Through the evolving world of social media, music has begun to alter its sharing capabilities to keep up with the consumer’s expectations. As visual creations continue to change throughout the world, music videos have come under scrutiny. Are music videos still an important part of the listening experience?
For decades, the music industry has been using music videos to build the profile of artists, whilst creating opportunities for optimal financial gain.
The subject of music videos has been a growing topic of discussion in regards to artist sales and productivity. Some music industry professionals have noticed a major decline in the creation of music videos in the past couple of years.
This could be due to more of a push for live performances or live streams due to the current pandemic. Others believe that they have grown in this time and they are a crucial part of visual language, which can create a culture surrounding music consumption.
So, what is the future for music videos?
The World of Music Video
According to Medium.com, behind Google, YouTube is the second biggest search engine and potentially the largest music streaming service internationally.
This portal of art makes it easy for individuals to discover new music in an easier, efficient way. An issue could be the large pool of videos in such a huge market.
On YouTube, there is practically a video for everything! Being that it’s easier to post videos, views are becoming much harder to obtain, making it harder to be seen or acknowledged.
Artists are constantly trying to make the most shocking or compelling music video in order to get substantial views. Negatively, music videos may have become more important than the song content itself.
From Ariana Grande’s fashionable outfits to the Michael Jackson white gloves, artists and their content truly have an impact of various cultures around the world.
Music Directors
Many new starting directors yearn to enter the artistic industry through directing music videos before jumping into bigger films.
Directors such as Daniel Wolfe and Spike Jonze are prime examples of music video directors who branched off to promising film-making projects. But Medium.com believes that smart artists would need to use music videos as a powerful outlet of further creativity.
Budgets or financial implications for music videos can become staggering and pricey, however great music videos can still be created from zero to little money. As Casey Teniakova, a young director in Prague explains, the story is the most important thing.
“Music videos tell a story. It is not about someone singing a song. It’s a story of many people and its interesting how music brings people and characters together.
“If it’s different songs with different music videos from the same artists, it conveys various messages. It builds a different depth. It brings the music to life in a more epic way.”
Directed by Matt Copson, one of my favorite music videos came from the Indie-Pop artist Caroline Polachek in her intricate musical masterpiece Door.
The song portrays a longing for new beginnings and an intimate universe that love – in many forms – can create for an individual.
It sends you into such a climatic abstract universe, that one can’t help but get lost in the sounds and visuals. The song also remains a fan favourite.
The Future of Music Videos
What consumers, listeners and viewers want is shorter and snappier content. They will still serve as a strong creative expression however shorter pieces will be apparent as social media continues to grow.
There is a heavy prediction that there will be videos made specifically for Instagram, Tik Tok, and other platforms. Spotify is making efforts to capitalise on this notion by creating video content of their own. So, will we see a decline in music videos?
The answer is simply, no. The music listener can expect a range of content shown on various platforms rather than the standard YouTube outlet.
Expect artists to begin to sign various partnerships with social media platforms to gain traction with these communities. Additionally, expect the content to continue to entertain us in extraordinary ways.
Photos: Shutterstock
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