Music videos are made to promote different things like; the artist, director and song in many ways. They primarily promote the songs artist by conveying themes and opinions that their audience can relate to. A band like "The Hives" dressed all identical in one of their videos and had their band name on the face of a drum, this is so we can instantly recognise them and build up an image of them in our head. It's is starting to become more popular that people are appreciating the artist because of their videos rather than their actual musical ability. For example when people watch the "Pussycat Dolls" because of their interesting, artistic and visually stimulating videos. People also watch their videos because of their ‘sex appeal’. So the music video will advertise the artist to a wider range of people. Unfortunately some music videos are too explicit for viewing by any age meaning a set age rating is to be put in place, this impacts the popularity of the video as not everyone can watch it - therefore restricting your audience. Another major thing is that if the video is done professionally and looks very good, chances are people will like the song more and vice versa. This is where it impacts the director, if people really like the video it gives the director great recognition and lead people into look at more videos made by him, as for the video being bad it may result in people not liking the director that much.
Music videos have a way of generating extra income for the artist bu having products to be placed in them by the company, just like in rap videos you are likely to see super cars driving on the screen, designer jewellery and guns etc. However sometimes these things may not have to be paid for, "Post Malone", a white rapper, used a Rolls Royce in one of his videos which was supplied by his friend. Because he knew someone with one there were no arrangements need to get one for the video, this saves on money and effort when making it. The artist can also be paid to advertise other artists or famous actors they may use in the video. A massive way that music videos generate income is by the artist being payed everytime it is played on the TV, Radio and digital radio. Music videos can also be nominated for awards which also generates a lot of income for the artist along with popularity, the more people that know about them, the more people will want to listen and watch their videos. Lastly if the director has a pretty big fan base, it will generate more views on the video, giving a bigger cut to the artist.
The majority of mainstream artists have their music exist on multiple platforms so more people can listen to their music, generating them more income. People like Adele has her music playable on YouTube via music videos, Spotify, ITunes and many other media outlets. A popular track of hers "Hello" is a great example of a track that is spread across a big range of different platforms. Depending on the type of artist, mainstream or independent, there are many different ways they are marketed which all comes down to their budget. Mainstream artists like Drake or Lady Ga Ga will have music videos that include exotic locations, expensive equipment like costumes and props, audio and video quality will be crystal clear depending on the style and lots of other things. These people will always have lots of publicity behind them and have a substantial glossy image, this is usually reflected in their videos. Drake's Hotline bling video perfectly fits these conventions as all of his videos have extreme production value, there are also small cameos of famous models and maybe others that are not quite as popular as Drake himself, you don't normally get this in independent videos. This is because producers have more money to market these people, whereas videos made for independent artists, they are a little less glamorous.
People like Stormzy set out making music videos by themselves along with the music. Stormzy's huge hit "Shutup" was recorded and then shot inside a local play park along with his "mandem" (a street phrase for friends). We can instantly see differences between location, equipment and audio. The point is that music videos for independent artists tend to be lower in production value as their record label can not afford that much, as for some independent artists that started off with no record label. Now however, Stormzy has been on the rise and we can tell a massive change in his videos, due to him being partnered with a better record label and videos being produced by larger scale producers. Now they are much more professionally shot, better audio, professional dancers and the use of studios and other locations. We are also able to call Stormzy a self-produced artist as he found fame through producing his own music videos, trouble with this is that because its done all by yourself your videos won't have as good promotion, and you are likely to not have that much experience behind a camera as a director would. On the other hand it can be more versatile as filming dates can revolve around you and you can have complete control over it.
Art is another thing that can be perceived through music videos which tend to be more focused on the on the art itself and the story rather than the song that is being played with it. The music video "Sugar Water" directed by Michel Gondrey coveys a strange art style which is seen evidently as a piece of his work. People who are familiar with this director get used to his work and will notice which music videos he has directed, Gondrey is known for this strange art type videos which is what gives him his fame.
Music videos open up a huge variety of new media outlets, instead of just being on the radio the song can be heard on the internet, television, on adverts, in cinemas and anything that can be accessed by the public. Music videos are now being incorporated into peoples everyday lives, a lot of people sit and watch music channels when nothing else is on or when family is over for background ambience. There are new outlets coming out all the time too, expanding the chance for artists videos and music to be seen. there are a wide range of music platforms online like Spotify, LastFM and iTunes etc which let people listen to and watch music videos and hear music straight from their computers. There are also websites now that let you download videos from YouTube for you to keep them stored on your computer to watch/listen whenever you want. A bad thing about the expansion of these music outlets is that there is less and less chance of you being noticed by people. With people posting to YouTube everyday it is near impossible for you to be notice by some talent scout or a huge audience to see you. This is also a bad thing for people that are already popular on YouTube and other media platforms as new people have the ability to steal there fame, as newer people come into the show, more people hear about them and choose to watch them instead. It is one big competition.
Synergy is basically something where one product can be used to sell another product. In the situation of music videos they are used to sell the song, the artist, clothing, celebrities, technology and cars. The song can also be used to sell the music video in general, if the song is featured on an advert it will lead people to the music video if they are wanting to listen to it again. Nowadays it is extremely hard to sell music or a song without a music video as most people rarely listen to just the radio. "Jai Ho" is a song made by the Pussycat Dolls, used to promote their new single and the movie "Slumdog millionaire". The music video includes footage from the film to give a small preview to the audience of the movie to make them want to watch it. The single is also the Official soundtrack for the film which gives it extra promotion, for the song and the movie, there is also posters that were made to promote the book version which re-titled its name and used imagery from the film on the cover.Other films like "Frozen and Star Wars" use huge amounts of synergy that conducts huge attention for the movie, unlike Slumdog Millionaire these films dont just use posters, books and music to promote their self, they use toys, cups, fancy dress, lunch boxes, food and much more. Although most is aimed at children, it helps with recognition of the films and help more people know what the film is. by more kids wanting Frozen action figures, more children will want one, giving it more and more popularity.
With synergy, everything fuses together in some way to promote each thing, the "Pussycat Dolls" are the main focus of the song "Jai Ho", but as A.R. Rahman is a featured singer he would have also been promoted during this singles time in the spotlight.
Music videos are now a fundamental part of being in the industry, they will continue to be made as long as they are doing their job of promoting and advertising multiple things to help an artist, film or brand to succeed. I believe these videos are a positive way of promotion and will only continue to get better, they can make a difference, give you emotions, teach you things and fully open you up to new music and new bands/musicians that you might not have heard of before. It is an incredibly sustainable way of generating income for everyone that brings the video together (artist, directors, brands), which is the best reason why these videos won't end anytime soon, in my opinion the popularity will carry on rising and selling leading to more and more income.
No comments:
Post a Comment