Music videos aren't what they used to be. Contemporary artists and their collaborating directors are breaking down barriers and reaching fans in exciting and experimental ways. Despite relatively low return on investment, the format continues to be crucial for the development of an artist's identity.

The artist is on the stage, but who is behind the stage itself? Since the mid-90s the entertainment architecture firm Stufish has maintained a design practice shrowded in mortality, reaching for an afterlife through audience memory. In this article, employees at Stufish give a glimpse into the complex arrangement and assemblage involved in staging for Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

The history of art is fraught with instances of erasure. What is not present, or what is pushed to the background, says as much as what is in focus. With their music video for "APESHIT", Beyoncé and Jay-Z take over the Louvre and draw our attention to what we should have seen all along.

Presenting signifiers of dysphoria and disassociation, Ariana Grande's video for "No Tears Left to Cry" prompts a dive into Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism. What are the ways difference is sought out in a time when nothing seems to be here? How might these desires for something else be coded within whiteness and projected upon trans* subjectivities?

Breaking down the medium into its constituent parts, Carol Vernallis sets the music video apart from, but still in relation to, other similar mediums of artistic expression. Rather than treating the music video as subordinate to the song, Vernallis' approach draws out the elements that are unique to the platform and amplifies their socio-cultural and economic implications.

Kahlil Joseph has worked as a director of visual accompaniments to music by artists such as Arcade Fire, Beyonce, Flying Lotus, FKA Twigs and Sampha. Through his collaborations, he creates a framing that gets to the heart of Black life. This article by Hilton Als looks at two of his earlier works and elaborates upon the emotions conjured up by his storytelling.

From "Formation" to "Just Dance", director and producer Melinda Matsoukas' portfolio is nothing short of prolific. But what sets her apart is an unmatched ability to create works that exude emotion. Normally behind the scenes, this interview brings Matsoukas front and centre.

MTV made the music video a (brief) fascination of media studies. In the time since the channel's launch, this initial enthusiasm has faded. In Music Video after MTV, Korsgaard brings a scholarly lens to the academically neglected medium. A mountain of untouched history means there is much to be analysed.

The music video is a melange of high and low culture, living before, in, and beyond the contemporary. As a medium, it can be a space for the manifestation of the not-yet or a reaffirmation of the established order. Recognising the complexity of the music video as a mode of cultural expression, this collection takes an appropriately multi-sided approach.

The task given to designers of nightclub venues is to create a space that exists outside the everyday. This exhibition at Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein explored the history and contemporary state of nightclub design. Moving from the space behind the screen to that in front of it, how might design allow for participation in alternative realities?

Ana DuVerney and Jay-Z present us with a future of The United States that is radically different from its past. When all seems lost, imagining and visualising what can be helps to stay away feelings of political apathy and misanthropy.

Television has been crucial for the proliferation of the music video. This exhibition at Museo Jumex in Mexico City presented an artistic exploration of the medium.

Dance music, traditionally reliant on spaces of congregation, would seem to be ill suited for an increasingly digital world. However, artists and collectives are finding ways to utilise the affordances of an online environment for their ends. Creating worlds, these virtual pioneers are making a space for dance music across digital networks.

Brother Portrait's video for "seeview/rearview" is a multilayered tableaux of Black British experience. Roots and a London-based upbringing merge to create a space requiring rediscovery and reconciliation in the creation of a self. At the same time, the individual and social mix to form a sense of history that affords difference and resonance.

With a reflection upon the architectural history of performance spaces used in popular music, Kronenburg investigates the role of the spatial in musical performance. From the improvised to the thoroughly planned, stage design has become an industry in its own right. With many hands involved in the process of conceptualisation, production and implementation, stages present all the complexities of traditional architecture and more.

What are the ways in which the music video reflects and shapes our lives? Carol Vernallis traces the dialectic between lived reality and artistic expression via the music video. Paying equal attention to the visual and auditory opens up a web of relationality that reveals as much about us as it does the artist.

Will popular video games such as Roblox and Fortnight become two of the hottest music venues on the planet? Rethinking live performances for a (post)pandemic future, video games give artists the ability to reach fans regardless of distance. In the interactive, virtual environment of the video game possibilities await to be explored, together.

Music videos aren't what they used to be. Contemporary artists and their collaborating directors are breaking down barriers and reaching fans in exciting and experimental ways. Despite relatively low return on investment, the format continues to be crucial for the development of an artist's identity.

