Task One – Understand the purpose of music videos

Music videos are an important part of a music production having numerous uses for production. It has now become important for a video to be released to accompany every single when it is released. There are numerous reason for music reason.

Availability of artist

Availability of a artist is one of the first reasons for music videos. The his first started in 1964 with the Beatles. They released a feature film featuring them called "A Hard Days Night" which showed their lives as a celebrity including being chased by fans.  This lead them to  released promotional videos for broadcast. This was done because the Beatles could not be at every show and country to promote the song this can be shown to still promote the song. For the audience this is good because they can still hear their favourite songs but the artist dose not need to be there. This helps the artist as well because for any reason if the artist can not be there there video can still be promoted keep the fan base entertained.

 Before the introduction of the promo videos ,if the artist was unavailable for a Tv appearance on such shows as Top of the pops a group of dancers would dance to the song that could not be preformed. An example of this Pans People. They were an all girl dance group who danced in tight clothing to songs in the 70's. They usually appeared at least once a week. This was good for the artist because the song will still be promoted to audiences keeping the sales up. This was also good for the audience because they got to hear there favorite song preformed with something happerning on screen. But the audience Would not be able to see there favorite artist . Another problem is that pan's people would keep being used so they became monotonous and bored audiences.

 The promonatnt use of music videos began only started in 1975. The first major promotional vidoes was Queen's Bohemian. Since then it has become general pracrtice to realcse a music video for your song. These videos were espeally important in the 1970's on top of the pops. As I have mentioned if the artist was not there pans people would dance over the song which was disliked by the band and audience. It also meant that the band could avoid miming such a complex song.





The main reason for the creation of a music video is to be a promotion of a artist or song. It used as an advertisement for the artist to attract people to view the artist. The video itself illustrated the song to show an extra layer of the song to audiences. This advertisement platform is important to music artist because it  attracts the audience to view them increase money and fame they receive from the video.  A good example of this is PSY's Gangnam Style. The song would not usually be successful  especially in the western market. This is due to the quality of the song and it is in korean. This means that usually it would not become popular, but it has received 2 Billion views on youtube , which is the most ever. This is due to the video. It includes a dance routine which had become very popular , and the videos includes comedic visuals which audiences enjoy. This has made PSY famous alog with the song and dance. This package is the reason that it has become this popular with audiences raiseing it to it's current staus. This all has happen due to the video .


Creating a brand

Artist are not usually just sold as themselves, they are actually sold as a brand the music videos is part of the foundation and a product of the brand. This is an important  part of promoting an artist because it means that the audience buy into this brand. The two main features of the brand , is the look, and the mise en scene  creating an overall image. This image has to carry on thoughout everything including songs, live performance and music videos. I n some case the image of an artist is more important than the quality of the music itself. An example of this is the Spice Girls. The Spice Girls were a nighties girl band featuring 5 female singers. Each of the singer has there own different identy and distic personilty. These include posh , sporty and scary. These identies were important to the popularty of of the bamd. This is due to audiences haveing a choice of who they want to support. The aduience of youg girls identified themseleves with each of the spice girls with everyone haveing a favorite one.  The image was very important for audiences , so much so their singing ability was not as important. This help generate a profit as well though the merchendise.

But this is not always the case. In some case the image of the artist has little to do with popularty of the music. Some artist have no defineable image , this means there is nothing that could relate to the music  so there ias a sense of musical freedom. This is important to some audiences because there is not a vast amout of image  that can cover the musican which could oversadow the music itself. An example of this is Ed Sheeran. He has the image of a rugged messy giner men on a  gutair. There is no strog image or shocking motef which would overshadows his music. He has a simple image and wears normal clothes which means that his music is the forefront of everything. Which is part of the popularity.



Marketing an image

Like i've mentioned alot of artist are marketed on their image to increace views and intrest of an artist. This can be seen in the singers Lady Gaga and Adele . Both have oppiste images but both uses their image to sell themseleves and a product.

Lady Gaga Image is a very bright vibrant artistic and extream. The image is portrayed though many mediums , these include her extream style , her ilabrate live preformances, her music and artistic music videos. This is used to gerenate intrest in her and excite audience with what is happerning. It is also used to make people talk about her. This image is important to audiences because it helps ideteify her so if they see a videos useing her image they will know it is her. If this image was not there the audiemce would not be able to recongise her as an artist only hear her songs , which means she might not have become as popular because her image is one of the main parts that are rembered.  The image portrayed in the videos are simmular in the fact they are avant-garde and full of clour and fashion. Audiences will see the dynamic fashion and bright colours and know it is her. This can be seen in her video for her song G.U.Y. The video includes a full dance routens, 13 different outfits , a illbareate story and a great  varitation in the mise en scene.

