Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Task one - Understand the purpose of the music video


Many Music videos had may different drives other than to advertise and show the public the song. There are many key factors behind a music video to promote them as an artist, show the availability of the artist, and have an extension of outlets.
The main purpose of a music video is promotion, having a music video allows the artist to sell themselves and their image as well as their music this is done by highlighting and making sure they are the most prominent throughout the video with lighting, camera work, makeup and costume. This is common in the Pop genre especially the artists image is being presented and they are the main focus throughout. For example in Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Cant Stop’ music video there are many close ups of the artist as she sings and she is always placed in the centre of the screen when there is other people in shot so they do not appear as prominent as all focus is on her and the movements she makes. The music video came with a lot of controversy as she is wearing very little and her actions in the music were seen as offensive to some people this meant more people talking about the music and in addition more views this is a route that this artist likes to take her music videos as it generates hype and gets her the attention she needs to promote her music and her image.

Another form of music video that can be used is narrative based which is when a music video has an introduction/ beginning which is similar to a clip from a film grabbing the attention of the viewer and bringing the music video to another level, this can be used to explain the story behind the song and get a better understanding of what the artist was thinking about when recording the song. An example of this is ‘Thriller’ by Michel Jackson showing a 4-minute scene in the beginning of the video that is connected to the theme the song is trying to create. This sets the scene and establishes the storyline for the viewer and fits well with the lyrics of the song.
Brand image is another feature that can be presented in music videos to gain interest from a certain audience as well as to promote the image of the artist and capture the attention of the right people. An example of this is Lady Gaga ‘Born this way’ her brand image is unique and entertaining, designed to capture attention of a youthful audience, as it is new and fresh as well as not seen before.
 Another purpose of music videos is artist availability meaning the artist’s music can be presented with visuals for example on a TV show without having to be present in the studio performing live. An example of this in the early years was ‘Hard days night’ by the Beatles in 1964 they made a recording of them singing the song and this was then shown on TV show where they were unable to be present for example ‘Top of the pops’.

There are several ways in which an artist can generate money from music videos one way being product placement where a product is shown in a music video to advertise the product as well as the company. The company would pay a certain amount of money to feature their product in the music video. An example of this is in ‘Telephone’ by Lady Gaga a Samsung mobile phone is incorporated in the advert to promote the product. Another form of extension of income is when the music video is shown on YouTube before the video is shown there will be a 5 second advert that all viewers must watch the artist will then be paid a certain amount for each time someone views it, adverts can also be shown on the side bar when the video is watched and income can come from this too.  

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