Anthony Mandler on the state of music video in 2013

[Philomene 927]

We spoke with Mandler—who directed Lana Del Rey’s 30-minute video “Tropico,” released earlier this month—about the state of the music video in 2013, what he thought of Miley Cyrus’ video output this year, and what he makes of Daniel Radcliffe.

 

Josh Duboff: This was a really big year for event music videos, what with “Tropico,” the Miley Cyrus videos released this summer, the Beyoncé visual album. Did it seem to you like music videos reached a new level of cultural prominence in 2013?

Anthony Mandler: Well, I actually don’t think they’ve gone anywhere, if you look at it. In the era of YouTube and the internet, we encompass the most watched programming there is. When you talk about 100 million views, you’re up there with major award shows, things like that . . . Rihanna and I have done 17 videos together, we have like a billion and a half views. So I think if you’re going to look at the pop culture needle, the ebb and flow, videos have always been at the center of that.

 

 

Right, and YouTube obviously changed everything in terms of the overall accessibility of music videos.

Well, it’s the ultimate brand builder, the music video. There were these two lines crossing. The label was making less and less money because no one is buying albums. And the artist was finding their success didn’t have to be tied to how many albums they sold. It could be tied to, “Hey, I sell no albums, but I tour, I have a lot of merch, I’m the face of Givenchy. . .” What I’m getting at, and this is true of all artists, from Rihanna and Jay Z on down, they’re willing to put more money [into their videos], leverage the relationship with the label, put their own money behind [them], to put more on the screen, to make a bigger statement. “Tropico” is made up of three songs that have been out for over a year, but it’s causing this massive splash because of what we did. [Lana] was willing to take that chance, when most labels would say “The album’s over. Why are you going to spend this much on something’s that’s dated, that’s old. What’s the new single? What’s the next album?” 

 

Who would Beyoncé be if we didn’t see her in those videos? Who would Gaga be if she wasn’t a visual artist? Rihanna has built her career on being a visual artist. Look what Beyoncé is saying: “I’m putting out a visual album.”

 

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