The purpose of a music video

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) is generally regarded as the first music video.
There are older films of groups/people performing, but they were not made for the same
purpose. When the song was released in the UK in 1975 the band were on tour and couldn't
make it to Top of The Pops each week when it reached No.1. No one imagined the record
would be so successful at nearly 9 minutes long it was considered un-radio-friendly, and they
recorded the video to be played in their absence. At the time it was revolutionary and people
couldn't get enough of it.
A music video combines audio with visuals. Videos are produced for promotional and artistic
purposes. Music videos are generally used as a marketing method in order to boost sales of
a song. The four main types of music video are: Performance, Narrative, Homage and
Surrealism. Performance entails the artist / band performing the song within the music video.
Music videos that follow a narrative are usually most popular as the visuals and audio
interlink in order to portray a story. A homage uses similar codes, conventions and
techniques in order to respectfully copy a popular song in honour of the artist / creator of the
media text. A surrealist music video contains elements of Performance, Narrative and
Homage; these music videos use a wide variety of effects in order to make the music video
memorable.
A music video is used to promote an artists and a record label. The music video will be used
to help gain exposure for both the song and the recording artist themselves. When a video is
published onto YouTube is becomes monetised. Monetisation means that you authorize the
presence of advertisements on their video, and YouTube charges advertisers for these and
shares the fees with you, allowing you to make some money from people viewing their music
video1. This will then allow both the artist and the record label to get a percentage of the
money. A music video will also increase the sales of the song therefore this will gain
exposure for the artist and make more money for the record label.
One music video that has increased the sales of a particular song is Gagman Style.
Gangman Style is now the most watched video on YouTube with over a billion and a half
views. Proving a silly dance, a catchy song and a great sense of humour are perhaps all it
takes to become a global sensation.2 This proves that a songs music video can be very
influence when it comes to the popularity song. The song itself topped the charts in over 30
countries with political leaders and celebrities around the world have attempted to copy the
iconic dance moves.3

1 https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/monetization-onyoutube/4RYbt1sqKY4
2 Media Magazine, Issue 45, Page 50
3 Media Magazine, Issue 45, Page 50

The most expensive music video made to date is the lead single from Michael Jackson's
ninth album scream. The song was a duet with his sister Janet Jackson. The song was
released on May 31,1995. The music video remains one of his most critically acclaimed as it
went on to win a Grammy Award and numerous American Music Awards. At a cost of $7
million, it was listed in the Guinness World Records as the most expensive music video ever
made.
Where they are used and why?

As part of our primary research we wanted to find out what is the most used technological
device to watch music videos on. The question we asked was what devices do you use to
watch music videos?. As our results show a mobile phone is the most used piece of
technology in order to access music videos. This result didnt really come as a surprise to us
as nowadays everyone has a smart phone either android or apple where you can install the
YouTube app and access music videos easily. The mobile phone was followed by the TV
option which surprised us the most as before obtaining our primary research we believed that
the TV option wouldnt have been as popular as it was. We felt like with all the technology
around at the moment it is more convenient to use our other options rather than having to sit
through all the unnecessary adverts in order to watch a specific music video. A computer
was the third most common method of watching music videos which we knew it would be a
popular chose due to the convenience of YouTube and Apple music both easily accessible
online. A result which we thought would have done better than it actually did was a tablet. We
believed that a tablet would be easier to access music videos on rather than a TV or
computer as people carry them around all the time, but then after we sat down and spoke
about our results we thought that people wouldnt want to use a tablet in public like they do a
mobile phone due to the inconvenience of carrying it about.

I believe all of these platforms are used in order to watch music videos due to the
convenience that each of them present, some being more convenient than others as they are
portable devices which can easily accessible on the go. Some individuals still enjoy putting
the music channel on while they complete either chores or work around the home.
Music videos are being used in this way due to the internet connecting an individual and their
favourite artists. Social media can now be accessed on TVs, computers, mobile phones and
tablets. This means that if an artist publishes a new music video they will post a link on either
their Facebook or Twitter making the music video easily accessible to their millions of
followers on social media.

Viewing figures

Image taken from Wikipedia4

The current most popular music video on YouTube is Gangnam Style by Psy. The video has
been watched over 2.5 billion times. The video became so popular around the world due to
the dance that is associated with it. The dance was copied by mainly celebrities and political
leaders and posted onto social media sites which helped gain awareness for the song.

