Research Essay: 'Contemporary music videos are merely elaborate adverts with little artistic,social or moral integrity'

'Contemporary' by definition changes throughout time which is why it is a good way to describe how music videos have evolved from its original creation. The main intent when the concept of music videos came to be was that it was meant to act as an advert that would sell albums just like the statement says. Therefore, it has led to the conclusion that because of this, music videos have lost integrity or even that they did not have any in the first place. However, there are also other meanings and purposes to music videos such as perceiving the video as an interpretation of the lyrics of the song which I personally find to be more engaging and has influenced my own coursework video and the research gone into it.

In the 21st Century, it is easy to acknowledge and accept that various producers and companies place promotion, identity and advertising as the most important principles when making a music video. It is also why advertising is even covered in this A2 media course, because it demonstrates how important of an aspect it is in the music industry and the role it plays in the production process. The reason for this is because there is a very large audience who are exposed to this form of media solely every day and the industry relies on them to profit. Hence there are TV shows such as 'X Factor' which create stars by building up their image around their performances in the weekly show. Since it is a talent competition, the idea can also be suggested that the winner who gets a record deal, has music videos that have little integrity as the singer will be recognised as the current most popular X Factor winner rather than being a genuine artist who has meaningful music videos.

When he first auditioned for the show he was not known but after weekly performances guided by his mentor, he has been shaped to be a big personality in the UK.

As well as 'Vevo' on YouTube which is a popular channel that promotes all networked artists and shares it to all audiences using the video sharing website. It even reaches people who do not usually listen to the type of music being played which explains the millions of views that a lot of the music videos get online. These music videos on the channel then rake in revenue based on the number of views of that video which connote that they actually are just elaborate adverts.

Therefore, actual music videos do not have that much meaning since audiences will go see it regardless of whether or not it has any integrity, artistic, social or morally otherwise. It is also the reason why theorists like Richard Dyer have come up with theories such as his 'Star Theory' which states that artists are selling points that benefit the companies/producers that 'essentially made them'. For example, there are quite a few music videos that are created purely to draw attention to itself (for controversy) such as Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball' and Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda', both of which got into the social news.

Although, there are still some music videos which contradict this traditional consumerist convention and these focus on the narrative more than the artist by letting the video (and music) speak for itself. In regards to this, it links in with Andrew Goodwin's theory that music videos should act as visual aids to the lyrics of the song. Examples include the videos below which I have analysed in relation to my coursework as well as for the reason that I would prefer to make a music video that has more integrity than most contemporary videos nowadays.

With most music videos these days I have to agree that contemporary music videos are merely elaborate adverts with little artistic, social or moral integrity. The frequency at which they are distributed drowns out the what I believe to be more important narrative based music videos which tell an emotive story with messages and overall they have more integrity than the other type of videos.