The history of art is fraught with instances of erasure. What is not present, or what is pushed to the background, says as much as what is in focus. With their music video for "APESHIT", Beyoncé and Jay-Z take over the Louvre and draw our attention to what we should have seen all along.

Presenting signifiers of dysphoria and disassociation, Ariana Grande's video for "No Tears Left to Cry" prompts a dive into Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism. What are the ways difference is sought out in a time when nothing seems to be here? How might these desires for something else be coded within whiteness and projected upon trans* subjectivities?

Kahlil Joseph has worked as a director of visual accompaniments to music by artists such as Arcade Fire, Beyonce, Flying Lotus, FKA Twigs and Sampha. Through his collaborations, he creates a framing that gets to the heart of Black life. This article by Hilton Als looks at two of his earlier works and elaborates upon the emotions conjured up by his storytelling.

Rihanna's Unapologetic presents the listener with a pop album that, rather than swelling toward a break through, traverses the mild hills and valleys of a non-place saturated with melancholy. As Robin James explicates, how stars are expected to respond to and overcome grief is deeply racialised and gendered. Instead of pushing for a performed resilience, might there be something to be said for staying with that which oppresses?

From "Formation" to "Just Dance", director and producer Melinda Matsoukas' portfolio is nothing short of prolific. But what sets her apart is an unmatched ability to create works that exude emotion. Normally behind the scenes, this interview brings Matsoukas front and centre.

An inherently visual medium, the music video is always already implicated in the politics of representation. What is there to be read in the music video regarding feminism and feminist theory? Railton and Watson ask this very question and, through a set of case studies, seeks to reveal possible answers.

The music video is a melange of high and low culture, living before, in, and beyond the contemporary. As a medium, it can be a space for the manifestation of the not-yet or a reaffirmation of the established order. Recognising the complexity of the music video as a mode of cultural expression, this collection takes an appropriately multi-sided approach.

Ana DuVerney and Jay-Z present us with a future of The United States that is radically different from its past. When all seems lost, imagining and visualising what can be helps to stay away feelings of political apathy and misanthropy.

Escaping a civil war, forced into refugee status, M.I.A. rose to become one of the most influential and misunderstood pop stars of her generation. Referencing the documentary "Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.", Momtaza Mehri details the challenges and contradictions that comprise M.I.A.'s story.

Problematising the 'problematic' and working beyond the surface of representation, how might the underlying issues of race be brought into public discourse? A strategy focused on being 'woke' avoids an interrogation of structures that give rise to and perpetuate oppression. Artists like Noname are moving beyond optics into realms of study and structural injustice. 

Television has been crucial for the proliferation of the music video. This exhibition at Museo Jumex in Mexico City presented an artistic exploration of the medium.

Brother Portrait's video for "seeview/rearview" is a multilayered tableaux of Black British experience. Roots and a London-based upbringing merge to create a space requiring rediscovery and reconciliation in the creation of a self. At the same time, the individual and social mix to form a sense of history that affords difference and resonance.

Staging an arrest, adopting and amplifying a catchphrase, and dawning the outrageous are some of the ways Rap artists are finding inroads to relevance. Becoming a meme can be an immensely powerful tool for online marketing. Here are some of the artists that do it the most.

Will popular video games such as Roblox and Fortnight become two of the hottest music venues on the planet? Rethinking live performances for a (post)pandemic future, video games give artists the ability to reach fans regardless of distance. In the interactive, virtual environment of the video game possibilities await to be explored, together.

Music videos aren't what they used to be. Contemporary artists and their collaborating directors are breaking down barriers and reaching fans in exciting and experimental ways. Despite relatively low return on investment, the format continues to be crucial for the development of an artist's identity.

Having an on-screen crush can be complicated. Even more so if that crush's actions conjure a long line of problematic appropriations of lesbianism. With Arianna Grande as a starting point, Rosanna Mclaughlin dives into the history of the entertainment industry's exploitation of lesbian sexuality.

Coachella stands as one of the world's most well known and well-attended music festivals, but headlining does not mean all that it used to. In addition to live performances, artists are putting out prolonged, digitally distributed visual accompaniments to reach their audience beyond the span of two weekends in the Coachella Valley.

