What are music videos
Music videos are short films to accompany a song often times to make the song more entertaining or accessible. Many times a music video can be just an iconic as the song they accompany and some artists are as well know for their style of videos. There are many reasoning's behind making videos, on top of this there are many different styles of music videos. similar to the songs they are made for music videos have different genres each with their own themes tropes and cvl
History of music videos
1800’s- Before music camera technology some song performances would be accompanied by illustrations projected by a lamp, the first song thought to do this was “the little lost child” in 1984. Some other songs in the early 1900’s had these performances such as silly symphony (1929) and fantasia (1940).
1900’s- the first modern music video recorded with a camera is thought to be Tony Bennetts “strangers in paradise” released in 1953 however there are no copies of it anywhere on the internet . The next video that can still be found is Elvis’ jailhouse rock released in 1957.
In the late 50’s artists in France and Italy begun to make short promotional clips for their songs on an invention called the visual jukebox. This is thought to be the beginning of creating videos to promote specific songs. Then in 1966 the Beatles starred in a film called “a hard day’s night” which had many musical segments that music videos were then model after or inspired by. The Beatles then started their own line of promotional clips for songs so they could promote releases in other countries without having to make in person appearances.
In 1975 queen employed a director Bruce Gowards to make their own promotional clip for bohemian rhapsody to be played on British TV show top of the pops as them and many others familiar with the song were concerned the experimental nature of the video would not allow it to do well on the charts or get much radio play. With a £3500 budget and a 4 hour shoot with no storyboarding or rehearsal they filmed what would later be known as one of the most iconic music videos of all time. It is considered to be the first hit single where a music video was an essential part of the marketing and is thought to have single handily popularised music videos. 1979 heralded the first national music video channel in America known as “video concert hall” created by jerry Crowe accompanied by Charles Henderson.
In 1980 David bowie's “ashes to ashes” became the first music video to have a cost exceed $500,000 which has become one of the most iconic music videos ever made.
Nowadays music videos are common staple for almost all artists both signed and independent with music videos ranging from home made to million dollar videos with professional film makers.
Purpose of music videos
Music videos are short films to accompany a song often times to make the song more entertaining or accessible. Many times a music video can be just an iconic as the song they accompany and some artists are as well know for their style of videos. There are many reasoning's behind making videos, on top of this there are many different styles of music videos. similar to the songs they are made for music videos have different genres each with their own themes tropes and cvl
History of music videos
1800’s- Before music camera technology some song performances would be accompanied by illustrations projected by a lamp, the first song thought to do this was “the little lost child” in 1984. Some other songs in the early 1900’s had these performances such as silly symphony (1929) and fantasia (1940).
1900’s- the first modern music video recorded with a camera is thought to be Tony Bennetts “strangers in paradise” released in 1953 however there are no copies of it anywhere on the internet . The next video that can still be found is Elvis’ jailhouse rock released in 1957.
In the late 50’s artists in France and Italy begun to make short promotional clips for their songs on an invention called the visual jukebox. This is thought to be the beginning of creating videos to promote specific songs. Then in 1966 the Beatles starred in a film called “a hard day’s night” which had many musical segments that music videos were then model after or inspired by. The Beatles then started their own line of promotional clips for songs so they could promote releases in other countries without having to make in person appearances.
In 1975 queen employed a director Bruce Gowards to make their own promotional clip for bohemian rhapsody to be played on British TV show top of the pops as them and many others familiar with the song were concerned the experimental nature of the video would not allow it to do well on the charts or get much radio play. With a £3500 budget and a 4 hour shoot with no storyboarding or rehearsal they filmed what would later be known as one of the most iconic music videos of all time. It is considered to be the first hit single where a music video was an essential part of the marketing and is thought to have single handily popularised music videos. 1979 heralded the first national music video channel in America known as “video concert hall” created by jerry Crowe accompanied by Charles Henderson.
