Research: What is a music video?

A music video is a short piece of visual image that accompanies a song. Music videos are used in order to promote an artists newest single, ensuring that the audience becomes aware of the songs existence. They are primarily used as a marketing device, and without one a song is unlikely to become popular and reach a wider audience appeal. Therefore, a music video is necessary in order to
support a song and encourage it to sell.

What is the purpose of a music video?

A music video has many purposes, however, the reason is likely to be associated with the artist. The purposes of a music video include:

Encouraging the artist to maintain a relationship with the audience and Music Industry- This is important because the audience may lose interest in an artist if the artist fails to make appealing music videos, this is due to the increased competition that exists. Music videos also help the artist to maintain a relationship with the Music Industry as they keep themselves relevant and popular. For example, Rihanna have made many music videos, such as "Love the way you lie, We Found Love, Diamonds" which has helped her to maintain both a relationship with the audience and music industry as she continue to win popularity and become more widely known across the world.

To attract the audiences attention and to entertain them - Music videos are popularly viewed across the world, and therefore an exceptional music video is likely to entertain and attract the audiences attention immediately which could also lead to word of mouth, widening the artists fan base and increasing the views the video achieves. One music video who made society gone crazy was Kanye West - 'Famous' where you could visualize a extreme long shot of celebrities lying in bed naked. This shows that there is a new trend which promotes commodities through their looks and bodies rather than music which causes controversy and therefore publicity to bring the artist profit and fame.

To help sell albums - Music videos help an artist to sell albums as they give the audience a taste of what to expect in an album. Without music videos, it is unlikely that an album will sell, due to the audiences lack of knowledge of the artists music. For the artist to reinvent themselves they should create a new music video that is of a high quality and likely to help the artist to make a comeback and allow the audience to view the artist in a new light.

For publicity - Music videos that stand out or contain controversial elements are likely to promote publicity for the artist, through many forms of media, including the internet, newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV.

To promote a film - Artists that are liked and popular may be requested to create a music video in order to promote a new film, which will encourage the film to get watched and it will also have a positive impact on the artist as their video will be watched widely for the audience to achieve a greater insight into the new film. An example of a artist who promoted a film were 'Twenty One Pilots' who made a music video for the song, 'Heathens', in order to promote the new, and highly talked film, 'Suicide Squad'.






Entertain - Music video can also be visualised by the audience just to be entertained. A high quality video can be enjoyable to watch and can be a great addition to enhance a song. 

Classic conventions of a music video

Music videos have various conventions that are necessary  to make a music video  popular and mainstream to meet the expectations of the target audience. Common conventions include:

Dancing- Dancing is a popular convention of a music video as it is expected for the artist or for backing dancers to dance to parts of the song.






Narrative- A music video is likely to have a narrative which follows a clear structure, including a beginning, middle and end. The narrative is usually associated with the lyrics, for example, a love song usually has a narrative associated with two lovers and their relationship is followed throughout the video.






Lip syncing- lip syncing is a common convention as it is expected for the artist to mouth the words making it look as if they are singing the song throughout the music video. Lip syncing makes the music video look more effective and realistic.

Artist- An artists presence within a music video is a classic convention and is vital to the videos success as the audience are more likely to react positively if the artist is involved and makes an effort in the video. An artist is usually involved in the video by singing, and some artists take part in the narrative by playing the main characters and singing at the same time.

Special effects and glamour- Special effects and glamour are common conventions of music videos as they encou
rage a video to possess professionalism and to look visually appealing. Special effects are   achieved through editing and glamour through the use of mise en scene the video possess. For example, in Katy Perry's music video the narrative unfolds in a large location with attractive iconography, including a large, diamond chandelier making the setting and video look glamorous.

Editing to match the beat- it is conventional for the editing to match the beat of the song. This ensures that the video follows a neat and professional format as it looks common and expected. If the editing did not match the best of the song, the video would lack professionalism and it would fail to meet the audiences expectations.

Synergy

When producing a music video, the use of synergy is likely to be used as an advantage for the artist, allowing them to maintain a relationship with a number of different medias. The various forms of media may include; Radio, TV, print media, film and the internet, which are likely to support the artists success along with the music video. These are popular forms of media and will therefore, increase the artists popularity and encourage their music video to get viewed. A lack of synergy could lead to an artists music videos getting a lack of viewings due to the audience having a lack of awareness about the videos existence.

