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Don't Call It A Fatwa: The Katy Perry "Dark Horse" Controversy

Nearly 50,000 people have signed a petition for YouTube to removed the Katy Perry "Dark Horse" video because:

At 01:15 into the video Dark Horse; a man is shown being burned, whilst wearing a pendant (also burned) forming the word 'Allah', which is the arabic word for God.

Such goes to show, that blasphemy is clearly conveyed in the video, since Katy Perry (who appears to be representing an opposition of God) engulfs the believer and the word God in flames.

Got that?

Three thoughts:

1. If you have to cite timecode and circle the object in question (see above) to make people notice, then you're likely calling way more attention to it than necessary.

2. Have Rick Ross and the Maybach Music Group also started a peition since their medallion is also clearly present?

3. There are 1.6 billion Muslims around the world. 50,000 is less than .004% of them. 

Bonnaroo Line-up Announcement Video Megathon Tonight

BLAM! Bonnaroo will turn what's usually a press release into something much bigger with the Bonnaroo Line-Up Announcement Megathon. Or, B.L.A.M., for short.

The festivities include Saturday Night Live cast member Taran Killam, comedian Hannibal Bures and a musical line-up that includes The Flaming Lips and Ben Folds. And you can watch it starting at 7pm ET via bonnaroo.com or their Xbox app. 

A teaser video is up now and if it looks like a good, silly time — well, it was directed by Scott Schultz who honed those good, silly chops as a co-creator of Yo Gabba Gabba,

Forbes Looks Forward to a Healthy 2014 for Music Videos

"... More eyes are on music videos now, more than ever, and brands have taken notice. With the average CPM on VEVO is somewhere between 25$ and 33$, a video viewed 1 million times will return roughly $30,000 to the content owners.  But, those 30-second ads playing before the editorial or music content are often tuned out or immediately skipped by viewers. What is more valuable for a brand: a 30 second pre-roll or being an integral part of the content creation?" — Brian Petchers, Forbes.com

We all know the band as brand mantra by heart now, but the truly popular piece of content is the music video. Forbes writer Brian Petchers digs into the past year of music videos, giving a pretty definitive take on the landscape and what's next...

  • Viewership is up, way up... VEVO's audience rose by over 180% in 2013 and the Top 10 most watched YouTube clips were all music videos.
  • The format and structure of a music video have opened up even more, allowing for experiments like Pharrell's 24 hour "Happy" clip and Beyonce's Visual Album.
  • Videos are Everywhere: New channels like REVOLT. And premieres that can take place where you can embed a video player, including Facebook, and in other unexpected places like ESPN's College Football Telecasts...
  • Videos now count toward the charts: Billboard changed the formula to recognize that YouTube had essentially becomes the world's biggest and best jukebox

And if you look at the money, you can see so much of it flowing into music videos from placements and sponsorships...

It's a good read, so read it. And I don't just say that because of the nice things said about videostatic.com

READ > What To Expect From Music Videos In 2014 via Forbes.com

A Video Premiere Via PornHub is NSFW (duh)

Every marketing wiz is always hunting for that new music video promotion destination, someplace that will catch attention and provide a built-in audience.

Well, Xiu Xiu has won the latest round of this neverending contest by apparently premiering the exceedingly NSFW video "Black Dick" at PornHub.

Noisey has the scoop and the link... And don't let the opening images of hairless kittens (not a pun) fool you: This gets very porny very quickly.

Super explicit NSFW link via Noisey

Metronomy Video Directed By Michel Gondry Premiering Tomorrow

Michel Gondry hasn't dipped a toe into the music video waters for quite some time — his last clip was Bjork "Crystalline" in 2011 — but it seems he's gonna take a deep swim for this new Metronomy "Love Letters" video, based at least on the teaser pic released by his production company, Partizan.

Look for the full video to drop tomorrow, Tuesday, February 11, and mark your calendar for a special Google Hangout session on Wednesday, February 12 @ 5pm GMT, with Gondry, Metronomy mastermind Joe Mount, and Bug Videos host Adam Buxton as moderater. You'll be able to post questions via the video's YouTube comment section — use the hashtag #loveletters — or watch a live stream of the action from the band's YouTube channel.

Director Mark Romanek Talks Videos, Movies and Spontaneity w/ LA Times

“I’m bored by the idea of having a concept and then executing it; it seems so paint-by-numbers... I find it more exciting to create something semi-predictable and see what happens.” - Mark Romanek, director

Mark Romanek is featured in a new LA Times piece talking about both his feature film and music video work —  especially the spontaneous nature of his "Picasso Baby" Jay Z short film, and his forthcoming U2 "Invisible" video — and the paradox of being known mainly for his short form smashes, despite considering himself primarily a features director at heart.

Check it out at: LA Times... [photo via @markromanek]

Tribeca Film Festival Offers Interactive Video Contest w/ Damon Albarn, Aloe Blacc, Ellie Goulding

I know most directors tend to hate video contests, but Tribeca Film Festival has teamed up with Genero.tv and sponsor Lincoln Motor Company for a potentially next level challenge: Create an INTERACTIVE music video for either Damon Albarn, Aloe Blacc or Ellie Goulding, using the Treehouse suite of tools from Interlude, which enabled the technology behind Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone," one of last year's best videos (interactive or otherwise).

Three winners will get $10,000 plus travel, accomodation and tickets to the 2014 fest this April in NYC.

Visit Genero.tv for full details...

Justin Timberlake "Suit And Tie" Wins Best Video Grammy

Because, how could the Grammys NOT want to celebrate getting spiffy for 

Best Music Video For an individual track or single promotional clip. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.

SUIT & TIE [WINNER] Justin Timberlake Featuring Jay Z David Fincher, video director; Timory King, video producer [RCA Records] 

And for all you longform fans... 

