Submarine Channel

Multiple Choice Video-clips

Any child of the ‘90s will remember the special effects video splendor of Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” or the spectacular “Sabotage”  Beastie Boys clip – while the ‘80s youth among us will no doubt recall Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” or Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing”. We used to be able to tell which decade a person grew up in, by their references to songs, TV-shows and music clips.

Well, such generational judgements may soon be a thing of the past, as a growing number of artists produce multiple clip versions for the same song.

OK Go!, a band made popular by their super-savvy viral videos, were one of the first, and perhaps – with the YouTube machine and the freedom of internet in mind – their success inspired other artists to follow suit. After all, sometimes even amateur video-clips get more viewers than the band’s first official release, suggesting that people are not always content with how musicians visualize their songs. Temper Trap for instance, pushed it to two additional versions for “Sweet Disposition” (first and second ) increasing the chances of fans’ relating visually to their tunage.

Whether this attitude will merely be a faddish exception to the rules of videos-making, only time will tell – but we rather like it. Do you?