Music Video Questions

1- What would you consider to be the main purpose of a music video?
I would consider the main purpose of a music video is to make a profit. The music industry is, after all, a business and a business wouldn't make something if it wouldn't make them money.

2- What other purposes might there be of a music video?
Other purposes of a music video may be for the pure sake of entertainment i.e. Michael Jackson's Thriller as the video can be seen as it's own little short film due to the plot and narrative structure of the music video, with the actual music not appearing in it until four minutes and forty-five seconds in. This plus the dance routines and overall enjoyment factor that comes with the thirteen minute long video.

 Another reason could be to extend the play-ability of the song so people will 'listen' to the song more and more, an example of this is OK Go's music video This Too Shall Pass as the song in itself is nothing special, but the video is fun and interesting enough that people would want to watch it over and over again.

Another purpose could be to illicit a response from the viewer so that the video can be talked about (for example, Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball  or Madonna's Like A Virgin) as the controversy that surrounds a music video could make more and more people watch it and talk about it because it's such a talked about thing which, in turn, gets the video more air time and creates more profit for the studio and artist.

Another purpose could be to boost the artist's star iconography by using the artist's image prominently in the video e.g. Arctic Monkey's Crying Lightning, as this music video shows the band's front man Alex Turner extensively throughout the video, eventually turning him into a giant version of himself in the last third of the video.

Yet another purpose could be to use the visual medium as well as the audible one to easier get across the artist's message in the song and the list goes on.

3- How might an artist extend their income through having a music video?
An artist might extend their income through having a music video through advertisement revenue through services such as YouTube and Vevo showing their music video. The artist could also use the video as a promotional tool in itself to promote their tours, books and even fashion lines or perfumes.

4- Describe how and why music videos have been used to fill in for bands on tour when otherwise unavailable?
Music videos have been used to fill in for bands (maybe the band is on tour in another country or continent) by letting the fans of the artist or song just watch the video from the comfort of their own home on YouTube or something similar to that. If an artist stops making material for any reason, people can just watch their music videos and, through ad revenue, the artist can still make profits due to royalties.

5- Thinking back through history and presently, how have music videos enabled an 'extension of outlets (enabled ways for an artist to get music to the masses?)
Music Videos have created new ways for artists to get their music to the public through such advents as Scopitones, Television channels such as: MTV, Top of The Pops, 4 Music etc., Youtube, Vimeo, Vevo, iTunes etc.

Styles of Music Video

Narritive Music Videos

What is a Narrative Music Video?
A narrative music video is a music video in which a story is told. The story shown in the video usually follows the story told within the lyrics of the song though it doesn't have to per se but can just follow the general themes and feelings brought up in the song.

Tell Her About It - Billy Joel

Follow-Up Questions for the Video

Why do you think a Narrative Video was chosen for the song?
I think a narrative video was chosen for this song because Billy Joel is renowned for being a 'storyteller' with his songwriting and telling such stories in his songs. Naturally his music videos would follow suit in this tradition.

How effective do you think the video is at promoting the artist & song? Why?
I think the video is fairly effective at both these things due the 'Ed Sullivan Show' motif and the prominent featuring of the artist throughout the video's runtime. The song is promoted well through a nice, catchy hook and an all-round memorable combination of lyrics and melody with the titular phrase being the message repeated during the course of the video to the protagonist.

Is there anything in the video that makes it memorable so that we might remember the song or artist?
As I said before, the artist is featured prominently in the video, so much so that he is usually somewhere is every part of it. There is also the 'Ed Sullivan Show' motif I mentioned before as well as it creates a memorable setting for the video and also and memorable intro and outro for the video with a cameo by Rodney Dangerfield to further cement the video in our minds.


Performance Music Videos

What is a Performance Music Video?
A performance music video is a music video in which the artist is performing the song as they would at a concert. The performance shown in video can be in front of an audience, but can also just be the artist/band using the camera as the audience.

Let It Be - Paul McCartney ft. Billy Joel

Follow-Up Questions for the Video

Why do you think a Performance Video was chosen for the song?
I think a performance video was chosen for this song because this version of the song was performed live and there is no 'single' version of this version of the song (as far as I know).

How effective do you think the video is at promoting the artist & song? Why?
I think that the video is as effective as it could be at promoting the artist and song because it's a video of a performance. If someone is watching the video of the performance, thy probably like the artist and their music already. Other than that, the artist is shown a lot in the video and that promotes them further.

Is there anything in the video that makes it memorable so that we might remember the song or artist?
There isn't much that wouldn't normally be in any other performance video for the sing except for the inclusion of another artist in the performance of the song. That adds some spice and mixes up the usual song, making it more memorable to anyone watching it.


Concept Music Videos

What is a Concept Music Video?
A concept music video is a music video that isn't really about anything in particular, it's just shows various things that might go along with the song in some way. For example, the video could be just showing various pictures of things related to the artist or song cut with footage of the artist singing by themselves.

This Too Shall Pass - OK Go

Follow-Up Questions for the Video

Why do you think a Concept Video was chosen for this song?
I think a concept video was chosen for this sing because the idea of a 'Rube Goldberg' Machine in a music video is just a good concept for a music video by itself. Also, when put to use, the concept work when put with the song.

How effective do you think the video is at promoting the artist & song? Why?
I think that the video is fairly effective at promoting the artist and song because the artists show up regularly throughout the duration of the video. Also, the 'Rube Goldberg' Machine idea is a fresh concept that not many people have seen so the video is going to spread through word of mouth due to this.

Is there anything in the video that makes it memorable so that we might remember the song or artist?
As I have said before, the whole 'Rube Goldberg' Machine aspect of the video is memorable enough as it is a fresh, new idea that hasn't been seen many times before in a music video. Also, the song is memorable in its own right along with the video.