Business Insider's 14 Most Expensive Videos

This list of the 14 Most Expensive Music Videos Ever Made via Business Insider might make you sick. Unless it made you rich, in which case you win.

  • 14. Backstreet Boys "Larger Than Life" (Joseph Kahn, dir.)  - $2.1 million
  • 13. Michael Jackson "Bad" (Martin Scorsese, dir.) - $2.2 million
  • 12. Celine Dion "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (Nigel Dick, dir.) - $2.3 million
  • 11. Busta Rhymes "What's It Gonna Be?!" (Hype Williams, dir.) - $2.4 million
  • 10. Mariah Carey f/ Jay Z "Heartbreaker" (Brett Ratner, dir.) - $2.5 million
  • 9. MC Hammer "2 Legit 2 Quit" (Rupert Wainwright, dir.) - $2.5 million
  • 8. Puff Daddy "Victory" (Marcus Nispel, dir.) - $2.7 million
  • 7. Guns N' Roses "Estranged" (Andy Morahan, dir.) - $4 million
  • 6. Michael Jackson "Black or White" (John Landis, dir.) - $4 million
  • 5. Madonna "Bedtime Story" (Mark Romanek, dir.) - $5 million
  • 4. Madonna "Express Yourself" (David Fincher, dir.) - $5 million
  • 3. Madonna "Die Another Day" (Traktor, dir.) - $6.1 million
  • 2. Britney Spears "Work Bitch" (Ben Mor, dir.) - $6.5 million
  • 1. Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson "Scream" (Mark Romanek, dir.) - $7 million

And if you believe these numbers are accurate, I have a $6.5 million video I'd like to make for you.

Miley and Britney Deemed Too Hot for Daytime TV... in France

Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus too hot for daytime TV? In France, no less?

Say hello to the weirdest news of the year so far — ok, maybe second place to author Cormac McCarthy's ex-wife who pulled a gun out of her vagina after a heated debate about ETs with a boyfriend — where the the proud land of Serge Gainesbourg has decreed some fairly tame, and hugely popular content as being too explicit. 

France's Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) decreed Miley's naked ballbuster "Wrecking Ball" and Britney's "Work Bitch" as too racy for daylight viewing. Miley is "too sexually explicit," and Britney's video depicts "sadomachistic universe representing women in a way that risks shocking many viewers."

Or, if I may posit another theory, they depict women in charge of their sexuality and rendering men powerless in the face of you know what.

Soundtrack YouTube Videos with Avicii via TruTu.be

Why make a video when you could instead create a platform for fans to create their own videos out of nearly any video currently on YouTube and the Avicii song of your choice, thereby creating infinite videos without needing to shoot a single frame.

Here's how it works:

  • Visit TrueTu.be
  • Do a search for your preferred video imagery (funny dogs, for example)
  • Create your mash-up, using the Avicii song of your choice and using the site's online editor to pick sync points and nudge things into perfect position
  • Publish and Share

Lady Gaga Explains the "devastating" Delay of "Do What U Want" Video

Wondering what happened to Lady Gaga's seemingly scandalous and awesome "Do What U Want" video featuring R. Kelly and directed by Terry Richardson? Her Gaganess explains it all in a Full-Martyr post on her Little Monsters social media site:

Lady Gaga "It is late because, just like with the Applause video unfortunately, I was given a week to plan and execute it. It is very devastating for someone like me, I devote every moment of my life to creating fantasies for you. All my my most successful videos were planned over a period of time when I was rested and my creativity was honored. Those who have betrayed me gravely mismanaged my time and health and left me on my own to damage control any problems that ensued as a result."

Does that clear things up? No? 

In other confusing news, Gaga just recorded and released a version of "Do What U Want" with Christina Aguilera... So, who knows what will be released or when...

Behind the (Baby Got) Back with Sir Mix-a-Lot

Over at Vulture they have a awesomely throw-back oral (heh, ironic) history of the ground-breaking and rump-shaking music video classic from Sir Mix-a-Lot, "Baby Got Back."

Director Adam Bernstein: I concocted the visuals based around the giant ass. Dana and I leafed through a book about Jean-Paul Goude, a French fashion photographer who happened to be ass-obsessed. So the shape of the butt was inspired by his work. Then we talked about what color to make it, and we settled on gold, because of the line in the song [“Some brothers wanna play that hard role/And tell you that the butt ain’t gold”]. It was made of pencil-steel, which is what aircraft frames are made of, and fiberglass. We shot it at the Chaplain, a big studio near A&M Records off of La Brea, between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard.

Besides offering a glimpse into the past for production, the interviews also chronicle the adjustment that a very independent artist (an area where Mix never gets enough credit for being a trailbazer) has to make when jumping into the structure of a major label. There is so much more, including quotes from Rick Rubin, guns being pulled over wardrobe disputes and the renting of a giant inflatable ass. The whole post is definitely worth a read.

Doug Stern writes music video treatments and avoids wearing all brown.

Meet Beyonce Stylist B. Akerlund

There's several recurrent credits in the Beyonce Visual Album, but one that may have caught your attention is stylist B. Akerlund.

She caught the NY Times attention too, which weighs in with a high profile feature on Akerlund — yes, she's married to director Jonas Akerlund — who styled four of the album's 17 videos including the first clip, "Pretty Hurts." Other styling credits include Lady Gaga "Paparazzi", Britney Spears "Work Bitch" and Madonna's look for her Super Bowl halftime show. 

The piece is centered on the Beyonce release — there's a slideshow of all the various looks in it — but mainly gives a great insight into the important role of the stylist in music videos and beyond.

Read:

What Would Beyoncé Wear? She Knows The Stylist B. Akerlund on Her Looks for Beyoncé and Other Stars