What is a music video?

1. By Theresa Kuhn

2. A music video is mainly audio and visual
components combined for promotion or artistic
value of a song or artist. Nowadays the purpose
of them is be a marketing device for a sale of
the record. The visual aspects adjacent to
music are a form of entertainment for their
audiences, that tend to differ from genre to
genre.

3. Theorists such as Joan Lynch (1984) identified
music videos to have three main forms:
 Performance
 Narrative
 Conceptual
This idea meant different genres would be subject
to different forms, e.g. R&B/ Hip hop tends to take
the form of a performance video, whereas Indie
would go for a more conceptualised approach.
Obviously circumstances occur where two or more
of these forms are linked in one video (e.g.
narrative performance) but these three forms act as
a basis to all music videos.

4. Other theorists such as Andrew Goodwin discussed a
more in depth approach to a videos codes and
conventions, for example, there being a link with the
lyrics and visuals or music and visuals, the pace of
editing or movement in a shot varying due to the beat
of the song. He also talked about the iconography
within a video relating to a certain artist, either a well
know personal image of them or something in
relation to their fans. Moreover the amount of close
ups and attention towards the main singer of a band
or main artist can determine the type of genre or idea
trying to be put across.