Purposes of music videos
Unit 29: Purpose of Music Videos
Music videos are used for many purposes, they give an artist an identity, give an insight of emotions, tell a story and allow a song to be played on TV. Music videos can be streamed on websites such as YouTube and 4 Music. Music videos are also becoming a profitable business and is growing increasing.
A music video can promote a song in various way, it gives visual content which makes a viewers more likely to rewatch resulting in more views. It also makes people more likely to watch the video as they may be interested in the artist as an individual. This can promote a song as people talk about the video and it introduces it too a new audience. An example of this is Queen with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The band grew immensely after the release on the video in 1975 as it introduced them to a new audience. The band grew quickly after the release of the song as it was the first song with a music video in history. This can be a way of promotion as more people know about the artist as it's the first topic of communication. Another example of a song that get promoted due to its music video is ‘wrecking ball’ by Miley Cyrus. This was promoted because it was an out the box video and everybody was talking about it. This resulted in more views and a wider audience. The song and its video was even mentioned on 60 second news update, this was an act of free promotion which was a benefit for Miley and her team.
Music videos also promote artists as individuals. This is because there always in the media. This is mainly done through social networking sites but also can be mentioned on TV. Facebook and Twitter are the main contributors to promoting artists as individuals, This can benefit the artist however it can also affect them negatively as their private life is continuously in the media. An example of a music video that promotes an artist is psy with the song gangnam style. This particular music video got over 2,421,271,749 views on youtube. This was an example of promotion of an artist as now psy is a known music producer who is often mentioned in the media. The use of a music video creates a personas for a artist. Music producers such as Jay Z personas have very stereotypical personas, in the video of the song '99 problems' he is connoted as a rebellious type of person with attitude. This is used to help find the right target audience. In contrast bands such as One Direction personas are extremely different. The members of One direction in the music video 'Night changes' are presented as sweet, tender guys who are infatuate by a girl. This is beneficial as the target audience of One direction are teenagers and young adults. The purpose of this music video was to entice the audience which is done successfully as the band members are singing directly into the camera.
Media synergy is when two or more companies work together to produce or distribute linked products across different types of media. For example two companies that work together would be a music industry and a film company, they then work together to produce a soundtrack. Media synergy is important to musical acts because it allows the artist's career to grow as it enables new opportunities. An example of a career growing due to media synergy is Sam Smith's career. His new song is now able to reach a wider audience due to its feature in the new James Bond movie. The songs name is 'writings on the wall' and has just hit number one on the iTunes chart. The song and the film has also been mentioned on all the big news programs which an act of free promotion, this has enabled Sam Smiths career to grow worldwide. Synergy in the music industry has benefited the other types of media outlets such as film, TV and social networking. Disney uses media synergy in many ways. For example they haves apps that are available to download, They release albums on itunes and in a physical store. They also have disneyland and disney world. This is an example of synergy because it's a range of products and services distributed over a wide scope of different media outlets.
Artists in the music business make money through the tracks they release, so do their record label and management team. There are 5 main ways for artist or a record labels to make money from a music video. These being Content ID, Sponsorship, Merchandise and Monetization. The way artists make money on YouTube is through royalties. The song and music video is uploaded onto YouTube. The Video begins to gain views which effects YouTube positively as the business is becoming more popular and is gaining net worth. The artist then get paid a percentage from YouTube for the upload of the music video, allowing them to make a profit. Music artists are also looking for ways to extend Income therefore they uses these other strategies. Such as selling merchandise, TV licensing, fashion lines and making their own beauty ranges. This maximums income and broadens the audience of the artist. An example of an musical artist trying to extend profit, is One Direction. They brought out a range of perfumes and opened their own merchandise store to improve annual income. Robin thicke made an estimated $350,000 through monetization on his music video 'blurred lines'. The video is played on YouTube with ads and make roughly $2 per 1,000 YouTube views. The clean version of the music video was at 76 million views as of early August which made over $250,000 in profit which was not counting the money Robin Thicke had to share with his management team and record label.
