Stuart Hall explains reactions towards music videos. Music videos are
encoded by the producer, the institution fills the text with values and
messages, which represent the ideology they intend to deliver. The values
and messages are then decoded by the audience to come to a conclusion of
their personal reading of the video. Different spectators will decode the text
in different ways and not always in the way the producer intended. Hall
believes there are three different ways people read the messages and
meaning, negotiated, dominant and oppositional.
Dominant: A dominant view is that the audience
read the text in the way the producer intended,
the audience agree with the ideology and
message in the text. This is the ideal
consumption the institution want as it means
their text is successful and will be viewed
positively.
Negotiated: A compromise between dominant and
oppositional readings, the audience will accept the intended
message however will also have their own input and
understanding of the text. Their own opinions, for example,
may be that they do not agree with how it is shown or may
think parts are unrealistic.
Oppositional: Opposite to dominant, the
audience completely reject the preferred
reading and replace it with their own ideas
of the text. For example they may be
offended by the text or may fail to see the
message.
There are a range of factors which
contribute to these readings: gender,
social class, ethnicity, regional identity,
culture, sexuality, political views, job and
family structure.