How does the music video of ‘Why’d you only call me when you’re high’ by the Arctic Monkeys

appear to its target audience?

By Alice Western

Background information The Arctic Monkeys is an English indie rock band that was formed in 2002 and consists of 4 members - Alex Turner (lead vocals, rhythm/lead guitar), Matt Helders (drums, vocals), Jamie Cook (lead/rhythm guitar) and Nick O'Malley (bass, backing vocals). Arctic Monkeys is first band to come to public attention via the Internet, commentators saying they represent the change of band promotion and marketing. ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not’ became the fastest-selling debut album in British history, entrenching Arctic Monkeys in the same circle as multi-platinum acts like Oasis and Blur. The band have won 7 Brit awards and headlined Glastonbury festival twice – in 2007 and again in 2013.‘Why’d you only call me when you’re high’ was released on the 11th august 2013 as the Arctic Monkey’s third single from their fifth studio album, AM. Caleb Caldwell of Slant Magazine reviewed the song positively, writing, "The heavy, molasses-slow rhythms, especially the late-night beats of "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High," draw on Dr. Dre's brand of West Coast G-funk. On 18 August 2013, the song debuted at number eight on the UK Singles Chart making it their first top 10 single since "Fluorescent Adolescent" in 2007. In comparison to the other music videos from AM, ‘Why’d you call me when you’re high’ follows anarrative more obviously shown than their other songs, as its content links well with the lyrics. The music video follows the typical theme of an arctic monkeys song, which are normally based around women.

Who is the target audience for the music video?

• The demographic of the arctic Monkeys would be mid-late teenagers/young adults (15-25). It can be assumed that they would mostly be males because the Arctic Monkeys has no female members and the genre of the band (alternative rock) is male dominated. The audience profile of the band (found on YouGov) desribed their target audience as being lovers of sport and dedicating to supporting their favourite artists. However, a large proportion of the demographic are females and the gratifications theory can explain this. Stereotypically, females enjoy listening to songs about relationships, love and girls as they can become emotionally connected to the lyrics through escapism.

How is the audience targeted?• The constructed psychometric of ‘Why’d you only call me when you’re high’ would

be ‘the struggler’ as the drinking and hallucinations suggest that Alex Turner is living for the moment. In the music video we are unaware about the background of the character he plays and whether he is a high achiever, yet the body language of Stephanie at the end of the video when she checks her phone relates to the title of the song. “Why’d you only call me when you're high” is asked from Stephanie’s perspective to Alex, implying that he is careless and been intoxicated like this before. Therefore, an audience that likes to party (a struggler) may be attracted to this song.

• The costumes of the music video are similar to those in other songs by the Arctic Monkeys (e.g. R U Mine?) – they’re casual, meaning that the band targets an audience with a similar clothing style and encourages others to wear what they like and feel confortable in.

• The use of a simple mobile phone makes the video more appealing to a younger audience as they are more connected with modern devices than adults are.

• There are two settings in the music video – a pub and a sparsely populated street. These are locations demographics come across all the time, making the set in the video believable to the audience. (Another example: The Verve – Bitter Sweet Symphony)

• The music video is narrative based and is not edited by complex techniques to capture the distorted visions from Alex Turner’s view (point of view shot). This helps the audience feel closer to the character and music video if they can relate to the visuals. This is similar to the music video of Luv Deluxe by Cinnamon Chasers – although it belongs to a different genre, it is filmed through POV shots throughout.

What is the audience’s reaction to the music video?

• Using Stuart Hall’s theory, the most potential reading for the music video of ‘Why’d you only call me when you’re high’ is preferred. The audience may be able to read the narrative of the music video in the way the producers expect them to. Through the limited amount of editing, locations and characters, the narrative is simple to follow and the song title provides a base to this. Stephanie has not been replying to Alex’s texts so he keeps hallucinating that she is busy having sex with someone else. However, the audience may disagree with the ideology and think that the video encourages drug use, yet others may see it as spreading awareness of the dangers of taking them, such as being less aware you knock on the wrong person’s door.