Purpose of Music Videos

1. M U S I C V I D E O
P U R P O S E O F

2. W H A T A R E T H E P O S S I B L E P U R P O S E S
O F M U S I C V I D E O S - L I S T

3. S H A R E Y O U R M O S T M E M O R A B L E
M U S I C V I D E O A N D E X P L A I N W H Y ?

4. P R O M O T I O N A L
• Raise awareness
• Raise perception
• Give the audience a better
understanding of the song
• Entertain and show off the
artist
• Sell the song, and invoke
the reaction so that the
audience remember the
song

5. I M A G E
• A particular style or change of image
can affect the success of a music
artist. This may be influenced by the
style of music adopted on a new
album.
• Producers encouraged Nicki Minaj to
have an exaggerated look with pink
hair/platinum blonde hair, animated
expressions and overtly sexual.
• Whilst this reflected hip hop trends she
also pushed the boundaries in fashion
and styling which appeal to her fans
(and potential fans) therefore
encouraging single sales.

6. I D E N T I F Y A S M A N Y M U S I C A R T I S T S T H A T H A V E
U S E D M U S I C V I D E O S T O R E I N V E N T
T H E M S E L V E S

7. • Gangnam Style
• First online video to receive 1 billion hits
• Won best video at MTV Europe Music Awards
• Social networking held responsible for making the video
popular on such an incredible scale
• Led to possible collaboration opportunities for Psy with other
artists e.g. Justin Bieber
• Caused the share price of the record company to increase by
568.8%
P R O M O T I N G T H E A R T I S T

8. - C H R I S B L A C K W E L L , F O U N D E R O F I S L A N D R E C O R D S
“I don’t think there are any record companies now in the real
sense of the word. We’re all in the fashion business. You
used to be able to see records purely on music and
musicianship. Now it’s packaging, media, television, and
video”

9. E X T E N S I O N O F I N C O M E
• Product Placement of own Brand
• Use of word of mouth
• Hits on YouTube
• Encourage audience to purchase single / album
• Encourage ticket sales for concerts and music festivals
• CD/DVD bonus features

10. S Y N E R G Y
• Synergy is when different
companies/individuals join
together to work on a
project that creates mutual
success for both brands.
• Provide a range of your
own example

11. E X T E N S I O N O F O U T L E T
• Music channels
• Direct DVD
• CD Sales
• Website
• Download

12. P R O D U C E R S T R A T E G I E S
• Music videos are not merely constructed as a visual
representation of the song. The music industry often has a
motive for the style, narrative, production and promotion of
the video and artist.
• There are a variety of strategies that producers’ use in order
to encourage single, album and tour sales, promotion of the
artist and their image, sales of merchandise etc
• How might the producer strategies from One Direction be
different from an artist like Banks

13. W H O I S T H E P R O D U C E R
• the major label
• the independent music label
• the self produced artist
• In groups, discuss the positive and negatives effecting
the production of a music video with each type of
Producer

14. W H O I S T H E P R O D U C E R ?
A major label
• For a mainstream artist.
• Generally charts high, sells lots of records and
therefore tour and merchandise.
• Large budgets for promotional material (such as
music videos).
• Predominately main stream/popular music genres
such as Pop and RnB
Example: Katy Perry is signed to Capital Records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWA2pjMjpBs

15. M A J O R L A B E L S T R A T E G I E S
• VEVO have a partnership with Sony Music Entertainment
and Universal Music Group. They host music videos on
YouTube and use adverts at the start of the each video to
produce revenue. This is good for music companies as it
allows them to regulate the online distribution of their
music videos and make money from it.
• VEVO also have applications on many devices e.g. i-
Pad. This allows many more people to access the
content

16. I M P A C T O F Y O U T U B E V I E W S
• December 2012 record labels were stripped of 2
billion video views
• YouTube wants to combat ‘black hat’ view count-
building techniques. This is when hackers artificially
build up the numbers of views or likes on a YouTube
video- enabling them to make clips more popular than
they really are and increase exposure on the site
• The number of views are regarded as an unofficial
worldwide popular music chart

17. W H O I S T H E P R O D U C E R ?
An independent label
• Smaller, independent music label.
• Smaller budget.
• Niche market for music genre – dance (specific sub genres), indie,
folk etc
• Target audience and music artist often credit music videos as an
art form. Often experimental in terms of technique, equipment and
narrative.
• Prepared (budget dependent) to use less experienced/known
music video directors with a proven creative background.
Example: FKA Twigs is signed to Young Turks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yDP9MKVhZ
c

18. W H O I S T H E P R O D U C E R ?
The Artist
• Some artists may decide to make the video themselves.
• Often unsigned, it can be used as a promotional tool to
gain fans/exposure and ultimately lead to signing with a
label.
• This is usually due to budget limitations.
• It may also reflect a desire to take artistic control of the
visual content.
• Cost effective technical equipment makes it easier to
access, produce and distribute material.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw
pgByDiHw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM40cRl1yuE

19. P R O D U C T I O N
T E C H N I Q U E S
Busta Rhymes ‘Gimmee some more’
• Hype Williams
• Fish eye lense
• hyper bright colours
• Skipping frames in the edit.
• Editing the speed.
Coldplay ‘The Scientist’
• Jamie Thraves
• Footage edited in reverse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeCpfWNKh9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-RcX5DS5A
The Prodigy ‘Smack my
b**** up’
• Jonas Åkerlund
• POV shot
Peter Gabriel
‘Sledgehammer’
• Stephen Johnson
• Stopmotion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=OJWJE0x7T4Q
New and innovative techniques can
provoke discussion and encourage fans to
watch a music video

20. C O N T R O V E R S Y
Some music videos are deliberately provocative in their
choice of narrative and imagery. Often this is a conscious
decision. No publicity is bad publicity!
Before the invention of youtube, a banned music video could
have a negative impact on the promotion of the song as the
video would be harder to access.
Now a banned video is easy to find… Why is controversy
useful?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LU
XSU

21. R E M A K I N G
Once a music artist has become
successful, it is possible
(although unusual) to reshoot a
music video with a bigger
budget or for a new audience
Compare how Ellie Goulding
is represented in each video.
Which was the first version
to be produced?
Why do you think that they
changed it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y8g
Xv0tPj4
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=fBf2v4mLM8k

22. What does Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’
music video look like?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NV6Rdv1a3I
This was the first ‘release’.
Why did they release this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5EofwRzit0

23. Watch the mini documentary.
• What does this tell you about:
• Current production values
• Finance
• Equipment
• Audience
http://garrettgibbons.com/music-video-budgets/

24. I N F O G R A P H I C
Research task:
Based on your research today, you are going to create an infographic
exploring facts and figures concerning the history of music videos.
I am particularly interested in STATISTICS on:
• Budgets
• Specific music artists/genres/songs
• Dates
• Locations
Some possible ideas:
What are the top three most expensive music videos of all time?
Which music artist has created the greatest number of music videos?
What is the most popular filming location?
Which country produces the greatest number of music videos per
year?
Which music video has the most you tube hits?
Average music video budget today compared to the nineties.
What facts can you uncover?
http://infogr.am/