Voice on video
Music, affect, and communication in campaign videos in the Australian Voice to Parliament referendum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/mk.v42i80.157986Keywords:
video, audiovisual, communication, music, affect, political communicationAbstract
Audio-visual communication takes up a large amount of everyday communication, including in the political and news spheres. With this proportion still growing, and the emergent logics of sound/music as sharing principle/vector, it is striking that sound/music is still understudied in its ability to communicate outside of a stricter arts-related sphere. This is not least true with regard to music’s ability to influence affect and emotions. In this article, I use the case of the 2023 Australian Voice to Parliament referendum to further the understanding of the audio in audio-visual communication. Through a qualitative analysis of two videos, one arguing for and one against the referendum proposal, I show the differing strategies of the campaigns as well as how deliberate use of audio functions as political speech. Thus, I take steps toward bridging a disciplinary divide and highlight the contribution of music as a medium of political communication.
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