The Purpose of a Music Video

There any many purposes of a music video, the main of which being that the exposure to a larger audience. The song will be purely audio and will be played across sites such as Spotify, the radio and sites based around audio however, if you create a video to go along with it, it will be shown on music video TV channels, it will be streamed throughout YouTube and it will also be shown on any other visual based sites. This is also a very clever move as it can be shown on popular sites such as YouTube. YouTube has the biggest audience of any streaming site and will also gain a lot of traction if you are a well-known artist. Videos can also be a lot more effective than using just audio as a music video can tell a story which brings you into the song a lot more. The video can also tell a story that sends a message which is either related to the song lyrics or could even be completely different to the audio. Music videos can be as simple as showing a camera panning across a landscape and it will almost double the amount of views they are getting on that song. Music videos can also be used to bring in more money, YouTube uses partnerships and ads in order to create a revenue and to pay people for highly viewed videos or channels with a large amount of subscribers.  Music Videos can also be good for the reason that they create jobs. In order for a music video to be produced, they will need a director, an editor and someone to film it. This can either offer jobs to the media industry or will give the artist another chance to express their passion for creativity. When watching a music video, it can be made a lot more memorable than just listening to the audio. There are certain songs such as Slam by Pendulum that have very memorable videos. Slam has a video of an overweight man dancing in public which is memorable for being humorous. A video invokes a reaction from the audience and will mark a more memorable viewing. Artists will also use branding quite often. Branding can come from a signature look in their costumes, a continuous theme throughout music videos or through simply having a branded logo. People such as Pendulum, have a signiture logo which will appear on all of their products. This logo appears on their instruments in live performances e.g. drum kits and also throughout their album covers and in music videos.

Promotion of Directors-

When producing a music video, not only does the actor(s) get the credit, but the director can also be promoted through the video. Creative directors such as BRTHR receive a lot of credit for making the music videos such as Travis Scott's "Goosebumps" and "Butterfly Effect". He has also directed the music video "Party Monster" by The Weeknd. BRTHR is now commonly known for carrying the over edited trippy/euphoric style of editing which suits well with Travis Scott's style of music and branding.

Producer Strategies-

As media outlets have become a lot more popular, it allows artists and producers to create their own content. Artists will often use outlets such as YouTube, Facebook and other social networking sites to distribute their music. Due to the traction these sites can get, artists can find their own way into the music industry. This is called Producer Strategies. There are artists such as Rich Chigga/Brian which gained a lot of traction from his video "Dat $tick". He was a 16 year old Indonesian kid when he was discovered from his YouTube videos for his music. Producing your own music video can have many advantages and disadvantages. An advantage of this is, because you are producing your own video, you can create it in your own image without people interfering. However, this means that you may not be working to the same professional standards as other artists. This is useful for an upcoming artist to do as they may not have as much money as someone who is already in the music industry. Having someone else direct your music video means that they will also create the video in their own image rather than your vision for it. There are many artists such as Bugzy Malone who have created, produced and published their own music videos through YouTube in order to be recognized by larger audiences rather than trying to be recognized with a label. An advantage of producing your own videos and posting them yourself is that you can control the distribution and can also create your own following. This can greatly benefit upcoming artists when trying to be recognized by a record label. If you have a large following on social media outlets, this can attract labels to you as with a large following you can be more beneficial to them. A main disadvantage of producing your own music videos is that the limit on the budget of your music video is coming from your own pocket, which means that if it doesn't turn out how it is wanted, it can be a lot of the artists own money wasted. Another factor that can be seen as a disadvantage is that the artist could be working alongside a popular director in a collaboration which may promote the artist even further by being able to work alongside them. If artists such as Travis Scott did not work alongside BRTHR in the music video "Goosebumps" his song may not be as popular today (Shown Above). 

When producers are marketing artists, they will not always be marketed in the same way. Depending on the size of the artist and the resources they are limited to, the music video quality will be affected. Larger artists such as Logic may have access to a lot more money, locations, props etc. Whereas a smaller artist such as Tyler the Creator may only have access to a smaller amount of money, props and locations which may limit the video to how well the outcome is going to look. The bigger the artist is, the larger the budget will be and the more freedom they will have to make the video that is wanted. For the videos shown below, Tyler the creator created a music video just from creating a lot of hype whilst rapping and dancing in a studio with his friends, this would have been a very low budget as all that would be needed is a camera and the studio was most likely where they had just recorded the song. Whereas Logic has a much larger budget music video, hiring out locations, vehicles, actors, props etc. The way that a music video is produced can also be dependent on the style of the artist and the song. 1800-273-8255 by logic focuses on having a message behind the music video which requires the right amount of props, locations and actors of good quality in order to bring the message across correctly. Tyler the Creator has a style of just doing what he wants with his friends and having fun, which means the video doesn't have to be to a high standard and instead can be a low budget video. The artists size and budget does not always matter however as some artists have a style to follow or have their own preferences for music videos. The grime artists known as Bugzy Malone likes to keep his style consistent to his original videos from before he was famous and making money, as it shows that he is still the same person as he was before and he hasn't let the money and fame change him.

