Music Videos have changed overtime in terms of what they hope to reflect, whether that’s a narrative or reflecting the tone of the song. Previously music videos on programmes like top of the pops (1964) traditionally were just a like performance and in some cases a stylistic mimed performance. For the song House of The Rising Sun by The Animals (1964), the video seems to follow no narrative that we have with productions today, but also seems to be a faked live performance with music in the background as each member is clearly acting/miming. 

The Animals – House Of The Rising Sun (Music Video) [4K HD] – YouTube

Music videos today have taken a more cinematic style, where a short story is told amongst quick cuts aligned with the tempo of the song. Some artists create a short film for an album release; this has been done with artists like Fall Out Boy, Daft Punk and Tenacious D. These music videos can contain cuts in the music to develop a story around the songs topic and with the large budget that these videos can command we can even see actors take part, this is evident with Justin Timberlakes song What Goes Around…Comes Around. 

(1) What Goes Around…Comes Around (Official Video) – YouTube

In contemporary music videos product placement seems to be at the forefront. Lady Gaga’s Telephone includes more than 6 different product placements, from Ray Bands to Beats and even Virgin Mobile. These small features from companies can result in many benefits due to the viewership music videos can get on both MTV and on digital platforms such as YouTube. 

Lady Gaga – Telephone ft. Beyoncé (Official Music Video) – YouTube 

Typically the genre of song will dictate the tone of the music video, for artists like Adele we would see a more fluid, beautifully shot narrative with a mixture of shot styles and shot length. Whereas, with Rock or Rap we are met with quick editing to align with the beat and tone. 

Flynn Shields  33574788