Media Theory Around Music Videos- Stuart Hall

Stuart Hall developed a theory of encoding and decoding. He argued that there were two processes used in order to get a message accross to the audience. Encoding is the process of the media putting messages into the media text for example a music video. Decoding is the process of the audience understanding and forming a meaning from the text. There are three different ways to form this type of meaning.

Oppositional Reading- This is when the audience disagree or reject the media text completely.
Negotiated Reading- The audience accepts the media text given but not in the way that it is shown.
Dominent/Preferred Reading- This is the message the media want us to have of a media text.