1. What is a music video?
A music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic
purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to
promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much
further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the
medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated
song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "song video", "song clip" or
"film clip".
Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action
filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos
blend different styles, such as animation and live action e.g. ‘A-ha’s take on me’. Many music videos
interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach.
Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live
performance.
How music videos are generally made?
The 3 stages in which a music video is made are:
1. Pre-Production-
This is the first stage of making a music video. In the music industry first thing to
do is to choose a production company which the record label, managers etc know
will produce a good video and be known by the public.
If a famous band/artist was to choose an unknown production company then the
public may think they are not so serious about making it.
It probably will not be of good standard and the audience might not enjoy it and
want to watch it. It also includes hiring the crew and building/planning sets.
In this stage there should also be ideas and a story board in mind with a structured
plan of how it will all go about.
This should be discussed with the crew and production company. This could take
several months to get right and have several meetings with everyone involved.
Then the budget is made in order to restrict certain things.
2. Production-

2. At this stage more crew will be hired to help with the production of the video, and
then once they know everything is in place, filming will begin.
Hundreds of takes will be taken so that they have plenty of footage to work with
and create the video. Stills will also be taken and used if necessary. This is
probably the most important part of the production process, because if this part
goes wrong then the entire video will go wrong and the video may not be made,
wasting a lot of money.
It is also possible that they will begin to make the video, or even be half way
through, and they will not like it, and have to begin completely again. However, as
the video will have been drafted so many times this should not happen.
3. Post-production-
The final stage is where the video is put together and edited. If special effects are
needed then this will happen at this stage aswell.
There would be a separate team of crew who work in the graphics department
who specialize in putting these parts together and getting the lip syncing and
dancing in time with the music.
The video will then be duplicated hundreds of times ready for different formats
and also ready for distribution. Parts of the video may also be used for advertising
the video, as well as the stills they will use for Digipaks and Digipaks adverts.
What is the purpose of a music video for the companies/artists that make them?
The purpose of music videos is to make profit, and this profit takes the form of financial
gain. The main purpose of a music video to the artist and record company is to promote
their music. When a video accompanies a song, the exposure of the single will
automatically double. while the song can only be played on the radio and audio-only
Internet services, such as iTunes, having an accompanying video means the song will also
be played on sites such as YouTube and Vevo, as well as music television.
Companies are aware that many consumers are more likely to share a video than an audio
file, to talk about a video, and spread the song’s influence by word of mouth or even people
looking over their shoulders. For an artist this could mean more recognition, as a visual
medium widens the possible scope of their creative ‘vision’, allowing them to get their
message or self image across with more power.
For a record company, the music video gives them the opportunity to include product
placement and earn more revenue, or place controversial images beside a song that, when
it’s just listened to, doesn’t have as many or as shocking implications.

3. For example Christina Aguilera’s video for Beautiful which featured homosexuals or Rihanna’s
‘SnM’ video which sparked up a lot of controversy, even being banned I n many countries for its
level of sexual content. By ramping up the level of controversy, an artist can gain a reputation
(good or bad), whether they want to or not, but this can boost the record company’s reputation.
Also if word of mouth is effective it’ll eventually boost sales and views, and possibly the single will
end up in a movie or advert with similar connotations to the theme of the video, giving record
companies the potential to earn revenue long after the single has been released.
Other reasons include enjoyment, and doing the thing that they love. In the case of the artist it is
about showing off their talent for singing and maybe dancing and so on. But depending on the
popularity of the music video, it can help the artist break into different industries such as acting,
where as in terms of the production company it’s all about the money, production and working
with the artists.
Who are some famous music video directors and why are their videos so well known?
Most notable music directors are:
Spike Lee- Lady Gaga ‘Paparazzi’
David Fincher- Madonna ‘vogue’, Michael Jackson ‘Who is it’
Jonas Akerlund- Lady Gaga ‘Paparazzi’, Madonna ‘Ray of Light’
Their videos are made so popular by the large budget they are able to put into it. The best
directors will not want to do a video for a new artist unless they feel that their debut single
will do well in the charts. These directors need to know that they will be getting the money
they spent on the video back. How good the video is will determine the outcome of views
and sales of the single after video consumption.
Because technology is improving, the amount of creativity allowed in a video is unlimited.
Artists coming out now are all about being individual and unique so they crate the most
alarming videos in terms of dancing, effects etc. This makes the audience enjoy the video
and praise the directors. And other artists, upcoming or established will want to work
with that particular director. For instance when I hear a song I really like, I imagine what
sort of video will suit the song and if a video does get released for that song I’ll be excited
to watch it. However if the video doesn’t fit the song, I will criticize it e.g. Nicki Minaj’s
video for Starships.
How much money is usually spent on the average music video? & have any been made very
cheaply or had large budgets?
On average a music video would cost a minimum of £50,000. However this can go anything
up to $500,000 or even more.
For example, Michael and Janet Jacksons music video for scream cost $7,000,000 to make
and Madonna’s express yourself video cost $5,000,000, but this is because they’re big pop
stars so they’re likely to make back the money they spent and more. I guess it depend on
the popularity of the artists/band and the people behind them. New artist/bands will not
be given a huge budget for crew and video equipment to make their first video, because

4. you can’t risk such amounts of money especially with today’s economy. However there are
some well known music videos which probably cost nothing at all. For example the OK
Here we go video which was filmed in a gym room and Drake’s Practice video which was
filmed in a bedroom using a laptop with webcam.
How do audiences access music videos? & where can they be seen?
There are a number of ways that the audiences can watch a music video, whether it is old or new.
The two main ways are:
Music channels
YouTube
YouTube is very useful as it has almost everything, including the brand new videos. Millions of
users watch YouTube as the videos are easily accessible and cheap for the record label for
promotional purposes. The music video site VEVO, is where established and upcoming artists
upload their videos or viewing, and this helps market the video and the artist.
As a result more profit is made. For example, Carly Rae Jepsens- Call me maybe video which gained
over 260million views. Another way to watch music videos is through music channels such as
MTV, Vault, and Viva etc. Music videos are shown on adverts between TV shows if it is a new video
and they are trying to advertise it.