Throughout this report I will be covering the different purposes of music videos. I will also be discussing how we consume music videos in today’s society, how videos have increased income for record labels and how much videos are used to promote: songs, artists, a change of musical direction and as a synergy with another media sector.
The reason an artist decides to produce a music video is to firstly to create a visual representation of what their song means to them and then to present this to their audience. The artist has multiple different platforms to share their music video; over the last few years the way we consume music videos has changed from DVDs to music TV channels and now to the internet. However, the overall purpose of producing a music video is to extend the income so that there is more interest in an artist or record label. Since 2005, when YouTube was created, all artists have decided to follow the zeitgeist by posting their videos onto the platform so that a wider audience can access their music. Music videos are also used to promote different lifestyles; a way of life and thinking. For example, YouTube have removed drill music videos off their site and many believe that drill music promotes a violent lifestyle.
In 2004, Kanye West founded G.O.O.D Music (Getting Out Our Dreams Music) together with Sony BMG, between 2004 – 2011 the label signed multiple artists who have gone on to be nominated for multiple awards and have won Grammys. In September 2012, West released his first compilation album called ‘Cruel Summer’ in which was made up of himself and two other artists signed to his label. The lead single, ‘Mercy’, from this album helped increased profits for the record label due to the two other G.O.O.D Music artists also featured on the song. This music video created intertextuality as it referred to well-known car brand Lamborghini. The audience gained gratification from this video as many people dream of having a fast, flashy car. By having a Lamborghini in the music video, it created the ideology that to be considered as successful you must have an expensive car. All profits Kanye West has made from this music video has been used to continually promote his music and the record label therefore generating millions of US dollars.
Beyoncé is well known for promoting her songs through dance routines with the iconic dance from the Single Ladies music video. This helped her promote the song as many people were re-watching the video to learn the dance routine. Although Beyoncé has also used other methods to promote her music. These methods consist of promoting ideologies as evident in ‘Formation’. In this video Beyoncé highlight multiple different ideologies one of which is that dominant forces that used to have control over society are no longer powerful. A key example of this is that we slowly watch the police car sink throughout the entirety of the video.
Fatman Scoop used the music video for hit single ‘Be Faithful’ to promote his 1999 album – ‘In the Club’. The use of 3D animation of the character in the video reflected the albums cover; which was a 3D animation version of Fatman Scoop that featured in the ‘Be Faithful’ music video. This helped increase the album sales as those who watched the video were familiar was the 3D animation character who appears on the album cover.
Well-known musician and actor, Justin Timberlake made the musical transformation from being in bubblegum pop boy band, NSYNC, to a hip-hop and R&B solo artist. He made a very impressive start to his solo career as his solo debut album, ‘Justified’ was worthy of a Grammy for having the best pop vocal album. His change in musical direction saw him collaborate with different successful hip-hop and R&B artists such as: Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg.
The Rembrandits are a key example of a band who uses synergy to promote their music. Their most iconic single ‘I’ll be there for you’ was used as hit TV show ‘Friends’ theme tune. This means that the audience recognises the artist or the TV show more. Furthermore, this doubles the audiences and helps spread the song worldwide.
In conclusion, the purpose of music videos is to gratify audiences, promote the artist and the record label. This can be done through creating experiences that the audience can relate to such as dance routines and the promotion of different lifestyles.
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