A Public Perception of Music-videos and Behavioural Change Towards Global Warming

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The importance of communication can not be overemphasized. Communication has from the onset been a fundamental and crucial part of human existence. Without communication, humans can not survive because communication is the only means through which ideas and knowledge can be passed from one generation to the other. Baran (2014) is of the opinion that communication is the transmission of information from a source to a receiver. “Communication has been variously defined as the passing of information, the exchange of ideas, or the process of establishing a commonness or oneness of thought between a sender and a receiver.” (Belch & Belch, 2003. p. 139)

Communication has various functions which include; information provision, education and entertainment. These major functions are vividly unavoidable in our daily lives. As individuals, we seek to gain more information and educate ourselves about the world in which we inhabit and also a need to escape from the necessities of life brings us to the use of entertainment such as films, books, magazines, video games etc.

Defining music is not an easy task to achieve because music has a variety of definitions and not an exact one. Many individuals have made conscious efforts to give meaning to music in the way that suits them the most. Scholars have therefore provided their own definition of music in order to give it a standard definition. According to Levinson (1990), as cited in Davies (2015), defines music as an art which involves an individual momentarily making sounds for the soul, with the aim of strengthening experience through active engagement such as dancing, listening and performing.

Music videos are a part of the most essential development of cultural structure in modern traditions. Music videos have had a deep impact on fashion, youth customs and music, and on the systems and structures that operate across film, advertising and television, but hitherto, criticisms have rejected the particular nature of the structure and its cultural history. Music videos are a crucial means of communication, either to create awareness of a particular thing or to persuade people to act in a particular way. They provide a form of entertainment for the viewers, engaging them in audio and visual content to draw and sustain their attention to what is being viewed. They might not look it, but music videos are a very effective medium for passing across information and also educating people on various events or happenings of importance.

Hogan, Bar-on and Strasburger (2009) opine that music videos are attractive to people, especially young viewers. Bearing in mind that music videos mix two sets of media that are striking to young viewers, which are television and popular music, it is crucial to study their effects on young recipients and to be apprehensive about the messages these music videos uphold. Music videos have been widely examined. They have different categories which are mainly known as either concept or performance videos. As for a performance video, a single artist or a group of artists are recorded during a performance, a concert usually. While concept videos reveal a story to the viewer, a story has the probability of being developed from the song. This story could sometimes append content to the lyrics and offer a specific interpretation that is reinforced every single time an individual hears the song.

According to Frith, Goodwin and Grossberg (2005), in viewing a music video, the visual segment usually dominates our attention immediately, just by arresting and individual eyes, by being on television. Television apparently absorbs the musical matrix without effort and irreversibly into its visual field. A music video attracts our attention at the same time to the song and away from it, simply by positioning itself in the place of what it represents. According to Vernallis (2004), the music comes before the video, the song is produced before the video is created and the director designs images using the song as a guide. However, the video of the song must sell the song; hence, it is accountable to the song in the perspective of the artiste and record company. Music videos have different ways to follow a song. They often mirror a song’s form and pick up on precise musical characteristics in the field of melody, timbre and rhythm. The image may even copy a sound’s fade and flow and its undefined boundaries. Videographers have created a set of procedures for putting image to music in which the image gives up its independence and abandons some of its modes.

STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

Global warming is the gradual rise in the surface temperature of the earth’s atmosphere as a result of an increase in the amount of energy (heat) striking the earth from the sun being trapped in the atmosphere rather than radiated into space. The earth’s atmosphere has long served as a greenhouse, capturing the sun’s heat and ensuring that temperatures suitable for the creation of life forms as we know them, like humans, have existed.

Global warming poses a great threat to human existence. This study therefore seeks to know if music videos can bring about behavioural change towards global warming.

  OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.                  To investigate if music videos can be a tool of awareness creation about global warming.

2.                  To determine whether music videos can affect people in any way.

3.                  To investigate whether music videos can create behavioural change in people towards global warming.

   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.                  Can music videos be a tool of awareness creation about global warming?

2.                  Can music videos affect people in any way?

3.                  Can music videos create behavioural change in people towards global warming?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study will help promote action towards climate change and how it would play a vital role in achieving goal thirteen of the SDG (Climate action).  This study would also help other researchers in unraveling the imbued power of music videos in passing across information and causing or persuading individuals to act in a particular way or do a particular thing. This study would also provide an opportunity for governments and other organizations to communicate their agenda on climate change through an effective means of communication. This study would also be relevant to further understanding of how the behavioural patterns of individuals can or can not be altered as a result of external effects. The study would be relevant to the application of the agenda setting theory, expressing its full functions which cover diverse forms of media and not just some specific media.

 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study only covers the imbued prowess of music videos in inculcating behavioural change in individuals towards global warming.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

During the course of the study, challenges encountered were exclusively but not delimited to the following. These are Inadequate funding: The research was hampered by a lack of funds, which prevented the researcher from closing to Access Banks in Lagos, particularly in the printing and collation of questionnaires.

Time constraint: Another constraint is the fact that this research had to be completed concurrently with other academic work, making it impossible to conduct this study in large more representative skill.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Behavioural change: In this research, behavioural change refers to a modification in the actions of individuals towards waste management.

Global Warming: The greenhouse effect, which is caused by higher amounts of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other contaminants, is usually due to a steady rise in the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.

Music: Vocal and instrumental sounds united in such a way as to create splendor of structure, synchronization and expression of sentiment.

Music video: A short film that puts together a song with images and is fashioned for promotional or creative purposes.