Elements of a Popular Music Video

There are many elements that create a popular music video. These include:

• Effective simplicity
• Creativity
• Well-known band/artist
• Good choreography
• Humour
• Originality
• Guest stars/Cameos
• Attractive artist/dancers/actors
• Controversial topics
• Irony
• A strong and emotional story
• Memorability
• Fashion and trends

Permission Granted

Today I received a message from Allie Moss giving us permission to use her song 'Corner' for our project. I am delighted at this news and can't wait to start planning around the song, rather than thinking of ideas that would work for all three of our potential choices.
Below is the email I received.

Requesting Permission

After searching for songs that fit the type of music video we wanted to make, we came up with three decent options.
The first song we found was 'Rough Cut' by Amber Rubarth. We found this song on unsigned.com.
The next song we found was 'Neopolitan Dreams' by Lisa Mitchell. However, this artist is signed to Warner Music Australia, meaning that permission may not be granted. So we decided to look for a third song.
The final song we found was my favourite, and is 'Corner' by Allie Moss.

We have requested permission for all three and are waiting for responses.
The email I sent to email on Moss' website is below.

How are Videos Determined Successful?

The success of a music video is mainly opinion, although the opinions are often supported by facts and figures.

Some people believe that a music video is classed as successful by being aired of television channels, however the success depends on which channel the video is shown.
Success could be measured through the number of awards gained from events such as MTV's Video Music Awards.
Generally, a music video is successful if the song is of a high quality. Furthermore, some music videos are so successful that other artists copy and take inspiration from them. Bob Sinclair's 'Rock This Party' is an example of that.
Recently, YouTube has proved to a be useful tool is gauging the success of a music video. From YouTube, one can look at the total number of views, as well as how many people either liked or disliked the video.

Rebecca Black's second single 'My Moment' may have gained nearly 18 million view, but has just under twice the amount of dislikes than likes. So whilst the song and the artist have received a vast amount of coverage, the song and video are largely disliked.

Purposes of a Music Video

As a class, we discussed the purposes of a music video, and came up with the following:

• To promote the single
• To promote the artist
• To increase sales of the single, as well as the artist's other music
• To gain interest in related entities, such as a film or television show
• To show the artist's interpretation of their song
• To cause controversy and therefore publicity
• To highlight certain issues
• To hide the flaws of the song
• To increase the artist's fanbase
• To market a particular image
• To entertain
• To make an artistic statement
• Product Placement

Primarily, music videos are used to promote the song and the artist. By creating a video, the song is not only played on the radio, but on television channels such as MTV and VIVA, as well as YouTube.
By creating an interest in the song/artist, the artist's older music is therefore listened to by the interested party.
Some music videos are of songs used in blockbuster films, such as Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On and Titanic. The music video featured a large amount of footage from the film, as well as Dion herself.




Some artists also use their videos as a way to show their interpretation of the lyrics, or the story they based the song on. Ed Sheeran is an example of this with his video for The A Team, which depicts the final 24 hours of a female drug addict's life.



Other music videos are controversial (See: Rihanna's 'S&M'), whilst others highlight taboo issues and disregarded subjects (See: Rihanna's 'Man Down').Some videos have been said to have been made in a way that attempts to hide the mediocrity of the music. Lady Gaga's work has often been branded average catchy pop music, yet her extravagant persona and wacky videos overshadow this, causing her to be the Holy Grail of the current pop generation.

Task Brief

For our A Level Coursework, we are expected to create a music 'promo' video, which can be up to five minutes in length. The video will be for a song, most likely by an unsigned artist or band.
We will also be expected to create a promotional 'digipak', for our song's release on CD. A magazine advertisement will also be created alongside the 'digipak'.
We will use blogger, once more, as the medium to display our thoughts, research and planning throughout this process. A critical evaluation will be included on this blog, also.