Research

Location and Talent Releases

Timeline

Location Recces

Styles, Conventions and Techniques of Music Videos

The Purpose of the Music Video Essays

The Panoram Soundie was like a juke box; it was put in bars and clubs in 1941. They played short clips that went along side songs. Fast-forward forty years to 1981 and “Video Killed the Radio Star” by Buggles was the first music video to be played on MTV.  In this essay I am going to explain and give examples to the purposes music videos.


Artists/bands as well as directors/producers can be promoted through music videos. There are a few ways in which they can be used to promote the artist/band such as starring in the video, having their name somewhere in the video or a recognisable symbol somewhere in the video. In Alan Walker’s video for “Alone” all three ways are used. He makes an appearance randomly throughout, his name is used as a code name for the people in the video (“Walkers”) and a symbol which includes his initials is used on the website the people log into as well as on jumpers.

To promote a director through a music video usually their name is included in the video, for example in Taylor Swift’s music videos for “Blank Space” and Wildest Dreams” she teamed up with director Joseph Kahn; in both videos his name is the second thing to appear.

Artists are marketed differently depending on what sort of record label they belong to and how much financial backing they have. Someone like Carrie Underwood (signed with Arista Nashville) has the image of a pretty blonde cowgirl with a bad girl streak that is reflected in her videos.


Independent bands and artists that are just starting out don’t have as much finance to fund a glossy polished image and their videos have a lower budget. Self-produced artists (artists that don’t have a record deal) make and distribute their own videos which are then shared on YouTube and social media sites. There are many artists posting on YouTube, usually their music videos consist of them sitting in front of a camera singing covers.
Another thing music videos can be used for is to promote an artistic statement. Sia’s music video for “The Greatest” is a tribute to the Orlando shooting victims; promoting artistic statements through music videos is a good strategy producers use to create a fan base with the same values/beliefs as the artists.

Artists/record labels make money off of music videos by how many views it gets, each view contributes to their income. However, due to the vast amount of sites that audiences can use to watch the videos, it is impossible to get an exact total therefore an estimate is made based on how popular it is (as well as how well the song is selling) and the artist/record label is paid accordingly. 

Artists that are more alternative or self-produced rely on media outlets (rather than the charts and radio stations) to get audiences to hear their music. A media outlet is a source that allows audiences access to artist’s work. Such outlets include iTunes, Vevo, YouTube and so on. 

Synergy is the term used when products are sold in order to promote a larger product.  Usually this is merchandise promoting a film (for example marvel themes dolls, bed sheets, water bottles, e.t.c., are advertised around the same time as their latest films). However, this can still apply with songs that are written/recorded to specifically go alongside a film, for example when “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was getting ready to be released in cinemas Ed Sheeran released a song, “I See Fire”. With synergistic marketing every party involved benefits in some way from the deal, whether that’s publicity or profits.
                   

I think that music videos are popular because they give fans a way to see their idols doing something they love when they might not be able to go to a concert. I also think it gives people something to talk about. No matter the demographic, if people have access to the internet or music channels on their television, people will have an opinion on the video and share their ideas. 

James Paget - Cove Clinic Video