Music Videos

What is a Music Video

A music video is a video that accompanies a song either produced by a large company that the band/ artist is signed under or the video can be produced in a more indie way by the artist themselves. There are no rules in a music video and it can be in any different style the artist wants it to be in. Some songs suit a more high production video with a large budget while others are much better with just a simple background and the artist playing their instrument. Music videos can also be used to reach a new platform as they are normally uploaded onto Youtube and the artists can reach new people by creating a visually stunning/ interesting music video.

Music videos have been produced all the way back to the 1960s, one of the most memorable beings "We Can Work It Out" by The Beatles used to promote their new record release without having to make in-person appearances. MTV launches as the first 24 channel to play music and they started with the music video to the Buggles hit song "Video Killed The Radio Star". The music video was shot in one day as many videos back then had very small budgets and there wasn't nearly as much you could do to your video as there is now. When music videos first started they were more just recordings of live performances but this changed when bands decided to start exploring different creative options. The most expensive music video of its time was David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" costing around $500,000, to this day the most expensive music video ever is "Scream" sung by Micheal Jackson & Janet Jackson costing $7 million.

The Purpose of music videos

One purpose of a music video is making the artists appeal to the public as a music video can make a very boring artist seem the opposite if it's interesting enough. Music videos often tell a story and if that story interests people they will most likely watch it and that can allow people to formulate a new opinion of an artist they might have before thought wasn't that good.

Music videos can also be promotional, some artists blow up because of a really well thought out music video that goes viral on Youtube, an example of this is the music video for "Gangnam Style" by Psy which got over 3.7 Billion views on Youtube and managed to stay in everyone's head for many years after. A lot of the songs that go viral because of a music video also incorporates a dance just like this one did.

Music videos as a whole make artists a lot of money and also the record label that they are signed too, they are a great way to get your name out there or to make something for all your fans to enjoy and share. Music videos are meant to entertain but they can also have product placement in them which is another way artists make money, a company/ brand will pay them to have their product featured in the video as its more advertisement for them.