Research: Song choice & Permission

 Here is how we chose our song and got permission to use it before it gets restricted for our music video project.

Song Choice

Before we were allowed to select a song, our teacher informed us that our choice had to be contemporary meaning it had to be related within the past five years. I found this quite challenging because before starting this project, I had planned to create music videos using songs from the past ten years. This meant that my original ideas would not qualify and would not be accepted for the examination. Because of this, I had to explore more recent music and research for suitable replacements.

 

We decided to work within the pop genre, focusing on relationship based storytelling. Since we already had a clear vision, we mainly needed to find a song that matched it. We looked for something cinematic with a strong sense of tension in the relationship, We also preferred a sad tone rather than a happy one, which led us to focus on Electro Pop as it best fit the mood and idea we wanted to create. Here is how we developed and finalised our song choice. First, we discussed in class and selected our top five most potential song choices.

1. party 4 u - Charli xcx (2020)

Benefits	Drawbacks
It has a lot of emotional tension, making it easier for us to showcase strong emotions	It feels very party like, which is not the direction we want our music video to focus on
The meaning behind the song relates to toxic relationships, which gives depth to our concept	Some of the lyrics may be inappropriate or difficult to connect with our project
It feels very cinematic and has a good tone for a storytelling music video	The concept may require a bigger budget, especially if we include party scenes.
The lyrics are very storytelling helping us plan and connect our shots clearly	The contrast between the party vibe and deeper meaning could make the message confusing.

2. David - Lorde (2025)

Benefits	Drawbacks
It has a lot of emotional beats which works well for our opening scene	The song only has one strong part at the end, making it difficult to build progress in the beginning
It has a cinematic feel making it ideal for our concept	It would be difficult to include performance elements since the song is mostly instrumental
The song does not have an existing music video allowing us to be more creative and avoid copying others	The song’s duration may be too long, which could increase filming and editing time
The music has a lot of meaning giving us the opportunity to include multiple connotations in our work	The song might not be suitable for storytelling making it harder to present our intended vision

3. ceilings - Lizzy McAlpine (20223)

Benefits	Drawbacks
The song has a very soft melody which is simple and easy for us to work with	The song is not intense or toxic “enough” so it may not strongly highlight tension or conflict
It has a lot of storytelling in the lyrics allowing us to connect them to our vision and narrative	The ending of the song is not very clear or impactful which could make it harder to conclude our video
The calm tone can help us create a more emotional and intimate atmosphere	Because the song is soft and slow, it may be harder to keep audiences engage
The song allows us to focus more on visuals and acting rather than the actual singing performance	The pacing of the song may limit our ability to include dynamic or fast changing scenes especially in fights

4. we can't be friends (wait for your love) - Ariana Grande (2024)

Benefits	Drawbacks
The song has a lot of toxic meaning which we can use to connote our toxic relationship meaning	The song is quiet soft making it harder to create very dramatic or intense scenes
It has a modern and relatable theme which can engage the audience more	It does not fully match our theme as we want more toxicity rather than a sad relationship vibe
The song has a clean, soft, and simple structure making it easier to plan our scenes	It may be harder to build a strong storyline since the song learn more towards performance
The music video provides inspiration for our own project, making it helpful for generating ideas	Someone else in the class is using a similar artist, which could make our project seem less original

5. Shapeshifter - Lorde (2025)

Benefits	Drawbacks
The song has very tense music which is good for dramatic scenes in our music video	The lyrics are quite odd and unsettling which makes them challenging to work with
The theme makes the story deeper and more meaningful not just a simple break up story	The song is quite long, so editing may take more time and require many clips
The song feels unique and not mainstream which can help our music video stand out	The song is not in the pop genre, so it may be less simple and harder to execute
The theme of toxicity matches our vision well	The song doesn’t have an official music video that can be analysed for its meaning or use as inspiration

After considering the pros and cons of each song, we shorten our list and used a spin wheel to help us decide. We wanted a song that best fits our vision and could be used in a similar way to our original choice. The top three songs, David, Shapeshifter, and Ceilings, were all very cinematic and visuals, helping guide our storyline through the lyrics while the melody enhances the emotions we want to show. Since we agreed that any of these songs would work well, we used an elimination round on the spin wheel and finally decided to use "Shapeshifter" by Lorde

"Shapeshifter" by Lorde is a song bout identity, change, and emotional toxicity in relationships. This strongly fits our cinematic vision, as we want to show intense toxic tension while also focusing on personal growth. The song enhances our storytelling because the melody and lyrics support the emotions and visuals rather than distract from them. We want the audience to focus on the narrative, using the music to strengthen the atmosphere. Through our star, we aim to show that change is necessary and possible, she learns from her mistakes and grows into a better person. Her journey sends a clear message to the audience that we should reflect on our actions, learn from our flaws, and strive to become better versions of ourselves. Overall, we were all satisfied with this choice because the meaning of the song perfectly supports our vision and helps build powerful cinematic visuals,

Permission

Shapeshifter by Lorde is produced under Universal Music Group and released through Republic Records. In order to use this song for our Cambridge A Level Media Studies Component 3 project, we made sure to notify the record label that we were requesting permission for educational use. We contacted Republic Records to request a licensing agreement that would allow us to use the song appropriately. We shared for the offical contact details through their offical website and sent an email clearly explaining that our project is strictly for academic purposes. We also reviewed the information on their website regarding licensing for projects to better understand what is permitted.

Following the required procedures to license the use of the song, I (Kristine) was the member responsible for contacting the records label to help obtain permission. I ensured that we reached out properly to secure licensing approval so we could use the song for our project.

Since this is a unserious school project, we do not expect any financial benefit or formal response. However, taking these steps is important because it shows that we respect copyright laws and the rights of the artist. By attempting to gain permission and researching the licensing terms, we are avoiding potential copyright issues or restrictions on platforms such as Youtube and preventing any misunderstandings about the misuse of copyrighted content.