Friday, 28 November 2014

Critique Three Music Videos

Friday, 28 November 2014
There are 10 different categories that music videos can fall into. Each of them have their own representation. It is important that music videos fall into at least one of these categories because this helps the audience recognize what they are about.

  • Video as technical development 
  • Video that reflects the image of the act
  • Video director as auteur
  • Video as parody or homage
  • Abstract representation of music score
  • Video using band in a creative way
  • Painting a snapshot of a world or life in three minutes
  • Linear narrative – the journey of something
  • Non linear narrative – experimental storytelling.
  • One shot video.
Taylor Swift - Love Story.




Taylor Swift is an American singer and songwriter born in Pennsylvania on December 13, 1989. She has been active with her label Big Machine Records since 2004. In this time she has won seven Grammy awards and seven Academy of Country Music Awards. When she was 14 in 2004 her whole family moved to Nashville, Tennessee. The reason for moving was because of her father's job however Taylor has said in the past that her parents were very willing for her to succeed as a country artist. 

Taylor Swift released her second studio album Fearless on November 11th 2008. This album featured her lead single 'Love Story.' To this day six years later it is still her biggest selling single and most well known song. This album was also known as Taylor's break through album as it got to number 1 in the Billboard charts in the U.S and became the biggest selling country album of 2009. 

Love Story was one of the later songs that Taylor Swift wrote on the album 'Fearless' Taylor wrote the entire song in about twenty minutes while sitting on her bedroom floor. Although the lyrics were changed round a little bit to what Taylor originally wrote. Although this song was likened to Romeo & Juliet it does have a slightly alternative ending to that with it having a happy ending as Taylor believed that it was what the characters deserved. The song was very similar to Taylor's experiences apart from the ending therefore she felt connected to the song. 

Taylor Swift - Love Story

The video was directed by Trey Fanjay who has worked with Taylor on a lot of her previous videos. I believe that this video fits into two of the above categories; video as a homage & linear narrative - the journey of something.

The story of this video is about a love interests of Taylor Swift' who didn't get on with her friends and family. Taylor Swift decided to relate the scenario to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This was also an inspiration for the setting of the music video by giving it a sense of a period piece with influences from the medieval, renaissance and regency era. The directors struggled to find a correct setting for this video with them struggling to find a castle in the United States however they eventually found one in Tennessee named Castle Gywnn built in 1973. 

The video starts with Taylor Swift dressed in black jumper and jeans walking from the university campus where she spotted Justin Gaston (who played Prince Charming) sitting under a tree reading a textbook. As they make eye contact they get flashbacks to the earlier era assuming to be the 18th century due to the gown she is wearing and the seemingly period castle. Once Gaston enters the party and sees her wearing the gown and talking to a couple of other women he approaches her they engage in a ballroom dance along with the others on the dance floor. While dancing he whispers into her ears and later on she is seen walking down the woods with a lantern where she sees Gaston. They then take a walk, holding hands and feeding a horse. After that the two go on their seperate paths where Taylor is seen to be seen standing on the balcony where she sees Gaston and he runs towards her and she runs down the staircase where they then meet and hold eachother. Finally it ends with them transiting into modern day while also cutting back to scenes on the balcony. 

I think this video fits really well into both of the categories however I do believe that it is mainly linear narrative the reason for it is because it is about the journey. This video has a beginning, middle and end which is incredibly important when it comes to a linear narrative. The video has a very simple structure that you are can easily follow this is important is this narrative because it is telling the story. Along with linear narrative I believe that it is also a homage to the 18th century. All the finer details in this such as the clothing, setting and acting all sets back to the 18th century. Along with this the lighting changes a little when it is the flashbacks to the 18th century as it goes a tad bit sepia. 