Extension of Income-

 An artist will earn money or receive royalties every time their song is played on the radio. The artists will also gain money through the amount of money it is viewed on platforms in the form of royalties. This happens as it is impossible to monitor how many times it has been watched. This is impossible due to the large distribution over all of the current media outlets. This means that estimates are made depending on how popular the song is or how well the single is selling. This is giving their audience more access to the music video. This has drastically increased from the pre-music video era where audiences/followers would have to either listen their music on the radio, through albums or through seeing them live. It is now available across a larger distribution process throughout multi social networking platforms/Internet TV such as YouTube and Facebook. Royalties must be given to artists which have songs that are constantly being played on the radio and through streaming sites. The radio will often play the more popular songs based off of their popularity throughout media outlets. This can be found out through small amounts of online research. Radio stations will often take gambles on songs based off of the credibility of existing popular artists. This means that the radio will play songs from people that have received a lot of viewings in the past, therefore their gambles are a lot more justified and a lot more likely to succeed in keeping viewers. Therefore it is more difficult for smaller artists to break through. Artists such as OK GO have became famous based of off their creativity in music videos rather than their actual songs. This means that people are not enjoying their music and are instead enjoying their music videos which means they will most likely not be able to make it onto platforms such as the radio. Artists such as Sigala and Sigma, who have a history of creating very popular songs consistently, will almost definitely be offered a place on the radio.

Extension of Outlets/Platforms-

Due to the growth in technology over the past 10 years, media outlets have grown and have allowed us to distribute videos across a large amount of popular platforms. This makes creating videos and gaining an audience a lot easier. Videos can be sent across an audience in seconds and once someone has a following online, it only allows them to get more popular through releasing videos. The extension of outlets also allows smaller artists and producers to be recognized by larger audiences and can often create internet sensations through viral videos. Rich Chigga/Brian, started off by posting YouTube music videos of his songs until one of his videos went viral due to a polo shirt and fanny pack being worn in the video. Rich Chigga is now very successful, touring the world and collaborating with artists such as Post Malone and Pharrel Williams.

Synergy-

This can be using things such as product placement in order to promote their music video. People such as Jake Miller use the beats headphones by Dr Dre. Synergy can also be when films use songs made by artists as their soundtracks. This relates back to the music video as the music video can be in relation to the film. A good example of this is the film "Bright" in which they use scenes from the film to create the music video by Logic and Rag n Bone Man. Synergy is where products are placed into videos in order to promote and advertise one another. This is common in sports such as football, where teams are sponsored by companies for mutual benefit. Synergy was first pioneered by Disney when they sold the rights for people to use their productions such as Mickey Mouse. This meant that people would be paying them to advertise their product in their own way. This acts as free promotion for Disney and their product. This also can be used through a number of props in music videos such as vehicles, jewellery, alcohol, clothing etc.  This is useful for all parties involved; label, artists and company advertising their product as it is promotion and advertising for them.

Music videos are also a very clever way to promote yourself to companies that represent bigger artists which can help to open a lot of doors for you. This is useful as people such as Brian Immanuel (Rich Chigga/Brian) have been made a lot more successful through being with an agency/rap group. Brian was scouted to 88Rising after dropping his single called “Dat $tick”, shortly after this, his manager showed various rappers such as Flatbush

Zombies and Ghostface Killah in a reaction video on YouTube. When this video was shown to Ghostface Killah it instantly sparked his interest and resulted in a collaboration for the remix of that song. A music video is a good way to be able to show what the artists look like as before music videos, the only way you would be able to see what an artist looked like would either be to go and watch them live or to have their face on a record cover. Showing the artists can be useful when creating a music video as it shows their style. The style of an artist can be very important when listening to their tracks as it gives a sense of what kind of person they are. This can be very powerful as creating a style or image creates an image which can be desirable to many people. This image or style can also be very helpful when it comes to sales. The rapper known as “Tyler the Creator” is popularly known for not caring about what other people think and just being himself. This has resulted in a large fan base as everyone loves his personality as he can be himself. This level of independence creates a style and idolises him to his audience. Every artist will have a style created by the way they dress, the colours they use and the creativity that goes into a music video. Tyler the Creator is known for being very creative and using lots of colour, whereas people such as Bugzy Malone are known for being quite colourless and using colours such as black and white. Music videos will often reflect how the music sounds. Bugzy Malone often produces songs that are quite deep with lyrics about his past which means he uses quite dark music videos and doesn’t use a lot of colour, whereas an artist like Tyler the Creator who raps about more comical and upbeat subjects will use a lot more colour in his videos and even props and editing such as a giant cat.

The very first music video with advanced video effects and choreography was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and was the most popular music video for that time, and is still very popular today. This video marked the beginning of the music video generation. This video inspired the creation of the music video era and has created the very popular trend of adding visuals to the audio. Almost every artist in this time is making Music Videos from Beyoncé to Eminem. A music video is the next step to every artist’s career as it offers so many more benefits than using just the audio. In the very start of music videos, they were called “Promos” and it is clear to see why when they offer an easily promotable concept, Extension of their income, extension of the amount of outlets they can be shown across, Synergy and many producer strategies. 

Sources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/makinghiphop/comments/6aatsv/how_did_rich_chigga_blow_up_while_still_being_so/

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-bohemian-rhapsody-video/

http://music--videos.weebly.com/purposes/extension-of-income

http://music--videos.weebly.com/purposes/producer-strategies

http://www.brthrfilms.com/

https://prezi.com/h4-7dmomc2-h/what-is-the-purpose-of-music-videos/

https://www.slideshare.net/MsJMcLeod/the-purpose-of-music-videos