Research: The purpose of the music video

what is a music video?
A music video is a short film integrating a song and visuals, they’re mainly produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s. usually when an artist makes a song there is a high demand for a music video. most artists get views on there videos by making it as controversial as possible.

Conventions & elements of a music video:

They are usually stylish and modernised to help attract a bigger audience, the more mainstream the video is the more attention it will get. However when a video is alternative its purely made by the artist not to please anyone but to present their video in an artistic way. singers such as Madonna have a high profile within the music industry so she can afford to do so without anyone questioning her.

A music video contains a number of different elements:

  Performance based music videos.

•   This is when the artist or group performing in the music video. They often contain close up shots of the artist/band, for 'Vampire weekend' they are filmed playing instruments. This is an effective way of advertising the talent of the band. I like this way of filming however I would prefer to do a concept based video because it adds more meaning to the song.                                                                                                                                                                                  

The performance video can be hampered by repetition; when every shot is of the band playing, what’s to hold the viewer’s attention? Here director Garth Jennings takes that repetition and turns it into the video’s focal point - each line of the song triggers a new shot, as the band fly back and forth on the camera dolly. Seeing the dolly takes away some of the mystique of the video - the band become part of the shoot, which makes them feels less remote and more engaged

Narrative based music video. 

• This is when a music video often tells a story either that features in the lyrics or that is suggested in the lyrics and then dramatized in the video itself. Narrative videos often follow the generic beginning, middle and end layout as illustrated by ‘stand by be’. I prefer this category of music video because it is a lot more effective in illustrating the lyrical content and the connotation of the song I am confident that I will create a narrative based music video for my final piece of media.

Narrative videos can often emphasise an artists insistence that they are more interested with their music than portraying themselves on film. - The simple plot is often easy for the audience to follow and keeps them engaged.

Concept based music videos.  

• Concept based music videos are based upon a single idea or theme, for 'Actin crazy' the music video is in the form of a cartoon animation, not only does this intrigue a specific target audience but also emphasises the technological advancements and practices that modern music videos are now accustomed too.

The unusual content is an attraction to many consumers, which draws them in. A successful concept video will keep the audience entertained and constantly looking at what or who is on the screen.

Thematic music video. 

• This is where the artist priorities the music and song over the lyrics. There are lots of common themes in music videos. Depends on the genre of music E.g. Heavy Metal bands go for performance dominated clips, Rap has lots of street images, Dance routines are common in pop videos.

Has a running theme throughout the music video. Repetition of image.  Sometimes black and white colour scheme throughout . Absence of recognisable settings. Does not include much Mise-En-Scene Examples of Symbolic Music Videos

Symbolic music video. 

• This is where a particular music video is based around a conspiracy theory or religion. Uses a of lot of symbols to build up meaning e.g. graveyard…death. Lots of use of montage – lots of images to create meaning sometimes often contradictory. Lighting often used to suggest mood. Fast paced – often only a few seconds per shot to build up meanings. Pictures can support or contradict the lyrics.

 The song to express his critical views on how the media seem to shy away from songs that address matters of faith, while embracing songs discussing violence, sex, and illegal drugs.

Other conventions...

• Visually stylish. ‘ Artistic’ and the use of Mise en scene, costume, body language etc.
• Rhythmic
• Experimental, yet there is conventional use of camera/editing
• pace
• Lighting

Purpose and benefits of a music video

A classic purpose of any music video would be to entertain the audience. By having a music video, the artist offers a extra feel to the song by adding visuals and therefore entertaining the audience.

A music video would also be a marketing tool to promote the artist or song in order to gain popularity. The reasons behind a music video could be that there could be high demand for the making of a music video following the song being released beforehand.

This is a music video by the artist Chris brown. The incredible visuals and creative choreography throughout the video enhances the entertainment purpose of the song and also the lyrics are being mirrored through the video. The music video also related perfectly to the flow of the song as the action is upbeat as well as the audio. By entertaining an audience its a simple way to market the song as they are more likely to buy the record because of the entertaining visuals.

