UNIT 29: MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
29.1 Understanding the Purposes of Music Videos
A music video is a short-length audiovisual work whose sound component is, in whole or in part, a recording of the artistic performance of a musical work. Some motifs are extremely common in video clips, sometimes the video contains a visual recording of the performance of a musical work, a dance scene and sometimes musicians appear in it.
Music videos are seen as promotion and have many purposes. It gives better understanding of the song for audience through let them see what is in the video, promote the artistic and shows his talents and sometimes promote brands used in the video as well, sell the song and interest the audience to remember this song for long time.
1. Promotion of a particular song
A song can be promoted in many ways, such as paid advertising or promotion through social media, which is an effective way to attract the attention of many people. However many of the new songs that are released became memorable due to their interesting music videos, as this is one of the main ways the song is listened to and because it gives a message and better understanding to the audience. So social networking is responsible for making the video popular. Also YouTube is one of the popular ways of promoting music videos as millions of people listen and watch new music there.
2. Promotion of an artist's album
When an artist has more songs that he would like to release, it is good to make a whole album of songs which might be related to each other. Promotion of the particular artist can be achieved in many different ways. This could be for example by releasing a single with a video to give the target audience some type of 'teaser' and show them what they can expect from the album. Also an effective way of promoting an album would be through social media as the artist can make their own brand for the album, become more visible and also gain more fans for the new album. Another way of promoting could include promote the album to the radio or making own merch (which is popular for fans) with some logos, colours, or images related to the album because when fans see it they can easily relate the elements to the particular album. Most of the artists use the title of the album, which is same as one of the singles (a title track) or albums are self-titled by the artist.
A good example of a music video that promotes an artist's album is Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots, which became their the most popular song, and which doesn't promote the album by naming a song after it, however this song includes the ideas of the whole album called Blurryface (2015) where Tyler Joseph (member of the duo that wrote this song) describes his insecurities, dark thoughts, depression, etc. as the name Blurryface means you're fighting inside on what you want. In the song Stressed Out Tyler essentially becomes a character in his mind he has created, named Blurryface, by smearing black makeup over his neck and hands which represent the suffocating insecurities felt by the character. Also another promotion that duo Joseph and Dun use are wearing variations of black and red colours that are related to the album which is called after Joseph's created character. In the video the duo is riding big-wheel tricycles to each other’s houses. The whole song focuses on nostalgia for childhood, the pressure of adulthood and family relationships. In the parts during the song when he sings "My name is Blurryface, and I care what you think" Blurryface shows the demons that singer Tyler Joseph has. It is his second self and also an illustration of his anxiety. The mention of Blurryface can be also heard in songs like Fairly local, Goner, or Tear in my heart. Also throughout the video and during the live performances as well, we see Tyler Joseph's black hands and neck, a metaphor of his fears. The neck indicates the uncertainty of his voice and the hands the uncertainty of what he writes. In the 0:19 of the music video when it's close up on Joseph sings "I wish I had a better voice that sang some better words" clearly represents his 'black neck' and feelings about his singer skills. The music video has a cold lighting to add on the nostalgia which comes from the lyric of the song and the clip, dark and not colourful surrounding makes it even gloomier. Only elements that have a colour which catches viewer's attention are red accessories which as we already know promotes the whole album- black and red colours.
Promoting new artists is hard as the audience is not aware of them and they have to bring something new and interesting that keeps fans' attention and to make their name visible for surrounding. The promotion is then similar like promotion of any other music video, album. It can be done through social media, paid advertising etc. and also through other famous artists. New interpret can from the beginning focus on particular genre of songs and particular audience that would be suitable for the songs and would most likely listen to these songs. Again, a good music video, labels, and propagation lead to higher attention of the viewers.
For example Ed Sheeran promoted himself in many ways. His first album, +, brought him more traction and from which the single The A Team (2011) became a huge hit firstly in the UK and then internationally. By this time he also wrote many songs for other artists such as Little Things for, in this time famous boy band, One Direction. He caught attention of an American singer Taylor Swift who took him on the tour with her where they became close friends which was enough to help his career to grow. Sheeran's songs then appeared in TV show The Vampire Diaries, or in the movies such as The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. These things helped him to slowly became famous, however many starting artists didn't have his opportunities. The song The A Team got awards for the best lyric and music. It talks about a woman that Sheeran met in a homeless shelter called Angel, that's why he sings in the parts 1:35, 2:52 and 4:06 till the end "It's too cold outside for angels to fly an angel will die" he talks about problems that homeless and drug addicted people have and in the end of the music video the girl dies alone due to drugs in her room because she sees death as a deliverance from her bad life. The entire music video is made in melancholic mood as the clip is black and white, there is used dark light, tears in girl's eyes, the life story of her and lastly the lyric and melody of the song. Sheeran also promotes himself when he appears in the song in the 1:20 min where he buys that girl's magazine to give her some money and by that point out that he helps people like her.4. Promotion of or synergy with another media product
Synergy is a cooperation of two or more organisations, artists, to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. If the film and musically industry collaborate together, it helps to make an exiting music video and promote the film and the artist as well. In the music video of the singer will be scenes from the film which can attract more people to watch the film because the music video can be some type of a 'trailer'. Then, during the film, or in the end where we see names of the cast and productions, or in the trailer of the film can be used the song so it is beneficial for both sides. Also they can promote each other on social medias by tagging them on their posts related to this project, people following one of the side can then visit the other one. 
