What is a music video?
- An artistic visual expression
- A visual representation of music
- A form of marketing for an artist
To me a music video is a way for an artist to promote themselves and reach out to there fans.
Purpose of a music video
There are plenty of reasons for an artist to make a music video these include,
- To represent the meaning of a song
- For the artist to express visuals with sound, helping the audience to associate certain songs with visuals from the video
- To promote themselves and a new song
- To entertain the audience
- To make money
- To give fans more of an insight into the artist
- To keep up with trends – fans are always looking to artists for inspiration for the latest clothes, hairstyles etc.
- To tell a story
- So that the music can reach a wider audience
An example of a music video that represents the meaning of the song is ‘The Script- the man who can’t be moved’
This video is conventional of a video from band of the alternative genre, there is a clear narrative that follows the song and the lead singer is the main protagonist. The purpose of this video is to tell a story that the audience will be able to empathise of relate to. I like this video because it is interesting to watch and as a fan, because Danny O’Donoghue -front man- is one of my favourite artists i enjoy watching his videos.
Who is involved in the production of a music video?
people involved in the making of a music video include the artist, record label, agencies, marketing department, director and producer (or production company) however the record label owns everything and has power over the audience, so if someone wanted to use a certain song they would have to contact the record label.
Output, Outlet and distribution
We buy, receive and view videos in lots of different ways now because there are many ways producers can reach out to there target audience;
- Tv – through music channels like MTV
- YouTube – allowing people to search for the music videos they are interested in
- Social network sites – allowing people to share music videos with other users
- The Internet – for example a certain band/artists website will have there videos on
- Itunes- allowing you to watch/purchase songs and music videos
- Vimeo- again, allowing people to search for certain music videos
- Enhanced CD – CD with a music video on to watch
- Email – a way for people to share music videos by attaching them to an email
- Vevo – for artists to share there videos on sites like youtube
History of music videos
My research found that the first music video to be made was Queens Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975, it was made because queen could not make it to top of the pops for a live show, and so they sent a pre recorded video for them to play. Since then it has become an expectation for artists to have a music video with there songs. There are hundreds of television channels dedicated to playing music videos each one for a specific genre of music to appeal to its target audience.
Music videos are a distinct media form, and can sometimes be seen as a form of art some of the earliest exapmles being the beatles
I don’t think there has been much progression in music video structure over the past 40 years, although there has obviously been a big change in production with new technology.
Many of my favourite music videos have simple concepts. for example…
“Lower Than Atlantis – beech like the tree” is conventional of a rock video because it is a performance video however it also has a narrative that is easy to follow, the setting is simple (a flat) and overall the video is appealing to its target audience of young people 13-25 interested in rock music. The representations of the band members are normal young men with a talent this is shown by the casual clothes they wear making them relatable and also the instruments they each play (guitar/bass/drums/vocals) revealing there skills.
Top of the pops
The first screening of top of the pops was on new years day 1964 and changed the music scene by giving people a chance to see there favourite artists on stage whilst sitting in there living room TOTP also began the music video trend, when as previously mentioned they played Queens- Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975.
I think that TOTP was a big influence for music videos because for artists like Queen , The Beatles and Rolling Stones performance videos became popular and conventional, in my opinion this is because they took inspiration from other artists performances on top of the pops.
MTV
MTV -Music Television
MTV is seen as t
he home of music television, it has been showing artists music videos since august 1st 1981 and has made a huge name for itself within the music industry. Based in New York city the channel was originally supposed to show music introduced by a host but now also broadcasts a number of programmes.
MTV has a number of sister channels each aimed at the listeners of specific genres, these channels include;
- MTV Base
- MTV Classic
- MTV Rocks
- MTV Hits
- MTV Dance
- VH1
In my opinion MTV has and will always play a big part in the music industry because of its huge amount of followers and varied genres shown on the channels. However i don’t watch any of the MTV channels because they don’t play the heavy rock/metal music that I listen to.
Kerrang!
Kerrang! started as just a one off supplement magazine inside the Sounds newspaper during June 1981. The magazine became popular because it was devoted to the new wave of British heavy metal artists. Over the years it has developed introducing and informing heavy music fans about hard rock, heavy metal, grunge, nu metal, emo, metal core, thrash and glam metal music and artists. Since 2008 the consumer magazine has been owned by Bauer Media Group.
Particularly over the last 13 years Kerrang! has grown into its own brand and now there is,
- Kerrang! Awards- started in 1993, an awards ceremony for the most successful artists of the year voted by the readers of the magazine.
- Kerrang! Radio- Digital radio station based in Birmingham, launched in 2000 playing a mix between old and new rock/ metal songs.
- Kerrang! TV- The television channel was launched in 2001 and like the radio station plays a variety of rock/metal genres of music videos.
- Kerrang! Tour- A tour of rock music concerts around the UK.
Although Kerrang! is predominately a magazine, it plays a big part in the way i see music and music videos, this is because it is one of the only channels in the UK that plays the genre of music that i am interested in listening to/ watching videos for. As a company i feel that Kerrang! can only expand and grow bigger and more popular. They send a good message out that it’s okay to be different and not like the mainstream genres of music, and i feel that the more people who understand this, the more people will be interested in these particular genres. As Kerrang! TV is the only music channel that i watch/ am interested in i felt it was relevant to include it, in my research into the music video production industry.
Future of music videos
I think that music videos will become even more popular because they are such an easy way to express feeling, song meaning and opinions. However some might say that nowadays have nothing to do with the song and are just a way to increase sales and flaunt an artists success.
Recently (January 2013) one of my favourite bands Bring Me The Horizon released a new music video for there song Shadow Moses. I thought that it was brilliant because I have never seen camera work like it, it breaks the boundaries and although others might disagree,i see it as a piece of art. Nowadays people are always looking for new and exciting things and I think that as technology grows music videos and other productions will become more unique.
jodiesays 