Due to there being a lot of flashbacks there is a lot of cut away's. Along with this there is also a variety of close ups and long shots. The reason for this is because it is the best way to get the emotion of both of the characters across. Along with this the colour changes from the flashbacks to real time. This is so that you can clearly see the difference and when the era is. The director would have had to make this clear because a lot of Taylor Swift' fans and only young and probably don't know a lot about the 18th century therefore maybe wouldn't understand it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_(Taylor_Swift_song)

Mad Moon Riot - Gorilla



Mad Moon Riot are an LA based rock n roll band. They are made up of Matt Hitchens and Ru Hazell who are originally from the UK but decided to move to Los Angeles when they decided that they wanted to start a rock band. Alongside them are Mia Swier and Pou Piam. Mia is also originally not from Los Angeles having moved from her native New York the previous year. Mad Moon Riot aren't currently signed to anyone as they are an independent artist working with songwriters and directors without a label. This is their second music video with their first one 'Running On Empty' having got over 20,000 views. 

The second of three videos is a critique of Mad Moon Riot - Gorilla. Gorilla is one of their covers as it was first sung by Bruno Mars. The director for this video was Joshua Mork. I think that this video is a mixture between two different categories; Video as homage and linear narrative.

The video is filmed in Los Angeles with two different locations. The first one of the locations is in a house and the next one is in a studio. This is important to show the two different categories that the video lays between.

Gorilla - Mad Moon Riot

This video is a bit of a homage to Cadbury's. The video starts with shots of different parts of the room and then onto the gorilla. The next shot you can see a dairy milk bar with a picture of the person who sings the song in the advert. The gorilla which is the main part of the video due to the song being called 'Gorilla.'  The video shows Mad Moon Riot performing throughout with small clips going back to the gorilla. The video is as though it is split into two parts with Mad Moon Riot performing being one side of it and the gorilla the other side. The next set of clips shows the gorilla. The gorilla is seen going onto a laptop and going onto a website that sells drums. This is another homage to the Cadbury's advert because the gorilla in the advert also plays drums. The gorilla purchases the drums and starts playing in the house. This is seen through clips of Mad Moon Riot performing. The gorilla is seen going through Mad Moon Riot's music sheet book. Afterwards the gorilla is seen turning up to open shows that Mad Moon Riot are holding, however the security turn him away as there is a sign saying 'No Gorilla's'. The gorilla looks deflated and sits down in a corner until he sees the poster saying that 'Gorilla's welcome' to one of Mad Moon Riot's shows in the Jungle Room, the gorilla turns up to the show making his way through the crowd to the front. The drummer in Mad Moon Riot then calls the gorilla up on stage and he performs the rest of the song with them. The video finishes with the gorilla following Mia the lead singer backstage.

It follows the conventions of the categories. I think that it is more of a homage because of the amount of references to Cadbury's along with that I also believe that the is a small linear narrative because the gorilla wants to play the drums for Mad Moon Riot and in the end this is what he achieves.

This music video also has a lot of cut aways because it switches between Mad Moon Riot and the gorilla, it feels as though it is two completely different videos until it comes together in one at the end. This is because the gorilla comes together together with the band, along with the cutaways there is also a majority of long shots to show the band performing together.

Locksley - Darling It's True 




The third of my critiques is Locksley - Darling It's True. Locksley are an indie, four piece rock/pop band from Madison Wisconsin. Darling It's True was from their album 'Be In Love' which was released on September 22nd 2009. Non-linear story-lines offer unique opportunities to differ the order in which the events occur chronologically. Along with the way that they are presented in the narrative.

This video is about the band walking to practice in New York. This video was shot while in the light rain and the camera was put into a bag to protect from the rain. The director for this video was Chris Stocksmith and he is known for his storytelling and documentary style shooting.

