Research: What is a music video

Intro 

A music video is a video that accompanies a song that’s has been released. This is used to promote an
artists or series of artists for their songs. Music videos are usually used to market the song to the audience by adding a video to sell to the audience. In other cases, they have been used to highlight issues that the artist is trying promote via the song. Most music videos can be seen on music channels for example "MTV" however most of them can be seen via the very popular video service, YouTube. A Music video usually helps makes the song a success which helps in marketing the video towards the audience.

What is the purpose of a music video?

There are many different purposes for a music video, however, this can depend on the video and the song artist and the context of the music. Below are some points about different music videos along with some examples.

• To help the Singers/artists to sell the songs/album. - This was one of the main reasons why because if people like both the video and the song. They will buy the song because of the video since it may rememberable
• To Entertain. - To entertain audiences who are listening to the music by visualising the song. This helps in attracting audiences since the audience maybe showing other people to listen
• To Promote Artists/Bands. - This is the main purpose of the music video since they are designed to help promote an artist or band latest song or album.

• To Promote a film or products - Some music videos do this because it helps advertise a film and brings additional income for a film or for a product.
• To Create Hype - This happens quite frequently especially when artists and bands are using music videos to create hype towards for their new album that they are releasing.
• To Breakthrough an artist onto the music scene. Sometimes music videos are focused on the artist / album talent especially new or upcoming artists/bands. This is used to help the music to attract an audience for that particular artist.

Classic conventions of a music video

They are many different conventions that are used in music videos and target different audience like the songs that are produced alongside with the music video.

Dancing/Performance

This is occurring and is a popular convention of a music video. Usually, the artist would perform to parts of the music videos. However, sometimes they will also have dancers in the background as well.

Narrative

This is when a music video has a clear narrative within the music video and would be in a story format. This will usually follow a clear structure and would have a beginning a middle and an end.
Lip Syncing – Lip syncing is another common convection in a music video. This is when an artist is expected to mouth the words to the song. This would make it look that the artist looks like they are singing in the music video. This would make the music video more effective.

Artist.

This would the person who would be performing. Either the artist would be seen in the music video as well as singing throughout the music video. Or will be only singing the song and actor will be lip syncing the song. Also, this could be multiple featuring in one music videos if they cooperating with each other or as a group. An example of this would be "Sing" by Ed Sheeran in which you see him performing in the music video.

Speical effects and Glamour

Special effects and glamour are another common conventions in music videos. It ensures that the music video looks more appealing towards the audience and it shows it was professionally done as well as more entertaining.

Lip syncing 

Lip syncing another common convention that is seen in the music video especially if the artist is not appearing in that music video and there is actor standing in for the actors. It makes the artist or actors look like they are singing throughout the music video making it more effective.

Editing to match the beat.

This is to ensure that the music video is fluent with the song as well it shows how professional the music video has been done. This has to be done otherwise it may confuse the audience and wouldn't look professional. 

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Synergy

Synergy is important with music video since it gives the artist and/or record label the advantage of having different partnerships with various different forms of media. This would include, radio , TV, Print media, film and the internet. This is done because of it more likely to support the artist in succeeding with the music video and the song. These are well known and popular forms of media which increase the artist popularity.


Examples of synergy used are Radio Adverts, Radio, TV and Print media.
For example Sia - cheap thrills was not only advertised on Radio adverts. such as Capital FM. It was also shown MTV and the music video is available on YouTube.

Audience impact

The impact on a music video depends on the type of genre and the audience reacts to the music.

The impact on a music video depends on the audience opinion on the actual music first of all. This could be a positive or a negative reaction depending on the content that is being played and how the video that is being portrayed. A Positive reaction may result the public might buy the album or the song which could also mean that some of the audience may end up being fans of that artist. However, if there negative reaction to the music video, the audience won't buy the song  which means that audience may perceive the artist negatively.

A music may also provoke an emotional reaction to the audience. This again depends on the context of the song. For example, if the song is meant to be sad or to be depressing this would connotate a negative attitude as a reaction from the audience. However, if the song was more happy or upbeat. This means the audience reaction would be more positive an example of this would be Coldplay Up and Up in which the context of the song and music video is more encouraging.

Technology advancements

They have been various different technology advancements since of the first music video and they have allowed music videos to advance and improve also allows music to be reached to wider audiences. The major one is the internet and the rise of popular sites such as youtube and Vimeo, Which allow users to watch videos on demand this includes music videos. This has allowed artists and music labels to expand their audiences which also means that people from other countries can watch these music videos.

Threats caused by technology advancements

With recent advancements in technology, the music industry is under threat according to some analysts who working for large music labels. Because of the demise of cd sells and the rise of on-demand services such as youtube and Spotify. Which pay less than cd sales, however, reduces the risks of piracy since it's easier to play a song than downloading the song. This means that people may not watch music videos. However, this isn't the case since you can watch music videos via sites like Vimeo and youtube. Another threat to music videos is the demise of music channels such as MTV and 4music which has to run programs alongside more frequently alongside playing the most popular alongside with music videos. This is due to television inability to allow users to pick what music videos they would like to watch, unlike the internet.

The future of music videos

Music videos are still quite popular and will stay and continue to grow. This is because of many different reasons one of them people are able to choose what music videos they can watch. This is because of the launch of two video streaming services Vevo and Youtube. This allowed viewers who would have to wait for the music video to appear television to go online and watch the music video directly. It also means that the artist can get paid directly because most of the ad revenue goes to the artist. This means an artist can earn more money than cd sales of the music videos. It also means that piracy goes down as well since it's more accessible to use YouTube rather going through the process of illegally downloading the music video. Music videos are still influential in terms of the audience since most people will judge a song by watching the music video. More artists are using more techniques that are related to the film which is also making music videos more popular because of the move like influences. However, it may also be in jeopardy because most people are using music streaming services like Spotify and apple music. Which means fewer people may be inclined to watch music videos directly.

Conclusion

Music videos are still important for an artist to succeed. They are various threats to music videos since they are starting to get less popular compared to streaming the music directly from streaming services like Spotify which is becoming more popular. And music channels not being watched compared the use of online video streaming services like YouTube. While researching music videos I was also able to look at various different conventions in music videos. This can help me in making an effective music video.