Functions
of a Music Video
The Job of a
music video is to promote the artist, entertain the viewers and also sell the
product or song as well as the album. In the 90’s the way artist would promote
their single, album or music video is that it would be advertised on a music channel,
newspaper, magazine or radio interview. Today in this modern era when either of
those are promoted it’s done online via social media platforms such as twitter,
Facebook Instagram and more. They can also promote sales with merchandise of
the song title or album mostly clothing.
Technology has advanced so
much that now they such things are viewed are by IPhone, IPad, Laptops and apps
on these devices.
History of Music Videos
Comparing 90’s
videos and today’s you will see that they have definitely changed especially
when it comes to the genre’s Hip-Hop and Pop, in terms of storytelling and
meaning the 90’s videos were mostly all about that theme, in a way being somewhat
of a short film and it could be comedic, romantic, tragic, action or suspense.
Today with music videos they are so easy to make and release that they don’t
put in any effort make it a meaningful video they rather just insert the main
focus which is women being half dressed and displaying sexuality and
inappropriate dances like the shaking of the behind. Back in the 90's the reason artists used to put so much effort into their music videos was because television was the main way of viewing such things. Videos would be viewed on music channels by the whole world resulting in better sales for the artist's album. Now in this modern day and age with the growth of technology and the introduction of smartphones, laptops, Ipads and more music videos can be easily accessed through mobiles phones and other portable devices and viewing on the Television is getting less popular.
(Here is an example of 90's R&B video with Linear storytelling.)
( Nas - Street Dreams another example of a perfect storytelling video)
(A modern day hip-hop video.)
Copyright
Issues
Copyright
Issues are taken much more seriously in this day and age because of how many
people online can pirate songs, albums and movies. Improved technology has also
improved the ability to put copyrights on things.
Alternative forms of music video
Literal: A literal music video is a parody of an original music video in which it's original lyrics are replaced with those present in the visuals. Literal music videos are highly popular within the internet community providing humorous caricatures of their favorite artists.
Lip Dub: Lip dubs are do-it-yourself music videos featuring an individual or group of people lip syncing to a popular song of choice. Such videos are usually shot in one take and later dubbed with the original track.
Covers: A song cover is a new performance or recording of a previously, commercially released song by someone other than the original artist or composer.
Alternative forms of music video
Lip Dub: Lip dubs are do-it-yourself music videos featuring an individual or group of people lip syncing to a popular song of choice. Such videos are usually shot in one take and later dubbed with the original track.
