Assignment Task 1 (Final Draft) - Purposes of a Music Video

Promotion of a Particular Song.

One of the main purposes of a music videos is to promote a specific song. A single is a song released by itself, usually to help promote an upcoming album from a specific artist. This song would be played on TV and the Radio. The artist would chose the most popular song from the upcoming album and hope that it would go into the charts. Most singles in the charts have a music video and sometimes that video can be enough to propel the song into the top 10.

For example, Taylor Swift's song 'Shake It Off' was released as a single to promote the album that was yet to be released. It debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Top 100. Since the music video was released, it has gained over 1.07 billion views on YouTube and is the sixth most viewed video on that site. The song was released on the 18th August and the video for it was released the same day, just serveral hours later. The video gained lots of attention because it was Taylor's first song within the Pop genre. There were mixed reviews on the video, some controversy including 'twerking' which ultimately got the audience talking about it. Some critics said the video was "Quirky and hard to dislike" and it "catches the rebellious and care-free spirit of the new single". 

The video is incredibly innocent and has only good intentions. As it was her first pop music video she used a lot of cliches and satirical techniques which makes this video more memorable. The video would have attracted lots of attention, especially from Taylor's fans because she is the main part of the video. It would have also attracted attention from fans of the Pop genre looking for new music to listen to. 

Without the video, Shake It Off would not have been as much of a success than it was. 

This video is a perfect example of 'Promotion of a particular song' because it introduces the audience to the album and shows them what to expect from it. Even though the video was released on the same day as the song, and we could not see the impact that the video made on the song if it was released a week or two later, the video was still major success and pushed the single up the charts and helped it sell millions of singles worldwide. 

  

Promotion of the Artists Album.

Another one of the main purposes of music videos are to promote a particular artists album. This can be achieved in many different ways. For example, the title of the album could be the same as one of the singles (this is called a title track). The album cover could also feature clothing, sets and images that are used in a music video to help it, and as the audience see the album, they will notice the familiar clothing/title and it will entice them to buy it. 

A great example of a music video that promotes an artists album is 'Bad' by Michael Jackson. The single from the album has the same name as the album itself. It is also the first song on the album which means it is introducing the audience to the album itself. The song was the second single released from the album and as it was the title song from the album, it was a big success. The music video helped promote the album by first of all, the song being named after the album. But also having Michael wearing the exact same clothes in the video from the album cover. Also, the red writing from the album cover is featured within the music video. These will make the audience buy the album because they recognise Michael wearing the clothes from the video. Most of the video shows off Michael's dancing talent, and from this the audience will buy the album expecting to see more upbeat music to dance to. 

The album soon made history as it became the first album to have all 5 of its single go to number 1 in the charts. Although the album was released in 1987, it's music video 'Bad' was put onto YouTube in 2009 and has received 125 million views since. This would have attracted a younger audience who did not particularly know of Michael Jackson to go and buy the album. 
The album has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and the single has sold more than 9 million in the USA alone. 

This video is a good example of helping to promote an album, as it uses many aspects from the album cover within the music video: the clothes, the hair, the 'Bad' graffiti writing and even some of the poses and facial expression Michael makes in the video can relate to the one on the album cover.

Promotion of a New artist.

Music Videos can help promote artists  Especially new artists that are just entering the music industry. It helps get their image out there. This is so the audience can get familiar with them and their image so they can determine whether they would listen to them. 

A perfect example of this is Shawn Mendes' video 'Show You'. First of all, the whole video is just of Shawn waking down a street singing the lyrics. This fits the purpose because he is a new artist and he is getting his image out to his audience so they know who he is. The video was very simple but affective. It had Shawn (the artist) waking down he street and while he was singing, the lyrics were popping up on screen. This is all that was needed to help promote Shawn as a new artist, so the audience can get an idea of what type of artist he is, what he looks like and his style, and what genre of music he puts himself into. 
Since he released this music video, it has received over 18 million views.

Overall, this video is a good example of promoting a new artist because its main purpose was to show off the artists image and get themselves out there and known. This does all of that because the whole video is one show following Shawn Mendes (the artist). 

Promotion of an Artists musical change in direction.

Another main purpose of a music video is to promote the musical change in direction of an artist. This is usually when an artist changes their image or genre of music they are in. This can get both positive and negative reactions from the public and their fans. 

