A music video will have a narrative shown through the song itself through lyrics as well as video clips displayed throughout the track. The video usually lasts for about 2 to 5 minutes and there are multiple clips which create a structure. This is known as structuralism. This can be shown through different settings which can have different meanings and representations. Each music video made by different artists can have a radical ideology which opposes the dominant ideology of what society deems as normal. Most music videos have a linear structure of: start, middle and finish. This is important especially to music videos as they are limited to time and keep the audience entertained. This is the theory of Toderov who states that if the structure is linear, it’s easier for the audience to analyse and deconstruct which allows them to understand the narrative that the artist is trying to portray more effectively.

A music video that is representative of linear structuralism is Commons letter to the free. The music video uses lyrics as well as visuals, such as the black square in a prison (start), to convey how black people were used as slaves and thrown in jail simply so the prison could stay open and provide jobs for white people. This is why “freedom” is lyrically used a lot through the music video to show how black people have rights just as much as everyone else and deserve freedom. This is sung by two black ladies who are in prison and look helpless as they just want to go about life as everyone else does (middle). This hopefully allows for the audience to become empathetic and understand if this had ever happened to them, they’d want their freedom too. This can be represented when the black square is out in an open field but will never truly be free which is represented by the black and white (end). This should then inform and persuade people to help stand against racist remarks from people in power who use their political power for money.

A second music called Ghost town (created by the specials) uses a different structure and can be considered a binary opposite. The videos narrative starts with the band driving in a car with very unusual lighting which looks faded, this could be a correlation on why they called the video ghost town. The video looks as if it’s trying to give of an element of horror which can also be heard through the doom like music. This allows the audience to understand how the video is a combination as well as a binary opposition which allows the audience to understand multiple versions of reality for different races. An example of this is how a white male can get away with looking suspicious where as a black person could get shot for grabbing an item if stopped by police. The specials did this by also using police sirens in their audio and them messing around by throwing stones at the end of the video. At this time, this music video would have been seen as radical to society as it attacked the political right wing which was considered the dominant ideology.