Music video functions
What job does a music video do?
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| Michael Jackson music video advert on MTV |
Promotion: Interesting videos will persuade the viewer to purchase the song in the video - this is the main purpose of videos, producers will carefully plan the features and ideologies of these videos to make it interesting. With recent technology, such as youtube vidoes allows 'pop up' links to purchase the song directly from iTunes. This increases online sales much more now compared to when the only videos were really shown on MTV, as YouTube was made in 2005. Before this there wasn't many viral marketing oppurtunities for smaller artists, as only big ones such as Michael Jackson could afford to be shown on MTV.
Since 2005, viral marketing has increased with many more purchases directly from the online video.
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| Girls on film video |
Creating a persona: Artists will set a certain mood in their videos with the imagery and ideology, this mood will also reflect the image/persona they are trying to give of themselves, e.g. racy/promiscuous or humorous or maybe a tougher/masculine image. This mood and persona created can also let a viewer infer lots about their background/culture and who they're aiming the video at. Record labels use this image to sell their artists - e.g. Duran Duran 'girls on film' included lots of sexual imagery and record labels said they were using this imagery and persona of the band to appeal to the senses and sell hits. Persona's created will appeal to certain demographic groups and this image they have of the artist will keep them interested and they will continue to view videos and purchase songs, maybe as they aspire and idolise this public image the artist has.
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| 2 billion youtube views |
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| Gangnam style video |
Raising profile: For new artists, raising their profile is very important as it promotes them and gets them as many views as possible. With new viral technology it is much easier for artists to be discovered online and then make more high profile videos which generate more views. A good example of this is 'Gangnam style' which went viral extremely quickly. It was YouTube that allowed this as he was a new artists who based the song and video on humor, so if it wasn't for YouTube, music TV companies would turn away a video like this, until the artist had a raised profile and a name people knew.
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Taylor Swifts feminine imagery in
early videos |
Creating a fan base: This is important for new artists who are targeting a specific audience with their music and videos. The internet allows people to find links to new artists who have similar music and videos allow them to make an impression on viewers and gain them as fans. This is useful for artists who are targeting a certain demographic group as the ideology and imagery in their videos will attract them. For example Taylor Swift's main target audience is young girls, therefore her first videos she released were very floral and vibrant, which appealed to these people and gave her a expanding fan base of this target group.
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| selection of some of one directions many videos |
Strong fan connection: Artists keep releasing videos to remind fans of new content or to keep a presence. One Direction and Justin Bieber do this by making lots of videos for most of their songs, as this keeps the bond and interest with their fans and considering many of their fans are younger, this is more important to have this connection than it would be with audiences who are more adult. These bands also keep a strong connection by making exclusive videos which are only on deluxe CDs or DVD, this makes many of their fans feel closer to the artist and makes them feel like they are given a more personal meaning in videos. Viral marketing and higher standard of filming technology with a better ease of editing really helps keep this connection frequent as videos can be produced more rapidly.
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| Miley Cyrus's transformation |
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| Wrecking ball video |
Different side to an artist: Useful for artists who are keen to change their image and appeal to a different audience. Miley Cyrus is a good example. She went from being a young tween artist in Hannah Montana to transforming herself to a more sexual artist with videos such as wrecking ball. This completely shifted her fans and image to something much more mature. Music videos are very useful for this as they give clear imagery of an artist reinventing their selves and also goes along with a new style of lyrics better.
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| r&b video |
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| pop video comparison |
Confirm genre: Sometimes fans may hear a song on the radio and find it hard to determine what genre it is, as it could maybe fall into Pop or R&B, for example. A music video will have certain imagery that make this genre clear to fans. For example pop videos usually have bright lighting and colourful costume, which is vibrant and appeals to a youthful audience, whereas R&B videos generally have more provocative clothing and women are portrayed more sexually in the videos. For example the 'call me maybe' video is very different to some Rihanna or Beyoncé songs, but they may sound slightly similar, so watching the video helps the viewer distinguish the genre of the artist.
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| Justin Bieber fans in video |
Increasing concert sales ect.: Artists don't only use videos to spark interest in the song but also use them to expand their income with things such as concert sales and other merchandise such as DVDs on bonus/deluxe albums instead of the regular one which has less songs.
One way artists do this is by including lots of footage of fans at their tours into songs for their music videos, they may even have a 'fan video' version - Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran are well known for doing this. This is a way of expanding their income from their music videos as it also promotes and markets their tours to people who watch the video of fans enjoying themselves, this persuades more people to want to book tickets, as they have also been given a good impression of the songs and tours in the video.
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| Beyoncé bonus track CD |
Another way artists use their music videos to increase income, is by releasing exclusive music videos on their DVD's to songs that don't have videos being shown on channels such as MTV. This is advertised on the cover of DVD's and will persuade loyal fans to by so that they can view videos which aren't shown to everyone - Beyoncé is common in doing this.
Expanding the media platform/Extension of outlets: With recent technology, music videos are now available via many different platforms and not just music TV channels such as MTV and VEVO. Producers make videos have easy fan access, with them being on channels, artists website and on YouTube. Many artists can use their own social media platforms as a role in viral marketing, many artists post short taster clips on their apps such as Instagram and twitter, this sparks interest and incises fans to watch the full video when it is released. Social media allows viral marketing to create a hype around video's and new songs, which ultimately creates maximum views on all platforms.
Being able to have this media platform also gives direct links to other accounts of the artists, fans can easily find videos and consume them for free, whilst the record label is still making money.
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