Examples of synergy used:

Synergy has been used to promote Little Mix singles in the past through popular media, including:

Magazine Cover

Radio Advert

TV

Radio

Audience impact

The impact a music video has may differ as each viewer reacts in a different way.

A particular impact a music video may have is it influencing the audiences opinion, which may be positive or negative depending on the way the video is portrayed. A positive impact may be the audience having a positive opinion on the video and therefore the artist to, which may lead to them buying the artists albums and becoming a fan of the artist. A negative impact however, may be the audience reacting negatively to the video due to the videos features or the narratives development, this could also affect the way the audience perceive the artist, which could be negative to.

Moreover, another impact may be the music video evoking emotion from the audience. 

A negative impact of a music video includes the video being regarded as controversial by audience due to certain decisions made by the artist for the video. For example, Rihanna 'Bitch Better Have My Money' music video created controversy due to the content involved, which included torture, nudity and drug use. Overall, a music video is generally received well by a mass audience, although certain cases such as controversial decisions used in a video may evoke negative criticism from the audience.

Technology advancements

Due to the increasing technological advancements that have formed and improved over time, music videos have improved in numerous ways:

-Due to visual and sound quality rapidly improving over time, this has allowed the audience to view the video in HD and better quality.

-Technological advancements has also led to audiences being able to view music videos using different websites and apps, providing them with greater choice.

-Advancements in technology has also led to artists becoming more popular and earning more money as certain apps such as iTunes where the audience can buy or download music.

-Technological advancements allow the audience to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter in order to share music videos they like for their friends to see. This is likely to reach international audiences and  increase the views the video achieves and it may increase the artists fan base.

-Technological advancements has been beneficial as music videos are now able to reach a mass, global audience, making a music video widely popular and allowing it to receive lots of viewings.

Threats caused by technology advancements:

-Due to technology advancements, Independent singers are now able to make music in a more efficient and cheaper manner, and therefore, covers of existing songs are being viewed more than the existing music videos from large fan bases.

-Certain advancements allow the audience to listen to music on the move, without having to watch the music video, therefore, this could lead to videos receiving less viewings.

-Another threat may include a music video receiving negative criticism from a mass audience which could threat an artists future and their future music videos.

-Apps such as ITunes and Spotify can also put a music video at risk as the audience may use them to download or listen to music. This leads to the audience not having to watch the music video.

 -Another threat includes the impact of technology causing a rift between the audience and the artist.

-Technology advancements make censorship harder and allows all audiences to access uncut versions of music videos, which puts vulnerable audiences such as young viewers at risk of watching music videos which contain inappropriate content, nudity, drugs and bad language.

The future of music videos

I believe that the future of music videos is likely to be in risk if there is a further rise of improvement in technology, as audiences will be unlikely to watch a music video if they other sources that are easier to access in order to listen to music. This will influence where music videos are placed in the industry, as they may become the last resort of access, and may only be viewed by loyal fans and intrigue smaller audiences rather than a mass audience. If this happens, the amount of music videos that are produced will be reduced due to it being a waste of money and the lack of viewings it receives. On the other hand, music videos still remain highly influential despite technology advancements as they present the artist in a unique manner and portray the lyrics and song as having meaning, influencing the audiences opinions. Whereas, simply listening to a song without visuals evident, results in it having less meaning and the audience having an obscure understanding.

Conclusion

To conclude, music videos are an important part of an artists success, as more videos an artist produces, the more likely the audience are to watch the videos and recognise the artist, becoming potential fans. Generally, music videos remain highly popular as they are viewed by a mainstream audience. My research into the purpose of music videos has influenced my opinions for my music video, as I will try to follow the classic conventions which are vital in making a music video as well as being more creative in making the video more appealing for my target audience. The conventions I will promote in my music video include: the artist being evident within the video, lip syncing from the artist, dancing evident, special effects and editing that matches the beat. Before researching this in detail I was unaware of all the conventions, therefore, this insight has increased my knowledge and ideas.