What Is A Music Video?

We’ve all seen a music video, we all know what the term music video means, some music videos get more attention than the song it is made for, but what actually is a music video? To artists and the general audience, a music video is just another expression of the track it is played to, a visual interpretation of audio. Through a music video the artist can convey a much deeper meaning that wouldn’t be obvious to their audience. To the artist’s manager and to the people interested in making a profit, a music video is another way to market the artist as a brand and the actual track.

Music videos typically fall into two categories. There are those that have some links to the lyrics for example in Madonna’s “Like A Prayer”. Madonna is in a Church with a statue of Jesus that has come to life. One of the lines within the song is “I can feel your power”. The link to Jesus is that he is often regarded as a man with a large amount of power. Also as he has turned into flesh and bone this is a demonstration of his power. .

Then there are those that have very obscure or no links at all to the video, for example Childish Gambino’s “Bonfire” There are no link to the lyrics at all, and apart from it being set at “Camp Gambino”, it has no link to the song. This can often be a very bad tactic for lesser known artists trying to gain more attention. If the music video doesn’t turn out to be good and will alienate the potential new audience. In the same way if it is good and has no links to the lyrics, the audience will search around for more of the artist’s music videos.

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