Major record labels such as Sony use music videos to promote content to a wide audience. An example of this is Michael Jackson. The release of the song 'Thriller' and its video accompaniment though the record label Sony enabled the video and song to be available to the masses. The video became one one the talked out music video is history and promoted Michael Jackson's career. In contrast an small independent producers such as the band Glass Animals focuses on abstract creative videos. This appeals to their smaller target audience as its unique. Unsigned artists now make their own Youtube videos to widen their audience. These videos tend to be of a bad quality and look unprofessional compared to a signed artist however they promote there music to a larger audience and allows them to grow. An example of a unsigned artist is an boy band named 'The Colors' the genre of music is alternate. The video that they use for promotion of the song 'Me Minus You' is a lyric video. As the band get signed and grows I expect there will then be a video that tells the story of the lyrics.
As technology improves there are more and more outlets that music can be played from. Increasing music is now played with video to accompany it. Outlets that do this are, YouTube and TV programs. However outlets such as Radio, Spotify and CDs do not have a video accompaniment. A music video can increase the amount outlets an artist can be played on. For example having a video enables a song to be played on TV stations that specialise in music. This also widens the audience of the artist and helps promote the video.
Every music artist has a different target audience therefore the video need to be suitable for everybody. This means that music videos cannot be overly offensive or inappropriate. This is why main the main use of a video is to tell a story and to connote emotion. The video and its content is all dependant on the genre of music. Pop music videos are very different to rock music videos as the emotions they show are completely opposite. For example a music video from a heavy metal band such as Slip Knot is dark and mysterious and is used to make the viewer feel tense, whereas a music video from a One Direction is upbeat and soulful and is used to improve the mood of the audience. The creators of the video ensure that footage is appropriate for the artist’s target audience. This ensures that the song and it's video is used for TV purposes.
Bibliography
msolivesmedia.weebly.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetization
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/singers/robin-thicke-net-worth/
What makes a good music video?
A good music video is dependant on the viewer's personal taste, however there are many different styles, qualities, conventions and techniques that can help make viewers experience more enjoyable. A good music video can either be narrative or performance. A narrative music video contains a story or event such as Mark Ronson music video 'Uptown funk'. Whereas a performance music video contains footage of the artist performing on stage or in a studio. Acoustic performers such as Ed Sheeran use performance videos as it focuses the viewer's attention on the lyrics. A successful music video can either be illustrative or interpretative. An illustrative music video is one that will use the literal lyrics as a basis for the visuals. The visuals and the lyrics will have a very strong bond therefore will entice the viewer as there is a connection. An interpretive music video encourages the deeper meaning of the song and it's lyrics. It allows the viewer to connect with the artist as emotion can be connoted. A narrative music video is also commonly used in many music videos, in a narrative video content is not lifted straight from the lyrics and the bond between the two of them will not be immediately obvious. However there will be a connection, for example Katy Perry's music video for the song 'Firework' uses a narrative music video. The content varies from the lyrics of the song. Some artists use surreal music videos, in a surreal music video the content is so strange and unpredictable that it cannot be believed. An example of a artist that uses a surreal music video is Zedd with the song 'Clarity' The video includes aliens this is why it is classified as surreal. Sometimes a homage music video is used, typically homage music videos are used as tribute or to commemorate an artist that has passed away. Michael Jackson has many homage music videos since his death in 2009. A pastiche is a artistic genre or technique that is typically used as an imitation. An example of this would be Madonna's music video for the song 'Vogue' and the music video for Lady GaGa's song 'Alejandro' This is usually effective as the previous video was successful therefore the artist who is imitating believes it will be successful for them too. Each genres of music is suited to different styles or conventions of video as the can the lyrically meaning and the artist's preference can be very different.
Voice over video
Below is a script, It was used for a voice over for a variety of different music videos. The different genres of music videos are explained and an example of a video is included.
Evidence of a script
Our music video explainations
Below is a combination of many different types of music videos with a voice over which elaborates on key information.