Music videos are the way of bringing a new dimension to a song and promoting an artist or band and their songs. Normally, they are signed to a label, which they rely upon for promotion and investments.
The songs need videos added to them in order to shape a certain image of the artist or band & also both the company. Different artists have different image or persona, which is often built around their specific genre. For example, Snoop Dogg is an American rapper who's videos show him living a glamorous life and his music promotes promiscuity, violence (portrayed through mentioning of gang affiliations) and drugs. This is a common depiction of rappers, which relates to the audience. The main audience of rap music is urban and 'ghetto' youths. The upbringing and the place where the artist is from means that this specific target audience can relate Snoop and aspire to be like him.
Music videos work around 3 codes, which are music, lyrics and iconography. The relationship between these codes is key in understanding how music videos work and creating a successful video. They are designed to provide a pleasure for the audience in order to keep them watching and encourage repeat viewings.The repeat viewings lead to more sales of the album or single (this can happen in shops but now digital downloads through iTunes and Amazon Music is more popular). Videos are also a way of promoting upcoming tours and concerts of the artist.
Some of the common elements of music videos include:
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Well constructed mise en scene
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Verse/chorus and the use of different imagery
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Condensed narrative
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Use of colours- e.g. depressing songs usually use dark colours and
locations but lively happy songs may use colourful places such as clubs
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Use of base track- this means that there are main shots in the
video that the video keeps coming back to
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Rapid editing
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Lip syncing- this may seem very natural when viewing music videos
but is difficult to perfect.
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