The artist is on the stage, but who is behind the stage itself? Since the mid-90s the entertainment architecture firm Stufish has maintained a design practice shrowded in mortality, reaching for an afterlife through audience memory. In this article, employees at Stufish give a glimpse into the complex arrangement and assemblage involved in staging for Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

The visual and the auditory bleed into each other beyond the music video. This exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam presented works of fine art that are inextricably tied to musical inspirations. A flourishing, artistic dialectic presented in unexpected ways.

Musical artists operate in a paradigm that affords them an audience and platforms, which they can use to influence the tides of social change. Striking the balance between activism and artistry can be a nearly impossible task. When stretched too far, burn-out can cause both to fall by the wayside.

The history of art is fraught with instances of erasure. What is not present, or what is pushed to the background, says as much as what is in focus. With their music video for "APESHIT", Beyoncé and Jay-Z take over the Louvre and draw our attention to what we should have seen all along.

A response to a pandemic that asks for social isolation, virtual avenues to clubbing attempt to create a safe space for song, dance, and hanging out. But these international, online gatherings are not without their complications. Should these Zoom parties continue to rage past the pandemic, the organisers will need to come to grips with issues of data insecurity and hate speech.

Restricted to their homes, unable to host large on-set production teams, artists are devising new ways of shooting music videos during a pandemic. With a low-budget aesthetic or an increased focus on post-production, pandemic-proof music videos show that artistry does not stop even under the most isolating of circumstances.

Rihanna's Unapologetic presents the listener with a pop album that, rather than swelling toward a break through, traverses the mild hills and valleys of a non-place saturated with melancholy. As Robin James explicates, how stars are expected to respond to and overcome grief is deeply racialised and gendered. Instead of pushing for a performed resilience, might there be something to be said for staying with that which oppresses?

MTV made the music video a (brief) fascination of media studies. In the time since the channel's launch, this initial enthusiasm has faded. In Music Video after MTV, Korsgaard brings a scholarly lens to the academically neglected medium. A mountain of untouched history means there is much to be analysed.

The music video is a melange of high and low culture, living before, in, and beyond the contemporary. As a medium, it can be a space for the manifestation of the not-yet or a reaffirmation of the established order. Recognising the complexity of the music video as a mode of cultural expression, this collection takes an appropriately multi-sided approach.

The task given to designers of nightclub venues is to create a space that exists outside the everyday. This exhibition at Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein explored the history and contemporary state of nightclub design. Moving from the space behind the screen to that in front of it, how might design allow for participation in alternative realities?

Television has been crucial for the proliferation of the music video. This exhibition at Museo Jumex in Mexico City presented an artistic exploration of the medium.

Dance music, traditionally reliant on spaces of congregation, would seem to be ill suited for an increasingly digital world. However, artists and collectives are finding ways to utilise the affordances of an online environment for their ends. Creating worlds, these virtual pioneers are making a space for dance music across digital networks.

Protests carried out over virtual platforms can have material effects. Then-President Donald Trump expected to find a sell-out crowd when he arrived for a campaign rally in June of 2020. Instead, over two-thirds of the venue's booked seats remained mute and empty.

What are the ways in which the music video reflects and shapes our lives? Carol Vernallis traces the dialectic between lived reality and artistic expression via the music video. Paying equal attention to the visual and auditory opens up a web of relationality that reveals as much about us as it does the artist.

In the second edition of their Video Vortex series, the Institute of Network Cultures expands its investigation into online video and digital distribution platforms. Sourcing contributions from across disciplines (including an article by For The Record research fellow Albert Figurt), Video Vortex Reader II presents a multifaceted study of the state and implications of online video beyond YouTube.

Staging an arrest, adopting and amplifying a catchphrase, and dawning the outrageous are some of the ways Rap artists are finding inroads to relevance. Becoming a meme can be an immensely powerful tool for online marketing. Here are some of the artists that do it the most.

Will popular video games such as Roblox and Fortnight become two of the hottest music venues on the planet? Rethinking live performances for a (post)pandemic future, video games give artists the ability to reach fans regardless of distance. In the interactive, virtual environment of the video game possibilities await to be explored, together.

Music videos aren't what they used to be. Contemporary artists and their collaborating directors are breaking down barriers and reaching fans in exciting and experimental ways. Despite relatively low return on investment, the format continues to be crucial for the development of an artist's identity.

