The function of a music video

We learnt that there are several functions of a music video. 

Firstly it could be to further portray the genre of the song. this is because music videos from within the same genre normally have similar aspects to them from the four micro features (camera, mise en scene, sound and editing). a few examples could be in Hip-hop or rap videos, they would  normally have some similarities in the video that help the audience recognise what genre the song is. The artist seen in the video from this genre would normally be seen looking rather cool, casual, relaxed yet still portray a wealthy image. For example, this is an image of Jay z and Kanye in their video Otis

As you can see from the shots from the video, the artist's are in jeans, trainers, white T-shirts and an open shirt. nothing too dressy, its just casual and relaxed however they portray their wealth through use of props and camera shots. they do a long shot to get the full image of the expensive car they are seemingly about to dismantle then in the top shot, this is about a mid shot fitting in both the artists yet the main focus is the expensive watches because they are closest to the screen .

Another use of a music video is to bring in more fans, this is because if a member of the audience hasnt really heard of the artist before however they happen to stumble across it whilst watching MTV and they realise they actually like the song/artist's music then this would be bringing in additional fans. Another way could be that if a member of the audience doesn't really like the song, seeing the video may change their point of view on it and influence them to listen to it again simply because they liked the video.

another reason for a music video would be that it could brand the artist. for example a video that has a bunch of half naked/naked girls running around in it could cause the artist to gain a bad image. whereas a video that tackles the common stereotypes of music videos in a specific genre (such as RnB and naked women) then this artist could gain themselves a good image.

For example, Rihanna in her video S&M

Thos video left Rihanna with a damaged image. She was said to be raunchy, far too sexualised and not a good role model to her young female fans who aspire to grow up and be like her. So music videos are very important to how successful the song and artist are going to be.