Music videos of today seem to be a natural thing for a song to have, they are seen to be a necessity to have to make a top class song, and sometimes they can even propel the song into the top 10 of the charts. However, when they first began to be released with the song itself they had a greater purpose than entertainment. They were to promote the song, this was achieved by spreading the video via the internet and television, mainly on the channel MTV, which specified in music video showings. By doing this, the song writers and singers could become more popular, therefore increasing their sales and extending their outlets. Labels work with MTV to ensure the playing of their videos, leading to increased sales of only certain artists and genres.
Another reason they used music videos was to make the audience remember the song, which meant they would spread the song to their friends, making it more popular. With just a song and no video it was sometimes difficult to figure out what the song meant, so by adding a video it helped people grasp a stronger understanding of the song. Videos promoted the artist's talent in terms of dancing and producing more of a story line in their songs, rather than just standing still and singing into a microphone.
Sometimes musicians use Synergy, which is making a song for a film, and in the video they feature scenes from the film. This advertises both the song and the film. An example of this is Muse and their song Isolated System, which was written directly for the film World War Z. The video contains scenes from the film itself, which makes people want to see the film, or if they are watching the film and hear the music, then they would want to buy the song. The picture below is a shot from the official music video for Muse - Isolated System. By doing this Muse are expanding their audience to around 16 - 30 year old men. It also makes their music seem like it is a more generic thing for zombie films with that kind of style.The idea of music videos is often to sell an image across to the audience, the artists will set a certain mood in their video by attaching the song to certain experiences, for example, Duran Duran Girls on Film features sexual and erotic imagery. Kevin Godley, the video's director, agrees that the video was made to promote the song through sensationalism in order to get people talking about it. The concept of selling artists through the image created of them is carried by the record companies.
Music videos act as forms of extension of income and outlet, they can help promote a band or artist long after the single or album have been released, this has happened on numerous cases where an artist brings out a song without a music video, but later on re-releases it with a music video. As a result of this the song becomes much more widely recognised and remembered, therefore extending the income. Some artists are even remembered years later solely because of a memorable music video. In terms of extension of outlets, music videos would be aired on TV shows such as the Chart Show and on music video channels such as MTV. Labels work together with MTV to ensure the playing of their videos, leading to increased sales of only certain artists and genres.
