to promote a certain product. The musical artist will usually sing a track and mime the song they've recorded whilst making the product which they're advertising the most important thing, which usually involved either Drinking the product, driving the product, using the product, wearing the product etc. Pepsi is a company, known famous for signing up big pop artists in the industry to advertise their product. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Beyonce and Pink have advertised the product where as 'Coca Cola' rivaled with Pepsi and hired the same type of musical artists which specialised and created music for the Pop genre, such as Madonna and Christina Aguilera. With their clean reputation, pretty face and positive messages in songs, these factors make them ideal role model which are usually approved by parents for their children to look up to, therefore having these role models advertise and 'be the face of the product' ensures the wide audience base which already follow these artists, especially the younger generations will ensure they will chose a certain product over another, as like music videos it has an element which allows the audience to become closer to the star, by drinking or wearing products we think the artist does, the audience will feel closer to the star.