Music Video

1. WHAT IS A MUSIC
VIDEO?
George–Louie Patient 3183 16217

2. So,What exactly is a music video?
■ According to Pete Fraser a music video is 'a short, moving image product, shot for the
express purpose of accompanying a pre-existing music track and used to encourage of
sales of the music in another format'
■ Music videos also have varying purposes such as promotion, extension of income,
extension of outlets and synergy.

3. PROMOTION

4. Promotion
■ An interesting music video will influence audiences to purchase the song which is used
in the video - this is one of the main purposes of producing a music video.
■ Producers consider careful themes, ideologies and techniques to include in their
creative idea for the video. If the video is effective it would subsequently increase the
number of sales for the track featured in the video– More recently, other artistes have
appeared in widely popular collaborations which would attract each artistes fan base
to that particular video e.g. DJ Khaled’s ”I’m the one”
■ Even Apple Music has a section for the top music videos;

5. Promotion – Creating a brand
■ The brand created for the artiste or band is important as it defines who they are and
can determine how successful they are in the industry.The music video conventionally
will work in conjunction to the brand created for the artiste; thus causing the audience
to buy into and invest in the brand.
■ The brand is often created using mise-en-scene.The artiste/band will aim to have a
consistent image across a range of platforms such as music videos, websites, CD
covers and anything related to them or their brand. Some Artistes/bands image is
more important than the actual product they are producing because their success has
come from being buying into their so called ”image”. Boy bands and girl groups are a
good example of this; One direction was so popular because of light hearted catchy
music which was not necessarily very good lyrically or vocally some might argue but
because of the brand which accompanied this boy band.

6. EXTENSION OF OUTLETS

7. Extension of outlets
■ The extension of outlets allows artistes and bands to extend the outlets in which they
are accessible on. For example;
-The music channel; started with MTV but now is less relevant because of streaming sites
andYouTube which allow you to watch whatever videos you want.
-Websites also allow fans to keep up to date with their favourite artistes, often this will
involve cross media convergence as the websites will often contain links to social media
accounts such asTwitter in which fans can follow their favourite artistes.
-YouTube has lead to the decline in music channels becauseYouTubes accessibility to
music videos is unparalleled.
-Smart Phones have proliferated due to technological convergence and are a major cause
in the decline of record sales and music channels because everything is very easy to access
from the smartphones – Moreover they have streaming apps which makes listening to
music and watching music videos much easier.The Iphone even has a native streaming
app integrated into its software and hardware calledApple Music.

8. EXTENSION OF
INCOME

9. Extension of income
■ MusicVideos are a good way for companies to more money; it caches in on the success
of a song and helps to boost sales of anything else related to the singer such as CDs
and even merchandise.You can even specifically buy music videos on sites such as
Itunes which is owned by the Kings of innovation,Apple. Moreover money can be
made from the broadcast of the music videos which would go to the production
companies and then the artiste/band would get a percentage deal. More money can
be given to the artiste if a music video is done because it would extend their normal
income; this extra money would come from promotion duties and products.
■ “Michael Jackson’sThriller for instance took over $500 million in sales, no doubt
boosted by its massively popular video, Jackson himself banked over $120 million.
When it first aired onTop of the Pops it was played several times in the first evening.”
■ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA&ob=av3n

10. SYNERGY

11. Synergy
■ Synergy is where two companies work together for monetary mutual benefit. Music
videos can provide opportunities for synergy– For example; Skyfall. Both Adele and
the producers of Skyfall will benefit form this arrangement; the film promotes Adele's
song and her music video in turn promotes the film.
■ In addition to this,Adele is Signed to Sony’s record label which is also the same
company that produced Skyfall due to how heavily diversified it is. Because the
company is in both the film and music industry in this case they will make money from
both the success of the film and song – consequently increases their income.
■ Synergy can also happen between the music and theTV industry; "I'll BeThere For
You" is a single byThe Rembrandts and was best known as the theme song for the
popularTV series 'Friends'.There isn't a lot going on in the music video; only the band
playing their song while the cast of the hitTV show play around with them which
makes the band more famous through affiliation with the cast of this hit series.This
song rose to fame because of theTV sitcom. Moreover, within the sitcom they even
advertise themselves (See image below)

12. PRODUCERS
STRATEGIES

13. Producers’ strategies
■ Producers’ strategies depend on the type of artiste.There are;
-Major label signed artistes
-Independently signed artistes
-Self-produced artistes
■ Each of these types would use music videos in different ways but in every case, music
videos are a really important tool.

14. Major Record Labels
■ The music industry is dominated by the oligopoly; Universal, Sony Music andWarner Bros.
These are all conglomerates and all have stakes in other industries such as Film,TV and
Electronics which means they are all heavily diversified.This means that when one industry
is struggling, the other ones that the conglomerates have their hands in will keep them
going.
■ For Major labels the purpose of music is clear; they ensure they have a strong online
presence to allow them to make more profit through things such as advertising.An
example of such a company isVEVO; it is a music video website and app owned and
operated by two of the oligopoly – Universal music group, Sony Music entertainment and
also Google. It was launched in December 2009 and makes its profits through advertising
that plays before every music video.The Site offers music from Universal, Sony and EMI
records.Warner Music group was initially reported to be considering hosting its content on
VEVO but instead formed a rival alliance with MTV Networks.

15. Major-Independents
■ Major independents own or license a series of smaller subsidiary companies in order to
reach different demographics and audiences in niche genres. Examples of these ’major-
independents’ include Columbia Records,Virgin Records and Syco. Syco has a partnership
with conglomerate powerhouse, Sony to produce theTV show – X factor.
■ Independents often have little to no financial connection to the majors.These companies
often concentrate of smaller acts/artistes, within specialized niches in the industry – More
often than not artiste and repertoire will be responsible for finding new up and coming
acts. Niche genes include electronica and dance but both are now on the rise and becoming
more mainstream. An example of a very successful independent is ‘Warp Records’
■ Independent label strategies are not all to make money; ”indie” producers often see their
work as an art form and not just an advertisement for the music industry –There music
videos are often a starting block and stepping stone for up and coming directors – Also this
type of producer often becomes well sort after by mainstream artistes