Musical artists operate in a paradigm that affords them an audience and platforms, which they can use to influence the tides of social change. Striking the balance between activism and artistry can be a nearly impossible task. When stretched too far, burn-out can cause both to fall by the wayside.

Ana DuVerney and Jay-Z present us with a future of The United States that is radically different from its past. When all seems lost, imagining and visualising what can be helps to stay away feelings of political apathy and misanthropy.

Escaping a civil war, forced into refugee status, M.I.A. rose to become one of the most influential and misunderstood pop stars of her generation. Referencing the documentary "Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.", Momtaza Mehri details the challenges and contradictions that comprise M.I.A.'s story.

Problematising the 'problematic' and working beyond the surface of representation, how might the underlying issues of race be brought into public discourse? A strategy focused on being 'woke' avoids an interrogation of structures that give rise to and perpetuate oppression. Artists like Noname are moving beyond optics into realms of study and structural injustice. 

Protests carried out over virtual platforms can have material effects. Then-President Donald Trump expected to find a sell-out crowd when he arrived for a campaign rally in June of 2020. Instead, over two-thirds of the venue's booked seats remained mute and empty.

Musical artists operate in a paradigm that affords them an audience and platforms, which they can use to influence the tides of social change. Striking the balance between activism and artistry can be a nearly impossible task. When stretched too far, burn-out can cause both to fall by the wayside.

The history of art is fraught with instances of erasure. What is not present, or what is pushed to the background, says as much as what is in focus. With their music video for "APESHIT", Beyoncé and Jay-Z take over the Louvre and draw our attention to what we should have seen all along.

Kahlil Joseph has worked as a director of visual accompaniments to music by artists such as Arcade Fire, Beyonce, Flying Lotus, FKA Twigs and Sampha. Through his collaborations, he creates a framing that gets to the heart of Black life. This article by Hilton Als looks at two of his earlier works and elaborates upon the emotions conjured up by his storytelling.

Rihanna's Unapologetic presents the listener with a pop album that, rather than swelling toward a break through, traverses the mild hills and valleys of a non-place saturated with melancholy. As Robin James explicates, how stars are expected to respond to and overcome grief is deeply racialised and gendered. Instead of pushing for a performed resilience, might there be something to be said for staying with that which oppresses?

From "Formation" to "Just Dance", director and producer Melinda Matsoukas' portfolio is nothing short of prolific. But what sets her apart is an unmatched ability to create works that exude emotion. Normally behind the scenes, this interview brings Matsoukas front and centre.

Ana DuVerney and Jay-Z present us with a future of The United States that is radically different from its past. When all seems lost, imagining and visualising what can be helps to stay away feelings of political apathy and misanthropy.

Escaping a civil war, forced into refugee status, M.I.A. rose to become one of the most influential and misunderstood pop stars of her generation. Referencing the documentary "Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.", Momtaza Mehri details the challenges and contradictions that comprise M.I.A.'s story.

Problematising the 'problematic' and working beyond the surface of representation, how might the underlying issues of race be brought into public discourse? A strategy focused on being 'woke' avoids an interrogation of structures that give rise to and perpetuate oppression. Artists like Noname are moving beyond optics into realms of study and structural injustice. 

Brother Portrait's video for "seeview/rearview" is a multilayered tableaux of Black British experience. Roots and a London-based upbringing merge to create a space requiring rediscovery and reconciliation in the creation of a self. At the same time, the individual and social mix to form a sense of history that affords difference and resonance.

The history of art is fraught with instances of erasure. What is not present, or what is pushed to the background, says as much as what is in focus. With their music video for "APESHIT", Beyoncé and Jay-Z take over the Louvre and draw our attention to what we should have seen all along.

The music video is a melange of high and low culture, living before, in, and beyond the contemporary. As a medium, it can be a space for the manifestation of the not-yet or a reaffirmation of the established order. Recognising the complexity of the music video as a mode of cultural expression, this collection takes an appropriately multi-sided approach.

Television has been crucial for the proliferation of the music video. This exhibition at Museo Jumex in Mexico City presented an artistic exploration of the medium.

Protests carried out over virtual platforms can have material effects. Then-President Donald Trump expected to find a sell-out crowd when he arrived for a campaign rally in June of 2020. Instead, over two-thirds of the venue's booked seats remained mute and empty.