Viewing Figures from MTV in January 2004 (12th-18th)

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_viewed_YouTube_videos

Viewing Figures for MTV in January 2016 (11th-17th)

In January 2004 MTV had an average daily reach of 2.80% compared to January 2016 the
average daily reach is 0.87%. This shows us that the average daily reach has dropped
1.93%. In January 2004 MTV had a weekly reach of 11.60% compared to the weekly reach
in January 2016 where the weekly reach is 4.30%. This shows us that the weekly reach has
dropped 7.30% in the past 12 years. I believe the main reason for the drop is views over the
past 12 years is YouTube. Individuals want to access their favourite artists music videos
quickly and easily using their mobile phones where the YouTube app can be downloaded.
MTV doesnt provide this anymore as continuous ad breaks and changing their focus to
reality shows has seen a huge dip in their viewings over the past 12 years.

Using BARB, I have looked at 4Musics top 10 most viewed shows (form the week
commencing 17th Jan 2016). This shows me that only two shows from the top 10 feature
music videos, these two shows are The UK music video chart and 11 vids were loving right
now. All of the other shows are reality shows. The UK music video chart received 68,000
views over a seven-day period whereas 11 vids were loving right now only received 64,000
views of the seven-day period.

Using Vidstatsx, I looked at the most views music video channels of a seven-day period. This
time six out of the ten channels were music video channels. When I compared these viewing
figures with 4Music you can see that YouTube is a leading platform accessing music videos.
The six channels viewing figures ranged from Spinnin Records (which had the lowest
viewing figures of the seven-day period) with 53,286,208 views to Justin Biebers VEVO
channel which received 162,242,873 (which had the highest viewing figures of the seven-day
period) views over the time period. This reiterates the fact that YouTube is the leading
platform for watching music videos due to the easily accessibility of the website. Individuals
dont want to sit through ad breaks in order to watch music videos they want to be able to find
their favourite artists channels and watch them quickly and easily.

MTV, the American cable television channel, MTV: Music Television, founded in 1981, has
become almost synonymous with music video as a cultural form. Originally owned by Warner
Amex Satellite Company, but subsequently sold to Viacom International, the channel became
enormously popular during the late 1980s, and has been credited with boosting a flagging
music industry5.
I believe that MTV as a channel isnt relevant within the present day. Since changing its focus
from providing new music to reality shows it has seen a huge decline within its viewing over
the past 12 years. Platforms such as YouTube, Apple Music and SoundCloud allows
consumers to search their favourites artists / bands and listen to their songs or watch the
music videos for these songs. The accessibility of the internet has taken a huge toll on the

5 Popular Music The Key Concepts (Roy Shuker Page 200)

viewing figures of MTV as everyone can stay connected much easier through social media
making it a lot easier to share links to new music videos / tracks.
Fake YouTube views are views that the owner of the video can buy to add more publicity to
their video and make it more popular. Buying fakes views can impact a record label, an artist
and the public. If a record label buys fake views for an artists video in order to gain more
fans and more money from the video being monetised and they get caught it will have a
damaging effect on both parties. For one the video will lose all the bought views on the music
video and be forced to buy back the money they have earned from those views. Both the
record label and the artists will lose reputation and creditability as they will be seen an
untrustworthy. Not only that but the artist will lose fans / public support which in a worst case
scenario have a knock on effect on tours and other live events.
YouTube is a viable way for bands / artists to earn money but it is dependent on two factors
how many views the video receives and what type of advertisement is shown on/before the
video. For banner ads that run during the video, you make on average $0.80 per 1000 views
($0.0008 per view). For video advertisements played before the video, you make on average
$5-$8 per 1000 views ($0.005-$0.008 per view).6 If an artist is receiving over a million views
on each video which is published to their channel then it is a viable way in order to earn
money.
YouTube per view / per song provides the artist with a greater income than them selling an
individual song on a digital download service such as iTunes. In the popular digital realm, a
$9.99 album download (consisting of 10 songs) on a platform like iTunes nets artists a
modest 94 cents - less than a 10% cut. The record company takes $5.35 and Apple keeps
the remaining $3.70. Artists get nine cents for each individual song downloaded on iTunes 7.
This shows us that from an individual song download on iTunes an artist would receive $0.09
compared to $0.80 from each YouTube view.

