Conventions of the Pop Promo

Although pop video is fairly freeform generically and artistically it still employs several common conventions. These include…

• The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption


• The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)


• A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement


• Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo)


• A possible narrative structure


• A possible performance element


• The flexibility to disregard Realism


• Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track


• Use of special effects (lighting, annimation, CGIs, in-camera effects)


• A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track


• High impact instantly- competition for airplay on the main music channel outlets is intense


• As music journalist Annabelle Jankell said, “You have three and a half minutes to make an instant impact on people’s eyeballs, instantly!”