An example would be a song Sucker for Pain (2016) by Lil Wayne, Imagine Dragons, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Logic and X Ambassadors. This song was released as a soundtrack for a movie Suicide Squad. The song promotes both film and the song itself and it got on the soundtrack album Suicide Squad: The Album. The song can be heard in the movie in the end. The music video has many elements of promoting and the main one might be names of famous artists that comes together to produce this song. The music video has many key scenes from the movie which give it good advertising. Also the lyric of the song is kind of related to the movie as they speak about madness and pain. In the clip doesn't appear only scenes from the movie but the whole environment where it's filmed is basically the 'places from the movie' where are the singers placed and doing their performance, and also they use costumes related to the characters from Suicide Squad which make this whole music video 100% assure to the audience which movie they promote in this song and this music video. The song is obviously promoted by many people as it contains more artists in the track which can raise the viewership through their own promoting and also the song is promoted by Atlantic Records as the music video is posted on its YouTube channel. The mentioning of the movie story can be heard for example when Ty Dolla $ign sings "We gon' go to war, yeah, without failure" because in the movie the group of 'villains' go to fight against enemies from different world which is the 'true evil' and they try to save the world. In the end they really win so the 'war' is 'without failure'. Also he then says "Alienated by society" which is again related to the main villain characters which are dangerous monsters for the outside world and which is the main theme for the movie. The clip contains a good variety of dark and bright lighting, costumes, performances of the singers shifted by scenes from the movie which gives the video elaborating look as a promoting tool.5. Increasing the income for the record company
Record companies benefit artists by giving them record labels which are favourable for that record company as well. As they have good financial resources, they can have access to medias, TV, radios, advertising, and PR professionals and also they can make the song appears on popular playlists. This way of promoting can help new artists to visible themselves and also to make a superior and quality music video that will get lots of feedback from the audience. In the music videos can appear advertising on other products brand or enterprises that work with the particular artist. The 3 biggest record labels that promotes many famous artists are Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group.
For example an American rapper NF has a signed deal with a record label Capitol Records, which put him high and he hit the Billboard 200 chart with his album The Search (2019). NF is still unknown for many many hip-hop fans and the record label can help him became more famous by time. Capitol Records has many other famous artists such as Paul McCartney, Katy Perry, Halsey, Sam Smith, or Emeli Sande and much more. The Search, was originally planned to sell 95,000 units, but reportedly benefited from strong figures in terms of traditional sales on iTunes and bundles of signed albums on the official NF website. The numbers were also boosted by the concert offer and the album's payout. Eighty-four thousand 130,000 album units came from traditional sales, which is the highest number of all rapes this year. He has his place on Capitol Records' websites where people can easily access and see what is new and what artists/songs Capitol Records promotes. They also helped him to make a quality music video from the song When I Grow Up and to get things needed to make the clip worthy. In the song NF talks about what he 'wants to be when he grows up' which is written from perspectives of his young self at the beginning of his career. He appears in the video in 3 different positions, as a garbageman, then a cleaner for a while, and then a fast-food employee. During doing these jobs he is rapping and seems not happy with what he's doing right now, he talks about his desires and feelings and about what he truly wants and meant to be. At the beginning of the music video we can see little kids that are answering the question "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" and one answers that he wants to be a veterinarian, other a ballet teacher, police officer, and then in the 0:14 of the video there is shot on a little boy who clearly presents NF as a kid because he has a black hat, skinny jeans with holes which is a NF's style, and he answers "When I grow up I'm gonna be a rapper." that is different from the previous ones because he doesn't say 'he wants, or he would like to be' however confidently point that he is going to be a rapper and he is going to do what he likes, and he really became a slowly growing famous artist in the present. In the part in the refrain where he says "I just wanna sign a record deal" he maintains record labels and company that could potentially help him establish himself in the music industry. This can actually promote his record labels as he talks about it and people might wonder if he has some 'record deal' and who it is. 6. Increasing the range of media an artist is active in
Many famous artists increase the range of jobs they are doing and change or add more different career paths as they succeed in one, so they want to try another. For example many singers get involve in some movies or actors that plays in musical movies might be interested in starting their own singer career. Also in film production people change their main interests and from actor can become a director as they get more experiences and want to stand more difficult and responsible job than they had before.
A good example of changing in media directions can be singer and actress Miley Cyrus. Miley started acting in the popular Disney Channel's TV show Hannah Montana. She became famous due to this role and of course interested and made aware people about her singing skill so it was not a surprise when she began her singer career firstly under the name Hannah Montana which she after changed to her real Miley Cyrus. She also appear in many teenage movies where is mostly again showed her singing. She became popular singer and her most famous song is Wrecking Ball (2013) which has over 1,000,000,000 views on her YouTube channel. This song was probably shocking for many viewers as Miley came out with her new look completely different from her previous "Hannah Montana" look, she has a short blond hair and her the music video can people see as provocative as she is naked swinging on the wrecking ball. The lyric is about her break-up with actor Liam Hemsworth. "Wrecking Ball" won the main category of the MTV Video Music Awards as the best music clip of 2014. In parts 0:55, 1:46, 2:03, 3:05, and 3:20 where she sings "All you ever did was wreck me" talks about her feelings to Hemsworth and how much she loved him and how their break-up broke her. She said that doing this music video was more emotional than doing the song for her. In the clip is used bright lighting and showed her every emotion, tear, what she feels.Overall, the purpose of the music videos is mainly to promote the artist and let audience see how the artist feels about the song and what it represents. It can gets more fans, sales and so money for an artists. It promotes also other artists, companies, enterprises which are involved in making this particular video.