Darling Its True - Locksley

I dm'ed Jordan Laz who is on the bass and vocals. I asked him if he could tell me the idea behind the music video and why they decided to do it essentially back to front. He said that while it had been a while ago since they done the video that they remember doing it because it was the one that stuck in his mind the most. I think that this shows how different this video was to the band as well as the audience. This video stands out in the bands mind because it was something that they hadn't seen before and therefore wanted to try it because it was a simple idea that when done correctly would look really great. He said 'the concept of the video was one continuous shot. So it ends at the start and starts at the end. 'It followed our every day walk from the train stop to the studio we worked at we filmed one long shot that took about 15 minutes, and choreographed to be singing/playing at certain points.' The idea was that the band was something simple to work with, the idea that walking to practice is something that they would do everyday. The idea was that because it was so simple it could be edited in a way that it looks incredibly different to any other walk.

The video starts off backwards with them already playing in band practice there is then a time lapse for three seconds which takes you back to the start. The next part of the music video is the main singer in the band walking down the road and another member of the band joins him and they walk into their band practice. After that there is another time lapse which takes them back into a shop where they all are. Once again there is another time lapse which shows the main singer and another member of the band walking through another street in New York and the two members walk into the same shop again with the other members already being in there. There is another time lapse of the main singer walking down the road again and into a shop where one of the members is getting fitted for a suit. Again another time lapse of them back in the shop again where there is another time lapse and they back at band practise again. Finally there is a time lapse of the entire video in 20 seconds and it ends with two of the members walking backwards into the subway.

I know that this music video has a non linear narrative because it doesn't actually make sense, there is no sense to this video because it isn't in order. The purpose of a non linear narrative is that it is the idea of an experimental storytelling. The difference between non linear narrative and a lot of other music videos is that it is about how abstract it can be in which compared to a lot of other music videos where they are simply just the literal storytelling. Alongside being a non linear narrative it is also sort of a one shot because it was all filmed in one very long shot.

While the filming for this music video would be incredibly simple I think that the reason why this music video looks so good is because of the editing. There is a lot of speeding up and putting the footage backwards.

http://www.boweryboogie.com/2009/09/locksley-on-the-lower-east-side/

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Pitching Treatment - Out Of The Woods

Thursday, 20 November 2014
Naomi Doddridge and Olivia Searle 

Out Of The Woods - Taylor Swift

TARGET AUDIENCE – 

I think that the primary audience for Taylor Swift is anyone from about 12 years old up to about someone in their late 20s. The reason for this is because I lot of her fans will be able to relate to her music. Her music is mainly about past relationships she has had, how these relationships have changed her along with what her life was like growing up. Taylor has been in the public eye since the age of about 14 therefore fans that were her fans at that age are now well into their 20s. 

Taylor Swift belongs to Big Machine Records which is an independent American record label which specalises in country music artists. Although she is now considered to be more of a pop artist she has stuck with the record label that signed her at 14. In November 2007 Big Machine Records founded a subsidiary imprint called Valory Music Group. Acts that were signed to them included people like Jimmy Wayne, Jewel, The Mavericks and Justin Moore. Late in 2008 the label began promoting Canadian artists such as Adam Gregory and Emerson Drive, who are also signed to Midas Records along with Big Machine Records. However in 2009 Big Machine Records ended promotion for the two artists. Big Machine joined with Universal Republic Records in June 2009 to found a new label, Republic Records Nashville. In March 2014 the label announced that it would be reviving Dot Records.The company announced a partnership with Cumulus Media to create 'Nash Icon Music,' an offshoot of Cumulus's Nash FM brand, in August 2014; the brand will promote active country acts who achieved mainstream fame in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Other artists on Big Machine Records include big country artists such as Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts. Along with smaller ones such as Danielle Bradberry and Laura Bell Bundy. 




The type of media that Taylor Swifts audience will use will include magazines. the internet and tv programming. I think out of all of them the use of the internet will be the most important thing because this will be something that they will use on a everyday basis. The most popular websites on the internet that they will connect with will be Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. It is important that the video is aimed directly for the younger side of the target audience because they are more likely to share and like with all of their friends. 

