Remember when you had to tune in to MTV all day and wait for your favorite artist’s music video to air? Today’s generation has it easy. They just need to visit YouTube, the artist’s website, or social media, and boom, they can watch the music video of their favorite song. But this wasn’t the case in the past, and music videos were a much bigger deal than they are now. However, this doesn’t mean music videos aren’t important anymore. In fact, there are several reasons why artists still need to release them.
How Important are Music Videos?
There are many different reasons why artists need to release music videos since they are an important part of an artist’spromotional strategy. Aside from that, music videos are also important for:
1. Visual storytelling: Sometimes it’s difficult to decipher a song’s lyrics. Enter, a visual storytelling method in the form of a music video for fans to understand what the artist wanted to convey. It adds depth to the lyrics and tells the story in ways words alone can’t.
2. Branding and identity: An artist’s music video is often a reflection of their personality, style, or a reference to their interests and other ventures. Take, for example, Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next.” Since Grande is also an actress, she references several movies (Legally Blonde, Bring It On, Mean Girls and 13 Going on 30) in the video. She even asked her Victorious co-stars, Matt Bennett and Elizabeth Gillies to make a cameo. Music videos are also an opportunity for artists to experiment with new looks or even a new genre.
3. Promotion and engagement: People are visual beings. We are more entertained by visuals and in this age of social media, a viral music video can make an obscure song a hit the next day. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok can promote and engage audiences to keep a song trending for weeks. A memorable music video can inspire memes and user-generated content that can help make a song and the artist famous.
4. Expanding reach: An entertaining music video often attracts a broader audience. For example, someone might be scrolling through TikTok or Instagram but not a fan of a specific music genre. They might skip a song if they hear it’srock or country because they’re more into pop or R&B. But if the music video grabs their attention, they might give the song—and eventually, the genre—a try.
How Do Artists Decide on the Music Video’s Concept?
Music videos are often a collaborative work between the artist, director, and a creative team coming together to come up with a concept that is aligned with the song’s message. So, how does the process work?
1. The song’s message
The song’s lyrics are usually the foundation for conceptualizing the music video. If the song is about a love story, then you can’t go wrong with Romeo and Juliet (minus, you know, the dying part) as Taylor Swift did in her aptly titled song, “Love Story.”
2. The artist’s vision
The artist might have envisioned a music video while writing the lyrics, or they may have sought the professional expertise of movie directors and producers. Other artists, whose songs are featured on movie soundtracks, often incorporate scenes from the film that align with the song’s lyrics, such as Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” for Furious 7. Some music videos borrow inspiration from films, like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste,” inspired by the 1992 movie Death Becomes Her.
3. Budget and resources
The budget also plays a crucial role in determining how extravagant or low-key the music video is. There are music videos that reportedly cost millions to make. Some are worth the hefty price since these videos helped propel the artist to stardom like the following which are considered to be the most expensive music videos ever made.