The perfect for promoting a musical change in direction is Miley Cyrus. When Miley was Hannah Montanna, she had longer hair and was acted in a different way from what she does now. Most people would say she has "gone off the rails". We first see Miley's transition through her music video for 'We Can't Stop' from the album 'Bangerz'. In this video we see Miley acting completely different to how we were used to see her. Miley was seen an an innocent teenager when she played Hannah Montanna, and her music was about love and was aimed at a young audience. Miley decided to change direction because she wanted to be herself. When she was Hannah Montanna, she was playing a character that wasn't her. Now she is being herself and her music can be towards an older audience around her age. This video has explicit content within it which suits the image she is portraying. The video includes things like 'twerking', partying and drugs. This goes with the careless act she is setting in the music video. The video has received over 595 million views as it is her first video showing her change in music direction. 

Miley Cyrus is a perfect example of an artist changing their musical direction because she has been in the industry from a young age and was trying to find her image, and when she did, it was a big change. 

Promotion of synergy with another media product.

Many music videos promote other products such as films and other specific brands. Videos that use 'Coca Cola' and 'Pepsi' in their videos is called Product Placement. This can help promote the song and also the product it is promoting. 

An example of synergy is Leona Lewis' song 'I See You'. The song is the theme tune to James Cameron's 'Avatar'. The video uses synergy because it uses actual scenes from the film. The singer is also in the video but it is based around the film. This will help promote the song because Avatar is one of the biggest films ever and is one of the highest grossing films, making over $2.7 billion in the box office. The song will also promote the film because Leona Lewis is a well known singer, so her fans will be intrigued in watching the film. The song has received nearly 15 million views on YouTube and the song peaked at number 24 in the US. 

The video is a good example of using synergy with another media product because as it is the theme of Avatar, it uses many scenes from it which help promote each other. 


Increasing the income for the record company.

Few artists have invested in their own record labels, so they get lots more money when they release singles. The record labels get paid ever time the song is played somewhere, and also get paid about double the amount the singer is paid. They are responsible for promoting the song and getting it out there. 
When an album is sold, about 13% of it goes to the artist, while 30% goes to the record. 17% goes to the government through VAT, 17% goes to the retailer and the rest goes to manufacturers, copyright and distributers.

As Ed Sheeran owns his own record company, he is taking in new artists. The first artist he has taken on is Jamie Lawson, who now has a music video out and a single. The video is called 'Wasn't Expecting That'. Although Ed is not in the video, he will still be getting a large amount of the revenue that the single and video produces. 

If Ed released his own song, he would all of the revenue that is made because he owns the record label he released the music on. 

Ed Sheerans label called 'GingerBread Man Records' is still very news and only has one artist at the moment. Once he gets more artists, they will be releasing all of their music, and Ed will be releasing his own music as well. This means he will earn lots more money as he runs the label. 

Increasing the range of media the artist is active on.

Another main purpose of a music video is to help promote artists and other celebrities on different media platforms. This is used to normally broaden the celebrities horizon and their portfolios. Many actors have now gone into the music industry. These include Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande. This means that they will gain a lot more fans. They would already have gained many from acting on TV Shows and will gain much more from their music. It is also to show off their many talents. 

A good example of an artist who is changing media platforms is Lady Gaga. She is known worldwide for her musical career but recently she has been showing off her acting skills. Gaga is known for her short film-like music videos that always tel stories about either her life, or someone else's life (a character she makes up). There are many videos to choose from that shows Gagas talent as an actress, but the one that promotes her in from a film, is her music video to 'Aura'. The music video uses synergy to promote the film 'Machete Kills' which Gaga is part of. The video uses scenes and dialog from the film which would make Gagas fans want to go and watch the film. 

Also, Lady Gaga shows off her acting talents in many of her other music videos. For example, her 'Marry The Night' last 14 minutes but the actual song lasts 5. During the making of the video, she was apparently constantly filmed in a room for 30 hours. Making the acting feel real for her. Since the videos were released, Marry The Night has received over 65 million views and Aura had received 6 million. 

Music videos help Lady Gaga show off her talents to all off her fan base. 

Lady Gaga is also in season 5 of American Horror Story, playing the owner of the Hotel it is set in. This will help her fan base get bigger as she increases her image onto another media platform. All of the people that watch American Horror Story will be introduced to her and see her not only as a Pop Star, but as a talented actress.