6 https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-YouTube-pay-partners-for-their-content
7 http://www.investinganswers.com/personal-finance/rich-famous/who-really-profitsyour-itunes-downloads-3818

Our primary research has reiterated the fact that YouTube is the leading platform for
accessing music videos. 12 out of the 20 people we asked during our research said that they
used YouTube to watch music videos. As the table above shows YouTube leads the way over
our other four options by some distance. When we asked our why they preferred YouTube
over anything else their responses were; smaller adverts compared to TV and quick and
easy access. These responses provide us with evidence that YouTube provides consumers
with a way in which they can access their favourite artists music video quickly without the
hassle of advertisements that TV and other platforms present making it the best way to
access music videos.
How are bands promoted?
A major label is a label that commands a high percentage of the annual sales of records,
and has their own distribution system8. The four biggest main record labels are considered
Warner Music, Sony/BMG, Universal, and EMI. A major record label can really benefit an
artist when it comes promotion of their music. A major label will have the money to provide
huge promotional campaigns for the artists music in order to gain more awareness therefore
making them more money.
An independent record label or indie record label is a record label that operates without the
funding of or outside major record labels. Many bands and musical acts begin their careers
on independent labels.9 An independent record label is usually set up as an imprint of a
major label. These smaller independent labels are usually owned by international artists that
want to help find and nurture new up and coming musical talent.
A major record label will have significantly more income than an independent label as it will
benefit from album sales of the artists on its roster. The major record label will also be able to

8 http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/recorddeal.htm
9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_record_label

provide a substantially bigger promotional campaign for the artists new music as they will
want to gain as much awareness as possible in order to generate more sales revenue.
Whereas the independent label will usually rely on word of mouth promotion and an online
hype in order to gain awareness for their artists new music.
A self promoted artist is when an artist has no kind of record label in order to support them or
fund promotional campaigns. They find themselves performing many gigs in all types of
venues. This will help the artist gain more awareness and recognition for their work which
could gain them a record label to sign onto.

Synergy
Synergy can be described as the relationship between media products that cross promote
each other10. A good example of when two products promote each other is the James Bond
film franchise and the video games (such as Goldeneye and Nightfire). The game is based
on its characters and tropes that are featured within the film. In turn this makes the game are
more appealing to the audience as they are attracted to elements they recognise from the
films, while the games act as a second way of advertising the films. Effectively, the two types
of products market each other11.
Importance of our primary research
As part of our primary research we created a questionnaire which we handed out around college
in order to find out peoples opinions on music videos. We asked people; how often they watched
music videos, their favourite genres of music, how do they learn about new music/music videos,
through what platform do they watch the music video and does a music video give the song a
deeper meaning. These questions were asked alongside what gender are you? And How old are
you? We felt it was important to find out individuals age and gender as this would be interesting to
compare how different of ages and genders consume and think about media. For example, we
found that most 16-25 year olds consume media through their phones whereas, the majority of
26-35 year olds tend to consume media either through the TV or their computers.
I feel the primary research gave us a starting point in identifying the changing attitudes and
consumption of music videos. A couple of years ago when MTV was in its prime, if we have asked
the questionnaire we would have got a whole different set of results. Since the rise of things such
as YouTube, Spotify and Apple music in recent years, MTV has lot its way and panicked due to
the lose of viewings, I feel this has led them to straying away from focusing on what made them
successful in the first place, music. Nowadays with the rise of technology you rarely see a young
individual without the latest smartphone in their hand and I think this is a contributing factor to the
changing attitudes and consumption of music/music videos. For example, if they were out and
heard a song they liked, they would most likely Shazam the song, find out what it is and then just
open the YouTube app on their phone to watch the music video. The easy accessibility to
music/music videos now has crushed MTV, people what to consume media quickly in order to
stay ahead of their peers and listen to content in order to give them the upper hand. If you wanted
to watch a particular music video on MTV now, then you would have to sit through loads of other
pointless things such as other music videos that youre not interested in or endless advert breaks.
YouTube allows you to bring up the music video within seconds and watch it. Thats that the

10 Media & Film Studies (Vivienne Clark & Peter Jones PAGE 223)
11 Media & Film Studies (Vivienne Clark & Peter Jones PAGE 223)

younger audience want quick and easy accessibility to media hence the drastic change in
attitudes and consumption of music/music videos.