                                         ------------------------------------------------------------


SYNOPSIS -



Out Of The Woods - Mood Board

Our song is originally sung by Taylor Swift. Myself and my colleague Olivia Searle are working together. The way that we plan to work together is by splitting up the filming and acting in half. Olivia will film the verses and be in the chorus's. While I will be in the verses but film the chorus's. I think that its important that we get to do both parts, this is so that we can get an insight into both. Ideally we have an idea to film in two locations however this has the possibility of just being one location. The two locations that we have come up with are Saltram Woods and Olivia's house.

The reason why we have come up with the woods is because of the name of the song 'Out Of The Woods.' The chorus states 'Are we out of the woods yet? 'Are we in the clear yet?' Therefore we thought we would do our own take on what this chorus meant. In the chorus there will be multiple scenes of the woods with Olivia standing still and walking around the woods which is the key connection to the Woods reference.

0- 0.20 Seconds  

In the first 20 seconds before the lyrics start there is eight beats of four and in this time there will be 40 shots. Four of the shots will be of the actress (myself) and one will of an empty woods. It will be done in a way where it will look as though I am there and then I disappear. The filming will be very simple for this this is because it will all be done in editing. The look that we are going for will be so it looks like I am fading in and out of the shot. Throughout these first 40 shots the camera will be kept in the same position however in every shot I will move. The starting position will be close to the camera and after each beat I will be moving away. In the first 20 seconds it will be as though we will be filming a still image because I won't actually move on camera I will just move backwards between the takes.

0.20- 0.49 Seconds 

The first verse is from 20 to 49 seconds. Within these 29 seconds it will fade out from the woods to Olivia's house. The camera will then cut to Olivia's couch with myself sat on it. It will just be me in the scene although there is the reference to the (boyfriend) he isn't actually in it. We decided to do this so that it makes it seems as though she is just thinking about him and the time together. This entire time everything would have been in black and white due to the line 'The rest of the world was black and white' I will then use a Polaroid camera to take a photo and then we will cut the shot to the Polaroid picture that I would have just taken. This picture would be in colour because at the end of the shot the Polaroid picture will be full screen and zoomed in so it is covering the whole screen.

0.49 - 1.18 Seconds 

The chorus will start will the Polaroid and Olivia in the empty woods. Olivia would then be lip syncing the chorus. The reason why we decided to get her to sing the song is so that while I was the actresses she would be the narrator and narrate the story through her chorus's. In the song she will be walking around the woods singing it as though she is in her own world therefore by doing this she wouldn't be directly looking at the camera so that it follows the structure of the linear narrative storytelling.

1.18 - 2.00 Seconds 

For our second verse we aren't entirely sure where the location for all of the verse will be. The second verse will start in the woods sitting against the tree thinking about past times. Next, there will either be a flashback to Olivia's house or we will still use the same location (we aren't sure which one yet because we would like to try both) The flashback will be playing Jenga by myself and it falling over with the reference to the lyric 'We were built to fall back together.' After that there will be another reference to the next lyric 'Your necklace hanging from my neck' we aren't sure what the type of necklace it will be; however most likely to be one with a heart. The camera will be focusing on the necklace throughout these lyrics. The next part of this verse would be pushing a table to the side, however we wouldn't use an actual table we would most probably use a couple pieces of cardboard to make it look a lot smoother. I will then slide to the ground where I will then be seen throwing some paper aeroplanes in the direction of the camera which again is in reference to another lyric 'Two paper aeroplanes flying.'

2.00 - 2.26 seconds 

The second chorus will be pretty much the same as the first, there will be multiple shots of Olivia singing in the woods. The shots will be a bit different though so they don't look exactly the same however the idea is to keep the concepts incredibly similar in both of the chorus.' This is important because it doesn't change too much because we want to keep the chorus's similar to eachother. The lyrics in the chorus are faster therefore the action will be slower while the opposite will happen in the verses.

