Task 1 - Purpose of Music Videos

Music videos are split into many different genres all specific to different types of people. When making a music video, one of the first things you have to do is designate a target audience.

For example if you were making a hip-hop video you would need to follow certain codes and conventions, for example to make a traditional hip-hop video there would be a lot of; dancing, women, champagne/crystal, designer clothes and a show of wealth etc. This kind of show usually relates to the lyrics of the song and is possibly what most people who listen to this kind of music aspire to be like; wealthy, popular individuals. Another example is of rock videos; these also have to follow certain rules but are completely different to a hip-hop video. In a rock music video you would expect to see the entire band on show instead of just the lead singer, also more often than not a rock video will follow some kind of storyline; however not necessarily has anything to do with the lyrics.

Music videos have a wide history, the first music video is claimed to be Tony Bennett’s ‘stranger in paradise’, where it is a film of him walking along Hyde Park in London. In 1961 Ozzie Nelson filmed a video of his son, Ricky, singing and showing various parts of the world, this was believed to be the first ever rock video. From here music videos moved on to what we now know, the first evidence of this was in 1962 where the Beatles major motion picture ‘A hard days night’ contained many musical segments. These segments are what most videos now are taken from. 1966 is when Bob Dylan made the first real music video, ‘homesick blues’ which has been imitated in other music videos, films, and parodies. The Beatles then went to new lengths to make their videos for ‘strawberry fields’ and ‘penny lane’, then in 1975 Queen released their music video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which is considered a landmark in music video history.

Music videos are designed to promote the artist and their music. A good music video will appeal to its target audience, and make them remember the music video whether they liked it or not. Music videos promote the artist and track by showing what the artist is about and how they want their music to be portrayed. Sum 41 for example usually have quite silly music videos which involve a lot of people jumping around and having a good time, or just them doing something relating to the lyrics. Their videos are usually memorable due to their foolish nature and their ability to make you laugh. Dance music artists, such as scooter, will primarily have people dancing in the video, showing that this is what their music is designed to make you want to do. But these effects will only adhere to you if you are the target audience.

You can usually tell if a music video is successful by judging the sales of the album and DVDs of the artist, you can also tell by how many views the video gets on sites like YouTube. Some people will usually buy an album or single to remind them of a particularly memorable music video; but the majority of people would watch their favourite music videos on You Tube or the bands website.

Bibliography
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Music_video_-_History_of_music_videos/id/1784952 November 16th 10am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video November 15th 4pm