Purpose of Music Videos

What is the purpose of music video?

A music video is a visual accompaniment to a song with the purpose of promoting the song or artist. They are primarily used as marketing devices intended to raise the publicity of a new artist, single or album and ultimately make money. However, some music videos can be made to influence society, tell a story, deliver a message or it may even have greater meaning for the artist. For example, the music video can be a good way for an artist to tell the story of their real self (behind the character) or it can act as an outlet for the artist/director to express their creativity.

Examples of videos whose purpose was to spread messages about topical issues can range across all genres. An example being the rapper M.I.A who produced a music video raising awareness of the immigration crisis in Europe for the song Borders displayed to the left. This was released in 2016 and visualises the dangers faced by asylum seekers in their attempt to flee countries of war.

Another example is the song 'Til it Happens to You' by Lady Gaga which acknowledges the issue of sexual assault in higher education. With one in four women experiencing sexual assault while completing degrees, Lady Gaga adds her voice to the issue calling for policies to be made to stop this and protect women.

Breakdown of different purposes

• Encourages the artist to maintain a relationship with the audience and music industry - if the artist fails to produce media such as music videos, fans will be disengaged and the music industry will lose interest in and stop giving the artist publicity. Music videos give something for fans to look forward to, enjoy and share and gives media outlets such as music critics something to talk about, ensuring the artist
  
  
  remains popular and relevant. For example, huge artists such as One Direction and Justin Bieber with huge fan cultures can make music videos go viral and gain millions of views in the matter of hours. This is a primary source of promotion. Justin Bieber in particular has pushed this by producing numerous videos for single songs and in his latest Purpose album had a music video for every track on the album released. 
• To attract audience attention - music videos are viewed around the world and therefore a popular and effective video can be vital in attracting a following from all corners of the globe. This increases the artist popularity while also increasing the views of the video and so making money.
  
• Help Album Sales - some argue that music videos help sell albums by giving the audience a
  taste of a single and an insight into the artist style. For example, a one direction is usually a light-hearted pop video and therefore suggests that the album will be lighthearted pop, on the other hand Professor Green's music videos follow darker themes and indicate that the album will also.
• Raise Publicity - Some artist may make controversial music videos in order to raise a media storm and thus increase publicity. This is because the controversy will be reported in Newspapers, magazines, will go viral on the internet and may even make mainstream TV. An example of this is the original music video for Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke which featured nude women parading around Thicke and Pharrell however it was debated that this was exploiting women and as a result of the controversy a non-explicit version had to be replaced.
• To promote other media products - More recently, soundtracks to movies have been made by popular artists and music videos made to assist in the promotion of the film. This will encourage followers of the artists to watch the film and will promote the artist to film-fans who otherwise may not have listened to the artist. Two recent examples include Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding used to promote 50 Shades of Gray and See You Again by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa which is now closely associated to the most recent Fast and Furious Movie.
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Synergy

When producing music videos, media institutions are likely to use synergy to promote their artists music video and single. Synergy is using different media outlets in conjunction with each other in order to benefit a single cause, in this case the artist. This could include reviewing the music video in a magazine, promoting the music video on TV Shows, artist advertisements on their radio stations and even featuring the artist on the front of Newspapers or magazines to promote through print. An example of an artist doing this is Rita Ora shown below.

TV/Radio Endorsement

Radio Interview

Print Promotion

TV Interview

Impact on the Audience

Music videos with different purposes can have different effects on the audience. Media theorists that in the modern age where the internet has greater influence on people lives, music videos are now contributing in shaping society and influencing individuals views, ideologies and personalities. 

Music videos can impact audience opinion on the artist,  either positively or negatively. A positive opinion would undoubtably be the audience enjoying the music video and therefore liking the artist and perhaps choosing to buy into the artist through purchasing the single, album or even concert tickets. However, buying into the artist is not always quantifiably and could just be the audience taking notice of the artist more for example watching their interviews or sharing through social media. This is still a positive impact. On the other hand the audience could form a negative opinion if they do not enjoy the music video either because of the song or the narrative of the idea, for example if the music video features controversy or is simply not enjoyable. This therefore means that the audience may form a negative perception of the artist and reject all future songs, interviews or just media at all.

Another impact is that the music can evoke emotions from the audience, once again either positively or negatively. The most obvious music video for promoting positive emotion is Happy by Pharell Williams however artists with huge fan followings such as One Direction, Justin Bieber or Ariana Grande can evoke positive emotions from their audience regardless of the narrative. On the other hand music videos can provoke negative emotions such as sadness, or anger usually through the theme of the video. For example, provocative music videos such as Formation by Beyonce may provoke anger not toward the artist but toward the issue which she is raising. On the other hand music videos with a very hard-hitting and visual themes can upset viewers one example being the music video for Untitled by Simple Plan. The video must be watched to be able to understand the emotion it evokes however scenes feature a drunk driver hitting a teenage girl - the video is shown below.

Music videos under threat?

Due to technological advancements some argue that the purpose of music videos are under threat. Anyone now has the ability to make music videos, either high or low budget. This is displayed in the mere example of this project altogether. This therefore has resulted in non-official music videos being made and in some circumstances these are being viewed more than the artist-issued video. For example, this could be a fan-made video or even a cover version of the song by independent singers. 

On the other hand, the ability to access music by the audience also means that there is less desire to watch the music video. People may simply just listen to and enjoy the music on platforms such as spotify and iTunes without watching the music video. Unlike in the past where the release of the music video was the first chance people could really listen to and access the music itself until the album (even record) was released. 

Technological advancements also mean that censorship of material in music videos is being made harder. In the history of music videos blogpost I discussed how music videos were previously only exhibited on TV or even cinema, now however they can be accessed any day, at any time, anywhere by anyone. This means that music videos with inappropriate material can be accessed by anyone and while youtube is trying to increase regulations it is become more and more impossible. 

Relation to my Music Video

Based on my research into the purpose of music videos, I want the purpose of my production to be to raise publicity of the issue conveyed. This will hopefully evoke emotions such as reflection and sadness amongst the audience with the aim that this emotion will lead to change. Through using a relatable character and a current issue that audiences can understand and empathise with, I hope this will encourage them to share it and increase views. This will contribute to an effort to increase music video popularity so they are not under threat as some may argue. The research has helped me to take into consideration what the music video is being made for and gave me an aim which I can use during my planning to construct it. I believe that identifying the purpose is crucial so that the meaning of the video doesn't get lost during filming, especially if I stray away from the plan and storyboards.