the purpose of a music video

In 1941 the new invention of ‘The Panaoram Soundie’ came about and was popular in bars and clubs in America at the time, it was a juke box which played short video clips to accompany music. Then in 1956 the genre of music-centred films became popular and there was lots of rock ‘n’ roll themed films, for example the Elvis Presley ones. In 1962 music shows such a Top of the pops start up in the UK soon followed by Hullaballoo and others in 1964 in the US. In 1970 the record company realised that these shows were great for promoting the acts and their music so they started to create promos. The first proper music video is considered to be Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975.

Appearances on music shows was good promotion for artists so record companies started to make pre recorded videos of performances for them which meant them and their song was getting promotion. In 1992 on MTV when they played music videos they started crediting the directors and this was good promotion for them as well as the artist who's music video was being played.

Different bands and artists are marketed different ways, major artists like Britney Spears generally have a lot of publicity and a polished image, this can be reflected in their big glossy music videos which tend to have more dancers and special effects used in them. Mainstream artists would most likely have their songs played on channels like MTV Hits and 4 Music. Independent bands and artists don't usually have the funding to make a big flashy music video and most of their videos are performance videos, or videos with a lower budget with less effects and limited locations, these videos are funded by their independent record lables. Self produced artists release videos and music via the internet generally using YouTube.

When an artist gets airplay, in theory they get royalties, and if a artist decides to make a videos in theory the same happens, it is in theory because it is hard to track the consumption of a music video this is because of the many media outlets we have today, so instead an estimate is made and the artist gets paid their royalties accordingly this is why well known artists do better in the charts.

 Music videos originally were just  on TV shows such as Top of the Pops and then channels like MTV who's purpose was to show music videos came about, now there are lots of media outlets to watch music videos on, you can watch them on the internet on sites like YouTube and Vivo you can download music videos from itunes and watch them on your ipod, Ipad, computer or iphone. Music videos are also shown on public screens, the pros to having so many outlets is that there is a lot of variety but a con could be there may be less songs sold if you can just watch the videos on YouTube and Vivo because it is the song for free whenever you want.

Synergy is when a other companies are allowed to use someone elses creations to sell things, an example of this is Hannah Montana, it started as a TV show but brought out other products such as music albums, perfumes, hair accessories, clothing, towels, cutlery, a film, etc. with Hannah Montana on them, Disney benefits from this because it’s like advertising for the show and also they get money because they own Hannah Montana.

I think music videos are popular because they can be entertaining and also help show meanings of songs, music videos put images to go with the words which can help bring songs to life. I also think music videos are popular because people like to see their favourite bands as well as listen to them, it gives them more information about the band and make fans feel closer to the artists.