Sep
30
Marketing Music Visually – Part II: Music Videos
Posted by: coltonfoster | September 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Another aspect of the music industry that has grown rapidly is the creation of music videos. Again, from the early days of popular music up to the soundtrack of the modern world, a noticeable shift can be seen as focus drifts from vocal talents to the ability to “wow” visually. Following the concept that marketing is everywhere, the record industry spends millions on creating images for its artists. What may seem to be just a visual representation of music has become far more, with timing of videos and singles being precisely calculated for maximum exposure and profits. Music videos have been around for years, though they seemed to take a great leap forward with Michael Jackson. The videos that mark his early career set him apart from the average pop-star and demonstrate how genuinely interesting music videos can be. Since an artist or an album can be seen as a product that can have a price, place and promotion – music videos contribute to this marketing mix. Many recent videos seem to rely on sex appeal or a desirable lifestyle to attract attention and sales. This brings up another aspect of music videos that relates very closely with marketing; a number of videos created in the past decade have been viable showcases for numerous products such as shoes, watches or cars. Advertising has started to overrun every possible aspect of life and has slowly been seeping into music videos, only now bubbling over. Of course, not all modern music videos rely on underhanded tactics for viewership, some genuinely tell a story or show an artist performing the song – both perfectly acceptable. Once again, we must beware of the motives and interests behind creating music videos. While marketing and sales are definitely important, they can deteriorate the image of an artist not to mention the quality of their music. Indeed music is a great thing, just be award of the 4 P’s when watching a video and see if they are in the best interests of music fans, or if they are solely injected into the video to promote a “product.” Included below is perhaps the most innovative music videos ever – although I’m sure everyone has seen it already.
