The Purpose of music videos

The purpose of music videos is so that the artist is known and so they can gain profit from the video becoming popular. It could promote the producer/MV director so they become famous and more videos are checked out by the director's work. Also, the purpose of a music video could just be an insight to the artist's personality, e.g. who they are, what their past has been like and what are like as person or also there could be a meaning to the song or video about the artist.

 Promote a new music release

By a new music video being released in to the public, it is raising awareness of the new single/album and also the video itself could become an event itself. By airing it public, people will view it and share it through word of mouth and social networking making it popular and getting it higher ratings. Also it will be advertised through adverts on the TV, laptop e.g. mainly on streaming websites for more promotion and the artist their self could address their fans about more releases. This is good for the artist because it will gain them popularity and money. It is beneficial for the audience because watching music videos are easy to access and enjoyable.

To create a visual presentation of an artist

By watching a music video, it allows you to
see the artist without them actually performing. It also allows you to see the brands used in the video for promotion of the item. This is used quite a lot in some music videos and the brands make often pays the singer to use it in their music video. It also can allow the artist to re-invent themselves and communicates the energy and style of the artist. An example of items being promoted in music videos are in Miley Cyrus' music video 'We Can't Stop', she starts by turning up pink beats speaker made by dr.dre. These are shown to promote the item because it is used by a celebrity and it shows what they can do, e.g. the tiny music speakers can project a high volume as Miley increases the volume.

A good example of an re-invented artist would be Nicki Minaj. When her first album 'Pink Friday' was first released, she wasn't known to the public and she getting a large sum of profit, so she re-invented herself a year later with an eccentric style which was an eye opener to the public and her albums started selling, increasing her fame and income. Nicki Minaj is commonly known for her image more than her songs because she shows a seductive and promiscuous nature in her music videos. This is beneficial for the audience because younger/older boys may find her sexy and want to view more of her music videos and girls may envy her or are inspired by her so they listen to her music. This benefits Minaj because then she gains popularity, fans and profit.

Extend the play ability of and provide additional income of the song

By releasing the music video out to the public, it must get high rating and gain popularity to the get to the charts. The frequency of the song being played on music channels after release and getting good reviews will keep the artist in the public eye, gets music sales going and the artist receives income by the music channel in order for them to air their music video so the music video become viewed by more of the public and also so the artist become highly rated. This is commonly used on adverts usually with streaming websites or on television.

Here is an example below of Lady Gaga's song 'Applause' and her latest album being advertised on YouTube. Because her latest song has gone to No.35 on the Charts and she is now promoting her song with advertisement to try and keep it playing and get it back higher on the charts. By adverting the song more frequently, hopefully the audience will then go and watch the music video again and start to enjoy it. This is be good for the artist and the charting company.

Lady Gaga advertisement

To create a synergy with media sectors

A synergy is a business tie in and by creating a synergy with other media sectors like music and TV, it increases awareness for both institutions simultaneously and it may allow artists to enter new sectors of the music industry. A good example of a business tie in with music and television would be when the television show 'X Factor' makes a single with all the contestants singing one song, the image above is a direct link to the 2010 x factor finalists single 'Heroes' in respect of Remembrance Day. This is promoting the song and the TV show which is very good for because because they are 'killing 2 birds with 1 stone' as you could say. The people that enjoy the music video will buy the single in the store and  this will be beneficial for the music company because they will receive profit and also the original artist that sang the song, in this case it was David Bowie that sang heroes and after the remake was released, both versions then received a much higher viewing count. This was good for the TV show and singer because they both received a high income and the show got more viewers.

Another example would be Adele's 'Skyfall' music video. This is a tie in with the 007 film 'Skyfall'. In the music video Adele is only shown once in the official music video because all is shown is clips of the film. Adele is promoting both the song and the film, by watching the music video, the audience will hopefully enjoy it and will want to watch the film, therefore it will be leave a positive impact on the film industry that produced the movie because they will receive income by the amount of people that see it when its screened over the world. This was a bit hit for Adele, she received over 101 million views and received an Oscar for Best Song and the film itself won 39 awards and was nominated 79 times, a few of these awards were 2 BAFTA's, 2 Golden Globes and 1 Oscar.