Purpose of a Music Video
The main purpose of a music video is to sell the song. But there are also more purposes such as giving the listening a better understanding of the song, to entertain you and leaving you with remembering the song. Marketing for the purposes of expanding the Artist's profile but some people may argue that the one main purpose for a music video is promotion, the music video is a promotion tool for the Artist.
Micheal Jackson's music video "Thriller" was listed by the Guinness World Records in 2006 as the most successful music video selling over 9 million in 2009, the video was inducted into the National Film Registry of the library of Congress, the first music video ever to receive this honour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA
There are 3 main types of Music Video's; Performance, Narrative and Concept based. Performance based music video's are where the video's feature the artist, group or band performing the song through most, if not all of the music video. It's probably the easiest to do this on a budget provided you can get a suitable location for filming the music video. A really good example of this would be the Foo Fighters 'Best of you' music video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA
Narrative based music videos are where the music video contains mostly footage that tries to tell a story through the moving images. Usually involving actors, sometimes the story is linked with the lyrical content but not always. these types of music video's tends to be popular because the song has been featured in a movie and sometimes you will often see clips from the film cut into the music video. A good example for this would be Bon Jovi 'Always'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA
Concept based music videos is a style that is based around a single concept or idea. These types of music videos tend to be fairly unusual a particular editing or filming technique. its not often you get a purely conceptual music video as the commercial world demands thing to be more accessible, a good example of this would be 'Monkey Drummer' by Aphex Twin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZGIrNf71Q
Styles, Conventions and Techniques
Studio Performances -
A music video shot are mostly or entirely in a controlled environment with lots of props, costume, lighting and a green screen. Usually these types of music videos don't really have a narrative but rather just add a visual experience to the music without much meaning to it. Example of a music video in a studio - Nothing On You 'Arabique'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5MGOY4qGdw
Surrealistic -
These types of music videos are very abstract and they may not have a relationship with the music. These are very creative and artistic and usually contain a live footage and animation to add surreal effects. An example of this - Broken Social Scene: 'Sweetest Kill' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g77t_CnYM8
Interpretative/ Impressionist -
Similar to the surrealistic music videos, interpretative music videos can be abstract and can may or may not be related to the music, but the main difference between the two that these types of videos don't always have to be distorted or un real imagery. These are not intended to be surrealistic but they rather focus on adding a creative visual experience to the music.
A example to this - Rihanna 'Only Girl' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa14VNsdSYM
Animation -
Animation based music videos are simply partially or are entirely animated music videos. This style of music video is usually cheaper to produce since its all done digitally. Since its all done digitally, you don't all of the equipment. This style of music can sometimes compliment a song as it may suit the mood. A example for this is Jon Bellion 'Luxury'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiycuuUwJVE
Narrative -
A lot of artists want to portray the meaning or the message of there songs through the music video. These Narrative types of music videos can be a presentation of the lyrics, can be metaphorical or could be a completely unique story line that are not related to the music video or lyrics. Example to this - The All American Rejects 'Gives you hell' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxUATkpMQ8A
Concert/Live -
This style of music video captures the the experience of seeing the artist/band performing live, they can either be staged performances or produced inside of a music studio, and even sometimes they can be recorded from a live concert. These create a realistic feel and it gives the viewer an experience, unlike the other types of music videos there are. It is often used to show the emotion of the concert and the attitude of the performing artist/artists. An example for this - Imagine Dragons 'Demons'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRsgZuwf_8
Parody -
Parodies are usually fan made, comic versions of a popular song. Parodies can come in many different forms from animation to narrative, live etc. They take the form of the original videos and change them slightly and make them funnier. Parodies also change the lyrics of the original song but they keep the rhythm so they it still sounds very familiar. An example of this is Taylor Swift 'Shake It Off' Parody. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze9xAIqZszw