2.26 - 3.08 Seconds 

This final verse will be starting off in the woods with my back against a tree however this time my head will be down on my knees the give the impression that I am crying. The location would then change to another part of the woods where there is less trees and more clear skies because the camera will slowly pan up to the sky and focus on the sky for a few seconds before it pans back down again. This verse would end with me looking up to the skies as the lyric 'You were lookin' at me.' This verse is a lot more about feelings than the second verse therefore not a lot of movement happens in it however it is more about the emotion that is portrayed through the action in the verse.

3.08 - 3.55 Seconds 

The final chorus is incredibly long with it being repeated four times. Our idea for the chorus was so that there would be multiple shots in the woods of Olivia just like in the other chorus's however along with that I would also be part of it as it is the final part. We decided that we both had to be in it so that there is a ending from both parts of the story. The idea is that Olivia would go off one way while I would go off in the opposite direction. The thinking behind doing this is so that we wouldn't both necessarily have to be in the same shot. I think that by switching back and forth from Olivia to myself could work really well. I think that by walking off in opposite ways would look very effective. However the last few lines we thought that both of us could sing a line each as we both walk away.

At the end of the video we would have copyright at the bottom of the screen, similar to the way that Big Machine Records do it.

------------------------------------------------------------

JUSTIFICATION OF CREATIVE IDEA - 

We are responding to the track in a way so that we are following a similar pattern to what a 'normal' Taylor Swift music video would look like. Therefore our video will indirectly suit Taylor Swifts target audience. The video will contain a linear narrative such as all of Taylor Swift's other music videos do. There will be a clear difference between the verses and the chorus.' We will be matching up certain lyrics to the music video and that in a way that it will follow a chronological order. This allows the audience to follow the song and the video in a way that won't be too complicated. This is important because of how young our target audience is.

                                         ------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT CATEGORY OF MUSIC VIDEO ARE YOU USING AS YOUR BASIS? 

008 – Linear narrative – the journey of something

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Machine_Records
http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift

The State of Music Video

The State of Music Video written by the Creative Review who showcases contemporary advertising, design, illustration, new media, photography, and typography. It is a monthly magazine targeted on the commercial arts and design scene. Creative Review has a circulation of around 20,000 readers. In general it focuses content on media originating in United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States.

In this post I will talking about 'The State of Music Video' through my own knowledge, research and content in the article.

The need for a music video is so that the artist is able to build up their own image. This is important because they may want the song to be viewed in a certain way therefore creating a video means that the majority of the audience is going to see it in the same way as wanted. However due to people having their own views and opinions this means that not everyone will see it in that light. The videos are an advert for the image of the artist. On YouTube compared to on television there is a wider audience the reason for this is because on television it is only the people that go out to watch the videos however on YouTube anyone and everyone will be watching it because there is a lot of different genres of videos. For the label it costs them a lot of money for them to put the video on television therefore YouTube is an effective cheaper way to showcase their artist. YouTube is a very established network therefore it is known for being a very successful way to promote the song and evidentially the artist. Putting an unique and different video onto YouTube means that can almost guarantee the amount of success its going to get.

The budget being given to directors is a lot smaller now than it was say almost 20 years ago. The problem with that is that they are still expected to create the same production however that is a lot harder because the values are a lot different from before. 'Gone are the days of 150K budgets. Those jobs are now 80K' Nowadays there is a lot of indecision where the pitches are taking weeks instead of days. In Europe and the UK a lot of videos are now being created on a tiny budget therefore from the creative field it is a lot harder because without 'pulling in favours' they are not going to create anything similar to what they could create in the 90s. The problem with music video production is that it is incredibly dependent on the industry which is seeing its traditional sources of income declining every year which is taking its toll on the directors. This means that a lot of the directors are working for free or have other jobs on the side.

The only up side to the state of music videos is that finding new and upcoming video directors is relatively easy, this is because they can be found on YouTube and Vimeo. Mike O'Keefe head of video at UK major Sony BMG stated 'The kids coming out of film school and art college are used to having a video camera and Final Cut Pro on their Macbook'. The lower budgets have in some respect given 'baby' directors an opportunity to progress the way that they do this is creating smaller music videos on almost nothing. This is because bands years ago would of gotten a lot more 'It's not 30K for  a new band any-more it might be 5K.' 