Coversly Adele has the oppisite image. Adele's image is more calm, soulful and basic.  She is viewe as a normal women , who's going though a breakeup , trying to show her as an every women, so womne might realte to her. This is shown though all her mediums , from songs , live performances  and music videos. Compared to lady gaga her vidoes are very plan and basic , with normal clothes and no dynamic mise en scene.  Her vidoes also does not include any dance routeens or a full story.  Even her actions are calm and slow. Even though it dose not look like there is a real image for Adele, this is actually the image that is created for her. The audience will see this image and see Adele as a down to earth and a every women , trying to get audiences to realte to her. If this image was more it extream it wuld not match the songs mood ,  so would be out of place meaning audience would be confused. This can be seen in the video for the song Rolling in the deep. The video consits of her sitting down in a chair singing, with little movement, very plan coulors and no over arching story.


Extension of income

Music videos are not used just to market a artist, they can be also used to market a artist merchendise.  Artists don't just bring out songs and albums , they bring out merchendise to accompany them. These include T-shirts , posters , perfume and hoodies. Artists advertise these product though different medias including adverts posters and in their music videos. This is done to advertise the products to incrace sales of these products. This can be seen in the the videos for Christana Agularia's song  Not Myself Tonight.  In the music video she has a shot of her perfume. This is done to advertise her perfume to get audience to buy the perfume . The shot has nothing to do with the video but used as a advertisng tool. This is important to extend income of the video.

Britney Speres also uses her medias to advertise her prodeucts including perfumes. She like Christina  advertiseres her own producets to increace profits of her prodects as she has 16 perfumes to sell. The audiences will see these perfumes and be encouraged to buy them. She includes her perfumes in numoriuse videos. In the videos for Crimainal two of her perfumes are shown, and there is a shot of her useing one of them . The vidoes also adverttise many other products includieng  swarovski , citroen and casio. This is used to extaend income because she gets paid to include the products in the video. E.g. she got paid 500,000 for products in one videos.

 She also does this in the videos for Work Bitch. She again includes her perfumes to advertise it to increace profits.

Britney again shows her perfume.

Advertises her new residency show in las Vagas

Advertises a big casino in Vagas

Paid advertismrent of the speaker beats pill

Advertises a car 

Music video are also important to exandeding the outlets. This is because the music vidoes give artsits different places they can be seen  because as the video spreads on to more than one platform. This helps audiences to acsess the music videos easier which means that views will incracrse, increaceing profits. The more th
e vidoes is seen the increades chance of audieces becomeing fans.


Synergy

Another use of the music videos is synergy. Synergy is when two forms of media come togther to make a project or parts of a project. This is done two increace views of each others forms of media because the opeople viewing one part of the project will likely view the other. The audience see the one production that includes the other and want to view the other, so they both premote each other. In both medias they will feature the other one premoting them both. An exaple of this is the film Machete Kills and the Lady Gaga Song Aura. The lyric video for the song includes scenes from the film, and the film features Lady Gaga herself and the song is both featured in the tralier and the music video. Both the film and Gaga both are in agreement to advertise each other to premote each other to incrace virews. The cross over meand Lady Gaga Fnws wil more likely see the film and the film watcher will hear th e siong and might like it.

The introduction of the new medias that show the music videos  has had increacsed exsposure greatly for artists but there has also been a downside. Now that there is all of these online services they be be acesed nearly everywhere, the music channel has become more redunt than before. Now audiecnes can instantly view ad download music in a way they have not been able too before. This means more people are chooseing to watch videos on there computers and other devices rather than watching tv. This can be evedently seen with the end of Tops of the pops in 2006 with only a christmas and new years show each year showing that new medias are killing television music.


Producers statagies
There are 3 main ways an artist can be produced, these are major labael, Independent and self Produced. There are diffenrt reasons why you would pick each of the three ways. The music video is used in differnet ways for each type of form but it a inportant part of each of the ways. For an audience haveing these diffent ways is important because there is not one type of artist so there is more of a range.

