1. Why videos? The need
for the music video

2. Music videos represent a very important part of the music industry. There are even artists that
owe their careers to their music videos. Music videos have become a venue where music artist is
given a chance to impress the public not just with their vocal talent but also with their looks or
moves. There are people who become an instant fan because of the music videos they see on TV.
Music video is not that important before as it is today. MTV (Music Television) was one of the
pioneers that take advantage of the power of music videos and discovered its importance to the
music industry. Since 1981, MTV started broadcasting in the USA. From that day on music video
gradually rule the music industry. ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles was the first video
ever played on MTV. MTV instantly become of the most highly controversial show on TV. Some
people saw it as the beginning of a new era in the music industry, where people can show what
they got aside from singing. On the other hand were people who considered it as an end of true
musical talent because artists will become more appreciated if they have good looks instead of
having great vocal abilities. Music video aims to deliver the song or give meaning to the song.
People can easily relate to the song once they see where it is intended for. It can help listeners
relate to the song and somehow feel that the song was written for them.

3. Today, music videos have already proven how essential it is to an artist
success. It is now considered as important as the song itself. There are artists
and songs that have become so popular and well known because of their
music videos. The industry have also found new ways to generate additional
income from selling music video collections that are being sold on tapes or
DVDs. Music video creation no matter how small or big the project is can give
jobs to people. From music directors, artist and down to the smallest staff
also benefit in creating music videos. There are some fans that enjoy
watching music videos because of its artistic value. Some fans also think that
music videos should be assessed based on its visual qualities and not on the
song quality. Although there are many people who think that the song is only
secondary to the music video, the music video will only be a tool for the
business and will be used to sell the song of the artist.

4. Professionals discussing the
importance of a music video
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIiSn0Z3Zpk
•
http
://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3XEWnEgSv4

5. What is the purpose of a
music video?

6. To tell the song
&
Invoke a reaction
One of the arguably main reasons for artists using music video’s is to tell the story
behind what the lyrics are saying. Often when a music video is telling the story you will
see many different camera angles to create emphasis on the artist, location and
emotion.
You could say that a music video is a visual aid to what is going on in the song.
A good example of a song that uses the music video to
visually aid the audience about what is going on in the song is
“Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time”
Watch the link below to see what I mean…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7HmzwI67ec

7. To leave the audience remembering
that song
Allot of artist’s make music video’s (good videos or bad) just so that
the audience has something to visually remember about the video,
and can then talk about the video to friends and family.
A great example of this would be “Gangnam style (Comeback stage) –
Inkigayo”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60MQ3AG1c8o

8. For artist’s to show of other talents
Many artists like to show off their other talents to their audience
because it draws more attention to them.
Some of these talent’s could be things such as dancing, playing a
instrument, modelling and acting.
A famous example of an artist showing off a talent in one of their
music video’s would have to be Michael Jackson – Thriller. Which has
Michael Jackson showing of his dance moves. There is also some good
acting from him at the beginning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V90AmXnguw

9. Using music videos to promote and
extend their income
Artist’s use music video’s to promote themselves and bring in more income.
For example in music video’s you often see the artist themselves in it. This is
only to promote themselves further to an audience and draw new crowds in.
A good example of someone who generates a massive income from her
music video’s is lady gaga.
Notably because of the extraordinary clothes she wears in her music videos,
by wearing these clothes in her music videos she not only promoted herself
and music but she promoted her fashion and is now known famously for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2smz_1L2_0

10. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”
Sales of a particular song due to the popularity of a
music video
Michael Jackson’s music video “Thriller” has sold over one hundred million copies. Allot
of people say this was due to the video itself which involved Michael Jackson as a
zombie dancing. The music video was released in 1983 just when music video’s had
started going mainstream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V90AmXnguw
The video had a massive positive impact on the public because of how different it was
to other music video’s. Since its release in 1983 it has been featured in many Music
channels on programmes such as “MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made” and has been
labelled by the music industry as a music video sensation.
In my opinion I feel that Michael Jackson understood the importance of music videos
and how they were necessary for the audience. He spent $500,000 on making the music
video for thriller. Which is a tiny amount compared to where he spent $7million on
making the music video for scream setting a world record for spending the most money
on a music video.

11. Compare to songs where the
videos aren't as popular
A great example of a song which has a terrible music
video is Jan Terri's music video "losing you". The song is
Ok but the video itself was poorly done. The story the
video tells makes no sense at all and the majority of the
video are short shots of a city from different angles.
Nearly all the shoots are terribly done with the camera
swaying from side to side often.
Here is a link if you can bear to watch it..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE2l6CPna4M

12. The importance of
music channels, DVD
downloads / sales
It is essential for artist’s (especially
not well known artist’s) to
promote themselves where and
whenever possible, not just to
draw more attention to
themselves but because allot of
money can be generated for the
artist by doing this.
To the right is a graph showing just
how much profit artist’s make
from selling their music. As you
can see it is not a large sum
making it very difficult for small
time artist’s.
This is why allot of artists branch
out from just selling their songs
and albums this way.

13. Music channels and DVD’s
Music channels are very important to artists because it is a great way
of promoting themselves (people sat at home watching music TV,
suddenly see artist’s music video) and gaining more income.
Another reason as to why music video’s are necessary these day’s is
because most music TV channels only air songs if they have a music
video to play alongside the song.
The reason music Dvd’s are necessary to artists is because it is
offering the audience more than just songs, it is also offering music
video’s which offers visual entertainment to the audience. Because
of the considerably higher price for the DVD it generates more profit
for the artist than a normal album would (no videos, just music).

14. Music video charts
By having music video charts as well as song charts,
this increases income and promotes the artist’s
shown on the those charts.
For example, Lady gaga’s songs are all over the
music charts which promotes her and generates
her more income. However she is also in the charts
for music video’s which gives her even more
attention and generates her more money.
ITunes charts are good example.

15. Use of synergy

16. Use of artist’s songs for films and TV
shows (use of synergy)
Artist’s can also feature their music in films and TV to raise their income and to make
more of a name for themselves to draw in a larger crowd. This can turn out well
especially if the TV show or film is good and has a massive audience for itself.
An artist who did this was Stephen Fretwell, who’s song was used for the Gavin and
Stacey theme song. It generated him allot of money and drew in a larger audience for
him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCt_w1uThTA
A great example of a film that used a song would be Skyfall by Adele which was used as
the opening song of the new James bond film that came out in 2012. Adele not only
made money from the income of people buying this song, but also earned a large sum
of money in advance for making the song exclusively for the jams bond movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HKoqNJtMTQ

17. Use of artist’s songs for TV adverts
(use of synergy)
Featuring songs in TV adverts is another method for artist’s to
promote themselves and generate more income.
A great example of this would be “Louder” by DJ Fresh which
was featured in a lucozade TV advert. The artist was not very
well known at the time, but suddenly became very popular
when this advert was aired on TV. The song went straight to 2nd
place on the charts. Kick starting the artist’s career again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_LiUAVl4g