Assessment 1b

To Sell The Song

The purpose of a music video is to promote the artist and make an image and create a brand for them. One way they would do this is to make themselves role models to fans so that they are able to get a wider audience to watch and listen to their music videos.
The majority of songs these days all have music videos which have a large amount of views. Artists sell their music by using monetisation by selling the songs through many different platforms.
An example of this is LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock. This music video has 1,170,123,499 views which made over $2 million. The reason why this music video went viral is because of its catchy chorus and the ‘shuffle dance’. 

Promotional for the Artist

Promotion of the artist is key in a music video for the future success of both the artist and the record label. The artist will gain fame and the record label will gain recognition for the artist’s star image.

Artists can be promoted through different platforms such as social media because it is a better way of getting recognised. By using social media, the artist is able to promote their music to a wide range of people.

This is often done by giving the artist as much recognition as possible using different styles or images that suit them or making the video go viral in order to get the public talking about this new artist. 

Promotion for the artist is important because it opens a lot of doors for them, and also has a possibility of them making a higher income from their music; and the record label will also gain more money. 

Exposure and Expansion of the Artist

Exposure for any new or current artist is hugely important. Music videos play a vital part in the exposure of an artist because it helps promote their star image that is used for income and contract deals with products and companies. This makes it easy for the companies products to be sold because they are being promoted by the artist to the audience which will make them want to buy it.

However for unsigned artists like Section Boyz, their image is different because of the audience they target. Because they are a UK rap group, they target young Londoners (mostly from South London), with the lifestyle they portray and live. Unsigned artists always promote their music on social media websites such as snapchat, twitter, Instagram, etc.

To sell the song, invoke a reaction from the audience
Some music videos are designed solely for this purpose. They are often used for new and upcoming artists to promote themselves and their image using platforms such as social media to get their self out there. Because of the image they portray, this will be a good way to gain recognition and money for the artist and also the record label.

This also generates more money for the artist themselves and more importantly the record company.

To give the audience a better understanding of the song

Often songs have a meaning. Music videos are often used to develop the meaning behind the song and use a different approach to give the audience visualization and to make it visually memorable of the song from a visual perspective and from a different outlet. 

Product Placement

Product placement is used in almost all entertainment outlets as a way to increase revenue.

It is especially popular in music videos because for example, an artist wearing a specific shoe or brand such as Adidas (Stormzy). This will attract viewers and fans to buy the same product as what the artist is wearing. This increases revenue for the company and the artist because they are promoting the product.

A good example of product placement is Nicki Minaj Anaconda because in her music video she is promoting her drink called Myx. This can make the audience want to buy the drink.

Promotion for music and Album

Promotion of an artists music or album is hugely important for the success of that product, so the music video can promote the album. Songs which are used in films, such as Suicide Squad, the song Sucker For Pain which features Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa and Imagine Dragons, are promoted in music videos because it will attract viewers to watch the movie and also purchase the movie album. It goes both ways as well so if the viewers are listening to the song from the film, it will make them watch the music video or buy the album which increases their revenue. 

Promote festivals
Music videos are often used to promote other music related products. In the last decade Festivals and tours have been more important because the audience will be able to see the artist perform the music video live. Music festivals make music videos to promote artists which will be at the festival to make them buy the tickets and create a larger fan base. 

Opens up new market
Music Videos open up new markets for the Artists and Record Companies to sell their songs by promoting their videos on different platforms. This is an increase in outlets such as YouTube, Vevo, etc. It increases the amount of people who are likely to hear/see the song and buy it, therefore making it more successful.

LMFAO Party Rock Anthem Is an example of a video that opened up an artist to a new market.

Selling an Image
Artist will often sell an image or look to attract their audience. A clear example of this is Miley Cyrus. Her image has changed drastically from when she was on Disney Channel to now. As a result of this, her image changing made sales increased and the song became hugely successful.