Purposes
With most artists the main purpose of a music video is to give back to their fans. Other purposes include promotional, extension of income, extension of outlets, synergy, and different producers strategies.
Promotional purposes of a music video tend to be when an artist uses a product, service, or puts a bigger artist in their music videos to up their views. Products are used in the hopes of fans wanting to use them and then buying them, and big artists are featured so that fans of the big artists will watch this video and vice versa.
A good example of a video which promotes products is What the Hell by Avril Lavigne as within the first 10 seconds the video shows a sony laptop, and a Bravia TV.
Later on in the video Avril uses her own perfume and a sign for her clothing brand is seen on the wall of a shop.
An example of two big artists being put together for no other reason but to make money was Taylor Swift's music video for Bad Blood which featured Kendrick Lamar. The mixing of rap music and pop music to make a hit is not uncommon, however was a risk given that Taylor had never done it, and because Bad Blood had not been a collaboration on the album originally. However, the idea was that changing it would draw more people in. As well as featuring Kendrick, the video also hosted a lot of well known faces such as Kara Delevingne, Hayley Williams, Jessica Alba, Hailee Seinfeld, Ellie Goulding,Gigi Hagid and Selena Gomez; who are all stars with established fan bases that would watch this video just to see them.
Extension of income is a term used to describe how money is made. Music videos bring in lots of money for record companies (which is why they are still made). Music videos make money when they are shown on tv channels such as MTV, when they are sold on a dvd(e.g. a special edition cd), or on iTunes. As well as this, money would be made through the promotion of items in the video; and through merchandise sold for example if more people bought the cd after seeing the video.
Extension of outlets
The growth in technology recently means that now people are able to broadcast their music videos virtually everywhere. They can be shown on music channels on tv, on youtube or vevo, on their own website or their record labels website, on their apps (if they have them) and on mobile devices. Due to this increase of outlets, this could mean an increase in fans for the artist.
Synergy in music video terms is when a music video is made which makes people think of a film or TV show. Often, but not always, the song is included on the film/ TV show soundtrack or in the ending credits of the film/ featured in an episode of the TV show.
An example of music video synergy within films is the song Ever Ever After by Carrie Underwood which was the song in the end credits of the film Enchanted. The music video starts out as a direct comparison to the film with the the artist being animated at the beginning of the video, and then soon being transported via a magic waterfall to new york; which also happens in the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAniOB1Ts4k
An example of synergy within TV shows is the music video for Heard it on the radio by Ross Lynch. The song was off the soundtrack (CD was released summer 2012) for Austin and Ally in which he played the main character, and the music video featured his cast mates. In true Disney conglomerate fashion, there is always one more thing to promote so they also included the band that Ross is the main singer of- R5- in the music video, as they are signed to the Disney label Hollywood Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCVbTDcydqM
Producers Strategies (major label,
independant, artist self produced)
The Vamps are signed to a major record label- virgin emi and this enables them to produce high budget music videos such as their recent music video for the single Wake up. The music video featured lots of promotion for high end branded items such as fujifilm instax cameras and hp laptops.
The video also featured appearances from an up and coming band on the same label, and Brooklyn Beckham.
Promotion is a tool used by major record labels to get more money and to remain at the top.
This video was filmed at an unusual location- the top of an old radio tower in the San Fernando valley. This is something that an unsigned or independent artist would be unable to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e12KryuLcbs
Independent artists tend to have more creative direction with the videos, which adds to personal stories especially if they have written the song themselves. Shannon Saunders is an indie pop artist who created her first music video for Heart of Blue in 2013 for only £9 which was just the cost of buses and tubes (as said in the videos description.) Shortly after release onto youtube, the video went viral.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcpn-XKFGZI
For an unsigned artist, getting a record company's attention can be difficult, which therefore means that getting signed is difficult. Taylor Mathews is a singer who started out by auditioning for America's got Talent and got to the top ten, before being eliminated without being signed. He went on a 2 1/2 month tour with R5, which promoted his music and filmed a self produced music video which featured one of the group for his song Head over Feeling. This music video has 275,284 views on Youtube, so you could say that for a self produced artist; putting well known artists into their videos is a strategy to gain more fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP6Qh3l_RDk
Part 2
Styles
Popular music genres are so diverse due to different radio stations for each, and different TV channels to play each music genre for example Scuzz sticks to heavy metal whereas CapitalTV sticks to pop and dance- whatever is in the charts. The different music genres have different styles for their music videos, for example the differences between a pop video and a country music video.
An example of a pop video is Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars. The song pairs catchy lyrics with some choreographed dancing and has no real correlation between the video and the music other than the lip syncing and cuts on the beats where necessary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkD20ajVxnY
Animation is used in music videos to make them interesting and different. In Love on Fire by Alex Aiono a drawn set with live actors is used to give the perception of vision.
Live music videos which include in- concert footage are more common now as they give all fans a chance to see the band live if they do not have the money to attend a concert. In another sense, this style of music video can be used to promote a bands tour as people may see the music video and want to see them live.
