Purposes of Music Video Production
Introduction
There are many different reasons as to why a music video is produced, and in this report I’ll be covering several of them. Music videos are a fantastic way of portraying a song through moving image and branching out to different audiences. They can sometimes star the musical talent, but sometimes will feature famous faces from different media (like television actors, for example).
Promotional
First of all, the release of a music video will often generate publicity, receiving coverage not only on television channels like MTV but also over the internet, through the use of services such as YouTube. An example of this internet publicity could be found on Capital FM’s website [1] where there is a whole section dedicated to new and current music videos. This website will receive thousands of viewers each day, and all of them will be exposed to the new music video in some way. This is ideal for the producer and/or record label as it means that the song will be more likely to sell more copies as more potential customers are being exposed to the product every day.
There is always some unintentional publicity that can be created by the actors hired in a music video. If the acting talent already has an established fanbase the video will be likely to attain more views. For example, in the music video for the song “Lover of the Light” by Mumford and Sons [2], the actor Idris Elba stars as the main character. Idris Elba has done many popular Television and Film dramas, such as Luther on BBC1 and has starred in Hollywood films such as the Thor films by Marvel. Idris Elba will definitely have many fans of his own due to his various work, and so having him star in their video was fantastic for Mumford and Sons. This link allowed them to showcase their music to Elba’s fanbase, potentially gaining them thousands of new customers/followers.
Extension of Outlet
The music video will also be drawing attention towards the music and the song, tying in with the advertisement/publicity. With the release of a video (and the online/TV publicity), the video will become a new outlet for music fans to hear the song and establish a rapport both with the artist and the song. Extension of outlet ties in heavily with publicity and extension of income; more often than not you’ll see the music video bundled together with the CD or shown on the internet (potentially as an advertisement). Having a visual representation for the song allows the company to market the track more efficiently; they will have clips for advertisements, stills for posters/billboards, potential links to other artists and products through the contents of the video. Take this Taylor Swift advertisement [3] for example; the footage used is from several of her music videos. This is a clever move by the marketing team as they are saving plenty of time and money by not filming their own footage and instead using footage shot during the production of her music videos.
Producer Strategy
This rapport feeds directly into the next reason why a producer will make a music video; to create an image of the artist, similar to a brand or product identity. The video will hopefully market that image, so that the public will regard the artist in a certain manner. Take Gotye, for example, and their music video for the song “Somebody I Used to Know” [4]. Gotye was previously unknown talent, wanting to establish himself as a quirky, alternate musician. With the (rather strange) music video for the song, he manages to burst onto the scene with the image desired. Not only was the music video brilliant in that regard, but it also created huge publicity for the singer as people were constantly talking about how weird the video was (compared to mainstream music videos). The producer would certainly have been happy as he managed to create an image while generating a large amount of fame for his client.
If the artist is self-producing (common with unsigned newcomers to the industry), they might look to create a video for the various aspects mentioned before, especially publicity. Being able to showcase their song across several mediums would be incredibly useful if the artist was self-producing and needed all the advertisement they could get.
Extension of Income
Creating a music video is a great way to extend the income of the song. The video not only promotes the artist but also offers new ways to make money, plainly put. The record label could offer the customers the music video as a reward for buying the album digitally or on CD, for example. They could sell the music video on it’s own or even make money from the production (by utilizing product placement). An example of a music video that uses product placement is the video for “Leave the World Behind” by Lune. [5] They have clearly been paid by Volvo to feature a Volvo car within the film and they do feature it heavily in the first couple of minutes of the video.
Synergy
A music video will also allow for synergy with other products that may be released at a similar time or in connection to the music video. For example, Adele released the single “Skyfall” [6] which was chosen as the main theme for the film “Skyfall”, a James Bond film. The music video for the song was composed mainly of images from the song Skyfall, linking together both products. This in turn generated extra publicity for both the film and the song. As a producer, this is ideal because fans of the films are inclined to purchase the song and fans of Adele’s music are inclined to watch the film because they know the soundtrack is great.
Conclusion
There are many different reasons for why you would want to produce a music video, but when it comes down to it it really feels like a worthwhile investment. Even with a low-budget music video you are giving yourself so much marketing potential and cross-media links that the time and money spent is certainly worth it.
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