In 1980 David bowie's “ashes to ashes” became the first music video to have a cost exceed $500,000 which has become one of the most iconic music videos ever made.
Nowadays music videos are common staple for almost all artists both signed and independent with music videos ranging from home made to million dollar videos with professional film makers.
Purpose of music videos
One of the main purposes of music video is a ways to promote the song it is made for. Having visuals for a song can greatly increase the popularity of the song in many ways. One of these ways is making the song more accessible for things such as TV, having visuals on a song will allow it to be played on music channels such as MTV meaning both the video and song can reach more people who most likely wouldn't of found the song without the video. On top of this videos allow the song to reach a wider demographic as consumers who are fans of certain styles of videos may find the video and become a fan of the song. The actual production of the video can effect how much popularity it gains the song, heavy effects with a creative concept will often gain more attention than a simple video including basic visuals. It can also help to get the song more exposure opportunities especially if the song isn't conventional. A perfect example of this is Queens Bohemian rhapsody, which, the artist thought may not have done well due to the experimental nature of the song leading them to create a promotional video in hopes of getting onto top of the pops leading to the song becoming one of the most recognisable ever made. Another example is Travis Scott's antidote, where the video becoming viral and getting onto TV channels and being a hit on YouTube helped get Travis exposure and fans for his otherwise niche and underground styles of music.
Another very similar reasoning behind the production of music videos is to promote an entire album upcoming from an artist. One way this is done is by producing a video for the headline single of the album, having the video include many themes and imagery from the upcoming album to tease audiences about what the album will be like and therefore creating excitement for the album. An example of this working is the video for gods plan by drake to promote his album scorpion, the video got over 500M views and the album became number one on the first weekend of release. Another more experimental way of this is creating a long running video following many songs from the album or possibly the entire album, these are often in a narrative style to create a visual story that people can associate with the album. This type of video also allows the artists to portray the meaning behind their lyrics allowing consumers to relate behind the album. A good example of this style of continuity video is blackbears anonymous where he creates a video spanning 3 songs, all telling the same story of a heartbreak however each section being unique as it is inspired by the current song.
Another major use of music videos
is artists trying to change their image and public perception. Many times as
artists grow and change they want to take their music and persona. Often times
this is very difficult for the artists as fans may not accept it if it is
sudden leading to a decrease in sales and often popularity, this can have a
knock on effect as labels may not accept the change if its making them less
money leading to the artist having to go back to their old persona. The
production of a music video to be released alongside the artists image change
can greatly help them as it makes the change of the artist easier to understand
and get behind for fans as their is a visual representation of the artists new
mannerisms and themes they will represent. An example of this is Zany's Pillow
talk, released after his split from 1 direction , a child friendly pop band,
the video clearly showed the direction he wanted to go in , the video including
many adult themes. This video helped him smoothly transition into the artist he
wanted to become. Another slightly less successful example of this is Miley
Cyrus Wrecking ball. Known at the time as a Disney channel actor decided she
wanted to be known as a more mature artist and so released wrecking ball which
like pillow talk included many adult themes which seemed out of place for a
Disney star however unlike pillow talk the video was received no where near as
well.
Possible
the main reason for the mainstream existence of music videos is synergy with
other media products, the video promoting the product and the product promoting
the video. Music videos are produced for this reason all throughout the
industry from all things from films, TV shows and channels to entire festivals.