One Last Dance by R5 combines in concert footage as well as highlights from their European tour.
There is also an 'as live' version of one last dance that they got the show footage for the music video from and it was released as part of their 'live in london' vevo series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxp6caTl_aU
Interpretive music videos allow the audience to decide their own meanings for the video and are usually made unclear for this reason. Confident by Demi Lovato is a good example of this as at the beginning she is in prison and we don't know what for, then she gets led out of prison by guards. This video keeps us guessing throughout and is never what it seems to be; making the audience curious.
Narrative music videos are made to intrigue the audience and keep their attention. Heart Made Up on You by R5 is a dramatic narrative music video focused on how one of the band member's girlfriends is a thief and how the band is a distraction. The audience want to keep watching to see how the story ends.
Parody music videos are created to entertain the audience and to mock a certain stereotype that the majority of people believe to be true about the artist. La La Land by Demi Lovato was her second single released in 2008 just as her career had started, and parodied the Hollywood lifestyle as well as the belief of all Disney stars were moulded and eventually cracked. In the lyrics Demi rejects this stereotype with 'I'm not gonna change in the la la land of shame'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmjO1p9Oxrk
Impressionist music videos show how an artist wants to represent a certain other artist or genre and is often shown to represent the history of a genre.
Surrealist music videos take things that would not happen in real life and make them happen. In Roar by Katy Perry she watches her boyfriend be eaten by a tiger, learns to be friends with the animals and how to survive in the jungle- in just under 5 minutes.
The premise for both videos is very similar as they are both set in reform schools with the only difference being that 5 Seconds of Summer's is set in an all girls school to fit the title (Good Girls) and Blink-182's is set in a unisex school. By the end of both videos the school kids have beaten the teachers and got outside to watch the bands play live, after trashing the schools of course.
Blink-182https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kMZ23T9VHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FfG_5JBVBQ
An example of a homage music video is Fancy by Iggy Azalea which was a reference to the film Clueless. In the music video, the artist dresses like the characters and mimics popular scenes.
From the film
From the music video
As well as this, the artist also added in a logo that looks similar to that of the films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zpOMYRi0w
The term 'Influence of Commercials' is used when a music video is made solely to advertise something. An example of influence of commercials is Rock that Rock by R5 which was made to advertise RingPops. The music video shows the band members wearing ring pops, and includes fans photos of them with ring pops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeVVLq9NDTU
Lyric interpretation means literally taking words from the lyrics and using them as images.
Who I am was the first single released in 2010 by Nick Jonas and The Administration and used lyric interpretation as the music video included people holding up signs that said who they were compared to what people may have thought about them.
Extending or consolidating the songs meaning is done by the audience when they are able to pick their own meaning of the song and the music video, which is different to the message that the artist was trying to get across.
Stitches by Shawn Mendes is a music video in which the lyric meanings are distinctively different from the visuals on screen as the lyrics speak of a literal pain 'you watched me bleed until I can't breath' and the video shows a mental pain as he is not being hurt by anyone specifically and seems to just be going insane.
To keep the audience questioning the meaning, the end sequence shows him washing his face of all the cuts, getting rid of them instantly, showing that he was never really hurt in the first place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbfpW0pbvaUAn Allusion is an indirect reference to something that is not actually mentioned in the song lyrics or the videos visuals.
Links to other artists are used often in music video production, commonly if there is a supposed feud between two artists, one will add a link in to show that there is no bad blood between them.
Techniques
Playback and lip sync is a technique which is often used to make the music video production easier for the artist as it involves using the track as a guide on when to sing. This technique can also be used to involve fans in the music video, as 5 Seconds of Summer did in their recent music video for Jet Black Heart.
The music video featured themselves as individuals lip syncing, which shows that they too have normal problems and relate to their songs as much as their listeners do.
The above text is the description from the video on youtube which shows that they used fans rather than ordinary actors. Below is a selection of the fans used.
Miming and lip sync takes place when a band pretends to play their instruments whilst pretending to sing as a simple way of producing the music video. This is very common and will occur in most music videos that feature a playing band.
The music video for Let's Not Be Alone Tonight by R5 showed just the band playing their instruments. Colour effects to match the style of the album cover were added.
Certain camera angles and movements are used sometimes in music videos, for the same reasons that they are used in film. Different shots of characters can make us feel a certain way or emotion towards them, for example with a high angle shot we would feel that the person was of little importance and feel sorry for them, whereas with a low angle shot we would feel like they were powerful and fear them. Tracking shots are used to follow people; panning shots are used to observe the whole setting; close ups are used to show an item of importance, or portray a certain emotion; and establishing shots show where the video is taking place.
Chroma Key, or green screen is a way of filming the subjects first and then inserting them into any setting possible.
For a different reason; green screen was used in Snow Patrol's music video for Called Out In The Dark which repeatedly showed a green shirted male trying to get in the video in the beginning. Towards the middle of the video we see him leap across the green screen- losing his torso in the process.
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