David Wilson is an English music video director and animator from Wells, Somerset. He started out by studying Illustration at Brighton University where he was able to direct a series of animation videos through his years there. Along with Illustration he did a foundation course in Art and Design at St Martins. He is now represented by the company 'Colonal Blimp.'

He started off by working with Metronomy directing 'The Bay' in 2011 the success from that video went viral and was able to build his way up and by 2013 and 2014 he was able to working with a couple of the biggest bands. In 2013 he worked with Arctic Monkeys on 'Do I Wanna Know.' This video is one of the biggest on YouTube with over 115 million views. Along with Arctic Monkeys in 2014 he also worked with Arcade Fire on 'We Exist' which has over 3 million views in the first six months. David Wilson works in a way where he is able to emerge award winning live action with animation to create something that is truly iconic and unique. The animation in 'Do I Wanna Know' is simple because it's black and white yet it still works very well and it goes with the rock alternative music scene.

  

David Wilson stepped away from the stereotypes of the alternative rock scene and did something that he knew, his animation skills are really shown in this video because there is a mixture of his talents within live video and animation which are his two main genres. This way he was able to create the best video. Arctic Monkeys gave him the freedom to create a music video where he had a lot of freedom. The reason for this is because Arctic Monkeys trusted David to create a video that could express their music in a way they wanted it to be expressed.

David Wilson has a desire to create a new and memorable experience as he has a talent for transforming something that is very ordinary to the very sublime. His work has gained a following and wide industry recognition. In a recent interview David Wilson stated that if he wasn't directing he would be still in the arts 'the art work that really inspires me is the interactive stuff the video projections and things like that. I'm really into interactive and sound art. It's taking moving images and putting it into 3D objects rather than going back into static imagery or sculpture.'

After being released onto YouTube on June 18th 2013, it became the highest watched music video on YouTube attracting over 100 million views. This shows how much power social media sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Due to how powerful social media is in the current age if a video done by a successful artist and director the likelihood of it getting 1 million views in the first couple of days it is highly likely. This is incredibly important for the artist to get the attention they need.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have a massive effect on how well a music video does. Social networking sites are now the biggest way to market a music video. If someone likes it on Facebook or they have to do is press share or retweet and all of their friends/following have seen it. Top US director Chris Milk states that 'It was always the intention for people to forward it to their friends' 'the main distribution of videos is the internet, and your demographic becomes your distribution channel. If they like it, they distribute it for you. So you've got to do something better than just shoot a band playing' 

Personally for myself I watch all of my music videos on YouTube, I would never stick on the music channel to watch the music videos because I do find them to be boring if you watch them continuously. If I like the concept behind the video I will watch it no matter who the artist is. I think this is important because creating a brilliant music video brings in an entirely different audience to one who wouldn't have heard or listened to the artist before.

I think that social networking sites have had a massive impact on how music video has evolved. The reason I believe this is because on Twitter if a big well known artist such as Taylor Swift or One Direction are releasing a music video the chances are that their fans will have created a trend. The trend is something that everybody on Twitter can see and therefore by them spreading this it means that audiences that maybe wouldn't have known about the music video are now aware. Along side ITunes its important to the artist that they have a visual site that can promote them therefore YouTube is incredibly important when it comes to viewing the video, however social networking sites are the reason behind the success of a lot of videos.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Why do music videos exist?

Wednesday, 19 November 2014
There have been a lot of music videos. Music videos are very popular and are incredibly important to an artist. They are a way of creating an image for the artist. Here is some examples of types of music videos.

Performance Based/Studio Video - This is where the artist or band will perform their song throughout most of the video if not all of the video. The reason for this is because this is the easiest way to create a music video, this is also a relatively cheap way because they don't need to pay for any extra effects because everything that they have belongs to the artist. The only thing that the artist or band will have to find is a suitable location although they can very easily use the location that they normally perform or rehearse in therefore this is why a lot of bands use this type of video. An example of this is Queen 'We Will Rock You' throughout this song they are just singing to the camera and not using anything extra.

