WHAT IS A MUSIC VIDEO?

By Kylie Lee

“A music video is not primarily a commodity form, but a promotional one.”

- Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory

“A videotaped performance of a recorded popular song, usually accompanied

by dancing and visual images interpreting the lyrics.”

- Oxford Dictionary

DEFINITION

A music video is a short film that integrates a song with imagery. Music videos

were originally made to promote the band/artist as well as their song.

It was until 1981 when MTV (Music Television) was launched. They first started

with under 200 music videos to play out.

MTV conducted their own market research in which they found that the

appearance of the videos being played on MTV lead to an increase in sales of

the record.

The music industry was convinced. So more music videos were made, which

helped to improve sales. It was until then a distinct connection was made

between music and video.

WHAT?

WHY?

There are many reasons to why music videos are made:

-To publicise the band/artist – this helps them to gain more publicity

internationally. It helps to promote them as well as the song. It also means that

the band would not have to travel all the time to perform – as this century is

very much technology based, so their audience can simply go on YouTube to

watch the artist/band whenever

-It helps to convey the band/artists visual style - this can therefore lead to

more sales being made as it helps to give them an incentive to see the

artist/band perform live

-By making music videos to their songs, it helps them to build their fan base

which can therefore maximise their profits

-Some bands/artists make music videos purely for artistic purposes

Music videos are made in a variety of ways. Simon Frith believed that music

videos can be characterised by 3 broad typologies:

- Narrative: these are videos that deconstruct the narrative of a text in detail.

This means that the music video would have little or no performance in

and more ‘storytelling’. The lyrics of the song is acted out through imagery

in the music video.

HOW?

“if I were a boy, I would turn off my phone

tell everyone its broken, so they’d think that I was sleeping alone”

- Performance: these are videos that show

the artist or band performing at concerts,

rehearsal or staged performing. This aims

to give the artist/bands’ fans a sense of

what watching them perform would be

like. This could also help persuade the

viewer to attend their concerts.

…

- Conceptual: these are videos that do not

tell a story in linear fashion, but rather

create a mood/feeling to be evoked in the

experience of viewing. The video itself

helps to create a similar atmosphere in

relation to the lyrics, but would not tell a

story or show a performance side to it.

…

There are many points in which music videos benefits a band/artist. Examples

such as:

- Self promotion

- To generate more profit

- To create a bigger fan base

- Better recognition through association of iconography

(e.g. Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball, the wrecking ball and sledgehammer are very

iconic as people would see (possibly not an every day object) that object and

associate Miley with it)

- To get a positive message across (Beyoncé – I Was Here)

PRO’S

However, there are drawbacks to music videos. Not only does it affect the

band/artist, it can also affect the audience in different ways, such as:

- Some music videos can be inappropriate to children. An example of a

music video that can be inappropriate is Nicki Minaj – Anaconda

- Cultural differences. Some people may perceive the music video differently

and could possible take offence to it. Such as sex appeal and religions

- If the song/video is explicit, then the song itself would have an impact as

it can only be aired on specific times or specific places. It will also affect

their views (especially on YouTube, if it is on safety mode, you will not be

able to access the explicit videos)

CONS