RESEARCH: What is the Function of a Music Video?

It is essential, especially for new artists to gain recognition so that people can identify with them. This is done through music videos. When the artist performs in a video, the consumer becomes familiar with who they are, therefore they gain more fame. The artists are essentially selling themselves to the public.

Many consumers watch videos for entertainment, as each genre puts forward ideology that can usually be found in the music video some artists take this to a whole new level by replacing a music video with a short film, which helps the audience to see the artist in a new light, making them versatile.

Music videos sometimes advertise products, for example in Lady Gaga’s telephone video, Gaga receives a call on her ‘Virgin’ network mobile. This can be arranged with the brand and the artist so that the brand can fund the artist in some kind of way (sometimes the money goes towards funding the actual music video).

Some music videos tell the story of the song, by acting out the lyrics, this helps to give more meaning to the song. Similar to this, a video can have clips of a film that the song is a theme tune for this. The famous example is Celine Dione - My heart Willl Go On. Which features clips from the famous Titanic.

Music videos also have conventions. These are just a few:

- Music
- Edited to the beat
- Genre Specific
- Short in length
- Close ups
- No Tripod! Camera Moves
- Quick Edits
- Jump Cuts
- Match Cuts