A music video is a short film that integrates a song with visual imagery to promote the artist and their music. Music videos originally aimed to promote bands and songs but became popular with MTV's launch in 1981, finding that music videos increased song sales. More videos were created, cementing the connection between music and video. Videos are made to publicize artists, convey their style, build fan bases, and maximize profits, or sometimes for artistic expression alone. They can take narrative, performance, or conceptual forms.

1. WHAT IS A MUSIC VIDEO?
By Kylie Lee

2. DEFINITION
“A music video is not primarily a commodity form, but a promotional one.”
- Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory
“A videotaped performance of a recorded popular song, usually accompanied
by dancing and visual images interpreting the lyrics.”
- Oxford Dictionary

3. WHAT?
A music video is a short film that integrates a song with imagery. Music videos
were originally made to promote the band/artist as well as their song.
It was until 1981 when MTV (Music Television) was launched. They first started
with under 200 music videos to play out.
MTV conducted their own market research in which they found that the
appearance of the videos being played on MTV lead to an increase in sales of
the record.
The music industry was convinced. So more music videos were made, which
helped to improve sales. It was until then a distinct connection was made
between music and video.

4. WHY?
There are many reasons to why music videos are made:
-To publicise the band/artist – this helps them to gain more publicity
internationally. It helps to promote them as well as the song. It also means that
the band would not have to travel all the time to perform – as this century is
very much technology based, so their audience can simply go on YouTube to
watch the artist/band whenever
-It helps to convey the band/artists visual style - this can therefore lead to
more sales being made as it helps to give them an incentive to see the
artist/band perform live
-By making music videos to their songs, it helps them to build their fan base
which can therefore maximise their profits
-Some bands/artists make music videos purely for artistic purposes

5. HOW?
Music videos are made in a variety of ways. Simon Frith believed that music
videos can be characterised by 3 broad typologies:
- Narrative: these are videos that deconstruct the narrative of a text in detail.
This means that the music video would have little or no performance in
and more ‘storytelling’. The lyrics of the song is acted out through imagery
in the music video.
“if I were a boy, I would turn off my phone
tell everyone its broken, so they’d think that I was sleeping alone”

6. …
- Performance: these are videos that show
the artist or band performing at concerts,
rehearsal or staged performing. This aims
to give the artist/bands’ fans a sense of
what watching them perform would be
like. This could also help persuade the
viewer to attend their concerts.

7. …
- Conceptual: these are videos that do not
tell a story in linear fashion, but rather
create a mood/feeling to be evoked in the
experience of viewing. The video itself
helps to create a similar atmosphere in
relation to the lyrics, but would not tell a
story or show a performance side to it.

8. PRO’S
There are many points in which music videos benefits a band/artist. Examples
such as:
- Self promotion
- To generate more profit
- To create a bigger fan base
- Better recognition through association of iconography
(e.g. Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball, the wrecking ball and sledgehammer are very
iconic as people would see (possibly not an every day object) that object and
associate Miley with it)
- To get a positive message across (Beyoncé – I Was Here)

9. CONS
However, there are drawbacks to music videos. Not only does it affect the
band/artist, it can also affect the audience in different ways, such as:
- Some music videos can be inappropriate to children. An example of a
music video that can be inappropriate is Nicki Minaj – Anaconda
- Cultural differences. Some people may perceive the music video differently
and could possible take offence to it. Such as sex appeal and religions
- If the song/video is explicit, then the song itself would have an impact as
it can only be aired on specific times or specific places. It will also affect
their views (especially on YouTube, if it is on safety mode, you will not be
able to access the explicit videos)