Many other artists use music videos to express their image/personality. In these kind of music videos the lyrics do not exactly have to match the visual as their costume, body language,facial expressions and actions can all represent their image.

Tyler the creators music video shows his wild unusual personalities also featuring friends from his group odd future. By creating videos like these it allows the audience to feel more connected to him as a fan. furthermore by releasing a video like this and showing off his personalities it makes him special and different as an artist which can be seen as his unique selling point.

furthermore there are also artist who use music videos to connect to their political or religious views. Many of these videos would be so controversial, that they wouldn't make it on TV or become mainstream because many people would be against it.

Lowkey is an artist who is against the united states government therefore he uses his lyrics to express his opinions. The visuals in the music video can also help us understand exactly what he mean in his lyrics as he says "is it Obama nation or an abomination" whilst saying this he shows the USA attacking other countries. his video are also less likely to become mainstream because most people who listen to rap prefer to hear about cars, women and lust however because he is a controversial artist he will have a much smaller audience.

Synergy

Synergy is the strategy of synchronising and actively forging connections between directly related areas of entertainment for an overall outcome. It is when promotion on different media platforms occurs. A music video is one strand of this. Music videos play a massive part within Synergy as it allows an audience to be attracted therefore giving it success. radio interviews, film soundtrack also allow the song to be promoted.

'Earned it' by 'The weeknd' is an example where synergy is utilised as the song was used for the movie Fifty shades of grey as promotion before releasing it onto his album several months later

 Fifty shades of Grey



 As music videos it is often only one strand of their multi media campaign of their promotion. The singles they often release are usually to promote the up coming album, using the music video to gain popularity. The music industry as a whole has a relationship with a number of different other medias and for different purposes for e.g. radio, tv shows, print media, film and the internet. For example, the Rapper 'Asap rocky' uses these different types of synergy in order to gain publicity.


 Asap rocky staring in 'DOPE'

 

 Front cover of 'Billboard' magazine
 

 Redbull academy show

 Asap rocky's twitter account (for of social media)

 

 

Audiences Impact

The audience also play a big part within music videos as it is the audience who are left to watch these videos of our favourite artists and decide on whether they deserve success and further on ratings.

Within this music video Eminem shows constant montages of tours and his fans showing how far they've helped him got where he is today. "Sing for the Moment" deals with the themes of rap music's effect on society and the misunderstanding Eminem claims critics and parents have towards his message. Eminem uses the song to refute critics who have accused him of promoting violence to young people He also explains that his music has an advantage for young people, claiming that his music is a relief from boredom and depression.

Technological Advancements

With technology advancing year by year, the future of music videos is very bright. Music videos are now filmed using the latest high definition cameras and are directed by famous directors who put time and effort in these videos which are now being made into short films for the audiences approval and excitement.

The use of a director help to create an interesting narrative around an artist single which can then be used by others such as; commercials, blockbuster films etc.

Technologies are often seen as a threat by copyright owners because they encourage piracy by making digital copies easier to obtain. In response, major record companies have come up with new devices designed to protect original material, and lobbied to reinforce legal protection. due to advancment in technology their are many threats towards and artist here are some examples

• People listen to music on the go on their phones and iPods using organisations such as iTunes and Spotify with no need to watch the music video.
• Impact between the artist and audience if artists start to charge to watch music videos on websites such as 'Tidal'. This may push the audience to refuse to watch any paid videos.
• Censorship is becoming much harder.
• Covers or remixes of songs which the audience may prefer giving less publicity to the original artist.

Conclusion

Identifying the purpose of a music video has allowed me to start thinking of the planning stage in which i will attempt to create a conventional music video. This research has allowed me to come familiar with the different conventions in which allows a music video to be successful. I've also learned how to use the use of different micro-elements to change the audiences perception of the music video in hope to make them feel differently about it. i plan to focus on creating a performance and narrative based video as our song will be more mainstream therefore the audience have a better understanding as to what its about.