Major Label

The first type of producer is a major labe. A Major Label is a big Multi national copraration who represent numorose mainstream artists and bands thoughout there carrees. They do not just stay in one genere of type of artist they reprsent any artists.Also know as the majors they  are part of conglomarates that also run other media compnies like tv and film. The audiences view the granduare of the prodecners and artists which can shape there opinion. Examples of Majors are Universal , EMI, Sony and Warner brothers. Most of the majors own or lisences  small subsidary companies to expand audiences so there music spreads more. The subsiary compnies are there to mange artistss of different generes of music. The audience willlike an artists , then could look for simmilar arytists , haveing the subsidary hels show advertise and run differnt artists.  This helps reach more audiences increacing views and support , so a artist gets more exposure. Major Lables also own smaller susbsisdary record companies that mange artsists. This is done to raech different generes of music . This is done as a coglomarte host a raqnge of artsist who also own a smaller lable that only deqal with each generen. This is done to  help them reach different kinds of auidence  to increced audiwences as they see one artsist on the small lable, then look to more artsist on that lable. These major lables include Cloumbia,island Rac, Virgin and Sycho. The purpose of the music for the major lables is online presecne which helps gain profits though advertistment. One stargey of the Majorlables is to spread music online though platforms like Vevo. Formed in 2009  it host the music videos of 3 of the 4 big lables  (universal,EMI and Warner). This si doentr o spread the music onlinme as Vevo is a big platformm for music and many aduences go htere to find new music causeing the music to spaerd genrating more profits for the lables.



Independent


The second producer of music is the indepent. These companiees have little finacal support or connection to major lables. These independnts are assoctied more with speaclised gereners of music with alot less fame and mass audiences. The ide3pemnts  see the lack of lables for the less supported genres and form a group for these artsits. These gerenes include hip hop, dance and rap. This is done to gain audiences for the artist in theese genres  who would not have mass support  to increace these fame causeing a incrace of audience , giveing the companies more profits. An example of this is spinning reocrds. They are company who reperesnts Dj's in the dance and house genres and prodeces these Djs carees. They also run a majement company Music All stars Mnegemnt and mange the artsts. Artist under this lable include  Calvin Harris and Tiesto. Indepent lables dont just there the music as advertisment or online presence, they see it as an art form which can espaclly be seen in there music videos. This is because they are a samller company so can focus on the artist and tthere music only rather than laods of different productions liek a major lable , so can be more creactive in there music,  The music vidseos are used not just for the music but a way for new directors to create there work on a bigger more viewed scale helping up and comeing directors.


Chris Cunningham is an example of these directors. He made his dircting debut on the msuic vedieo  "come to daddy" by Apex Twin in 1997. It is seen as both a brittlent music vidoe with high praise , and a controversal one with countires banning it ofr its content. This msuic video was a stepping stone as he contuied on to making advertisment and films which would not have happend if it was not for the Music video.








Spike Jones is another example of a director becomeing famous though making  music videos. His carre stated when he made the music videos for "Parise you" and  "The Rockafella Skank". This lead him to bcome a Dirctor producer screen writer and a actor , producing films like "Being John Malckavich" in 1999 and "Her" in 2013 again which would not have happen without these vidoes.








Artist self produced

Unlke Major lables, or Indpendtes the self produced artsist have a relativley low budgets and stars as unknow to the world doing all their videos without support from big companys.  They usally start off on youtube makeing and filming their own vidoes with the populartiy gaibed on the own though  socail meida and the internet. This gives artist who don't have the oppituinties or finances of other artists so can not afford the advertisment and protuction of the big companies  so have to prodce the vidoes thems selves give anyone the oppitinity to gain fame. Making a music video is vital for the soread of the arrtist in the early caree so they can gain fame. Youtube give the oppitunitty for artist have there music spread  causeing vidoes to go viral , due to Youtube featured video section n the home page.

An example of this is is the music DWV who post all there own music videos on youtube with out help form the Mjaor Lables or Indepemmntdents. They create there own vidoes to song they have written them seleves. The Groupe features three  drag queens who gained succes though there online precence and there apperence on the reality competion "Rupaul's Drag Race". Since then they posted numorouse songs filmed and prodeced themselves which lead to tours singles and awards. Being  self prodeced helped them gain fame though more online precense rather than being pubblic realsced which could have not been as successful.