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Watching Music: Interpretations of Visual Music Performance

Vanessa Shelton

The discourse concerning audience interpretation of media, particularly music videos, has shifted to focus on individual understanding. The individual controls his or her final interpretation based on personal, cultural, and social experiences. This study, using a questionnaire and focus groups, looks at how visual music performance is interpreted, particularly how gender and race influences individual relevancy and understanding. Five music videos offering a variety of themes and levels of interpretation were reviewed by a diverse group of twentyfive college students. Personal, cultural, and social relevancy of the mediated themes and images, along with the racial and gender background of participants, significantly influenced interpretations and understandings. As music videos and other media gain prominence in our daily lives, this study adds insight into the connection between polysemous texts and polyvalent audiences.

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