Narrative Based Video - A narrative based music video is where the artist or band attempts to tell a story through their music video. This is the most expensive of all of the videos because there is the need for actors to tell the story. This video makes the song more popular because the video is making a statement and therefore it is important that the story is told correctly. In the case of these videos they can sometimes be based around the what the lyrics are saying however this isn't always the case.

Concept Based Video - In a concept based video it is usual produced for an idea or a concept. This is probably the most unusual style of music videos. These are to be used in the media and therefore are made for commercial value. When creating these the director will know exactly what they want and will employ the people that they need to get the end result that they need.

Surrealistic Video - A surrealistic video is very abstract it has a very artistic feel to it. These videos are very creative and usually have a use a mixture of effects to create this artistic feel, these effects can be from live footage, animation and distortion. This is the kind of video where the director can have a visual experiment with it.

Interpretative/Impressionist Videos - Can be very similar to the surrealistic video as they can be very creative and they don't necessarily have to be directly related to the video. The only small difference is that it isn't distort they normally focus on adding a creative visual experience that the audience can watch and learn something from. 

Animation Videos - Animation is by far the cheapest way to make a film as it is all about the digital aspect of it. This style of video is able to compliment the music because the producer has the creative freedom along with this animation has no target audience therefore it is suited for anyone. 

Homages Video - Are a tribute to an artist, usually if an artist has past away one of these videos are made. They are very respectful and serious.

____________________________________________

There are multiple reasons for creating a music video. The reasons why artists songs have a music video is because it is a way of selling the song therefore giving the audience a reaction so that they remember the song. Along with that the video is a narrative of the song it will give the audience an insight into the song and what the song means to the artist. A lot of music videos also have to have the comedic side to them to entertain the audience without this nobody would take any interest into the video.

Music videos are made as a marketing device to promote sales of an artist, this is so that they become more popular within social media. Music videos help create an image of the artist they do this by having a certain mood attached to the video and therefore people can relate to it within their life. The more unique and memorable the music video the more likely people will remember the artist.

In the past music videos were shown on television shows and on music channels such as MTV which was introduced in 1981. The labels would work together with the shows to ensure that they were playing their video to therefore lead in an increase of sales. MTV gave artists the opportunity to put themselves out there for the public to judge them and help them gain a following. Videos enabled artists to convey a more comprehensive message and portray an image and brand for themselves.

Advertisement - They are able to create an income through advertisements. An example of this is on youtube, before every YouTube video there is an advert up to thirty seconds long, if a video becomes very popular it will mean that the advert will also been seen the same amount of views. The more countries that the song is viewed to means the more money it gets due to its global audience. An advert will roughly make $2 per 1,000 views and if this video gets up to 100 million views it will get a big profit in advertising.

Content ID - Due to how powerful YouTube and artists are there is a lot of things that can happen an example of this is if a video of someones wedding dance has the track to a very popular pop artist in the background, the artist can allow for the adverts and a cut of the money it makes.

Vevo - Vevo is the middle man between YouTube and a the record label. Vevo shares the wealth between the online videos and the music industries. The bigger the artist the more views it is going to get and therefore the more amount of money it creates.

Music Sales - On these adverts they will often say that you can buy it on; Google, Amazon, Apple etc to buy the digital download. While the majority of the money goes to the artist and record label by clicking the link the online retailers will also get a little bit of income from it.

Sponsorship - A very popular one is using music tracks for television adverts. Some of the most iconic adverts have the biggest songs behind them and therefore making a ton of money in sponsorship because the song will become even more recognized through the advert.

Merch - However much this doesn't happen as much nowadays merch annotation is one of the biggest ways to generate income from a music video. There will be a link to the merch page where fans can buy tshirts, jumpers etc.
Perks Of Being A Film Student © 2014