These types of videos often reference the other media product, as well as using
the same themes and often count as narrative style if they are made in
association with films and shows as they may include a sequence of scenes from
said product, the synergy comes in as the other media product will include the
song the music video was produced for. A perfect example of this is go off by
the Migos and lil uzi vert, a video and song produced for fast and furious 8, the
video includes both scenes from the films; the artists in recreations of scenes
and scenes inspired by the film. The fact the video was produced entirely for
the promotion of the film likely brought many more people to watch it .This
allows promotion on both sides as both the video and other media product are so
closely related. The music video will then gain views from people consuming the other music video
Another very simple purpose for producing a music video is to extend income from the song for the artist and more often record label. The making of a music video is an excellent way to generate more income, this is because it opens another income stream. The music video is much more accessible than just the audio allowing it to be played in many other places, one of which is TV channels which is an excellent form of advertisement. On top of this it allows it to be posted on social sites such as YouTube and Instagram, this would not only help with advertisement but would also generate income through adverts on the videos. Often times the video can be produced in a way to maximise the extra profit generated for the artist and label by making it simple to reduce production cost. This means that music videos specifically made for extension of income will be quite simple often only having the artist in a scenario performing, one example of a video specifically designed for an extension of income is Billie Eilish bellyache which only includes her walking down a desert highway singing. However, almost any other video is an example of this as extra revenue is an added bonus to producing a music video that usually isn't the forethought when planning to make a music video.
Another very simple purpose for producing a music video is to extend income from the song for the artist and more often record label. The making of a music video is an excellent way to generate more income, this is because it opens another income stream. The music video is much more accessible than just the audio allowing it to be played in many other places, one of which is TV channels which is an excellent form of advertisement. On top of this it allows it to be posted on social sites such as YouTube and Instagram, this would not only help with advertisement but would also generate income through adverts on the videos. Often times the video can be produced in a way to maximise the extra profit generated for the artist and label by making it simple to reduce production cost. This means that music videos specifically made for extension of income will be quite simple often only having the artist in a scenario performing, one example of a video specifically designed for an extension of income is Billie Eilish bellyache which only includes her walking down a desert highway singing. However, almost any other video is an example of this as extra revenue is an added bonus to producing a music video that usually isn't the forethought when planning to make a music video.
The final purpose however one of the best for the artists is very similar to extending income, extending their media influence. Artists often times cant be frequently included in things such as movies, TV and social media without visual representation of themselves on screen. An artists cannot be seen on TV without a video. This links to how artists faces need to be recognisable to allow them to broaden their careers into acting. In this case an artist will make many videos that include their faces in an attempt to gain traction in the acting world, these videos can range from simple . a perfect example of this is Donald Glover (Childish Gambino). The release of his music video This is america was released in the same month as Solo a star wars film in which he played a main role. His stockpile of other music videos released in the past have also helped as his face has become recognisable enough for him to be involved in his own show "Atlanta".Not all of the videos used have to be eccentric to help the artist get roles in other sections of media an example of an artist who has done this is Machine Gun Kelly, soon after the release of his music video for rap devil which was relatively simplistic he was cast in the hit Netflix movie bird box as a recognisable star.
Conclusion
To conclude a music videos as a separate piece of media from the song it was produced for has many uses purposes, styles and genres and can be seen as almost as integral to the modern music industry as songs and music. Although it is a general misconception that music videos are produced for no reason almost every music video has intensive planning and an intent behind it. There are rules, themes and styles of music video all set and used by
References
Queen Official. (2008). Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody (Official Video Remastered). Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ. Last accessed 07/10/2019.
Travi$ Scott. (2015). Travis Scott (Official Music Video). Available:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KnZ8h3MRuYg. Last accessed 07/10/2019.
Drake. (2018). Drake/Gods plan. Available:
https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=xpVfcZ0ZcFM.Last accessed 07/10/2019.
blackbear. (2019). blackbear - SWEAR TO GOD/HATE MY GUTS/ DEAD TO ME. Available: https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=oF0--5rrEos. Last accessed 07/10/2019.
zayn. (2016). ZAYN - PILLOWTALK. Available:
https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=3d6GntKbk. Last accessed 07/10/2019.
Miley Cyrus. (2013). Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (official video). Available: https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8. Last accessed 07/10/2019.
LIL UZI VERT. (2017). Lil uzi vert, quavo & travis scott - Go off (from the fate of the furious:the album) . Available:
https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=OTxcJ3Ud-To. Last accessed 07/10/2019.
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