What is a music video ?

 Music video plays a big part in the music industry. A music video allows music artists not just show off their vocal talent but they’re looks and their moves. A music video delivers song at the same time it gives meaning to the music. It allows the audience to relate to the song and feel something for it. A music video visually aid the audience about what is going on in the song. There are 3 types of music videos:

• Performance: This includes the artist singing and dancing
• Narrative: Tells the audience a story
• Concept: It sells the audience an idea, theme or ideology

The purpose of a music video

There are many purposes of a music video. It represents a new artist or group. It is made to make the audience remember a particular song. It can also be made to build a relationship between the artist and its fans. It also allows the audience to understand more about the song and learn more about the meaning of the song. In Justin Timberlake's video ‘Mirrors’ the music video is a narrative. It tells the audience a story. We see a boy and a girl and how they met to what they were in present time. It shows their life and at the beginning the video is dedicated to a real life couple. It builds a relationship with the audience as we relate with the couple’s life and the story. The concept of  ‘mirrors’ is explained throughout the video as the guy calls her love his ‘mirror’. The narrative explains the concept of the song. A music video allows the audience to buy into the artists lifestyles. It also allows the audience to show the different generic conventions. There many other reasons why Artists produce music videos is to build a relationship with the its Audience. In Justin Bieber’s music video ‘beauty and the beast’ Justin Bieber is seen holding the camera and singing to the camera which allows the audience to feel engaged. This shows that the video is from his perspective as he is holding the camera. Music Videos are also made to promote a specific product or brand. In Justin Biebers music video ‘Beauty and the beast’ we see the game ‘Just Dance’ and we see people playing the game. We also learn more about the artist as we see Justin Bieber playing the piano. This shows that the artist is talented and we learn that he plays the piano as well. 

The Target Audience

Every music video has a target Audience. This can include young people, teenagers or kids. These videos are then made according to its target audience. As there is certain stuff that can be shown according to its target audience. The target Audience is another important aspect of a music video as it allows one to make the music video according to what the target would want. In Justin Timberlake’s video ‘mirrors’ the story could be aimed at young people audience as it’s about a couple that were madly in love and to the present day they were together. The target Audience has specific requirements and that’s why all music videos have a specific target Audience. A music video should be entertaining and interesting as well as appealing to the target audience of the music genre. All target audience is divided into different categories with the same gender, class , ethinicity , location , lifestyle but the most important characteristic is age.

Codes + Conventions

Codes and Conventions allow the audience to be familiar with a certain genre and make them want to look for their genre. It makes sure that a particular video fits into a category. The music video by Justin Timberlake ‘Mirrors’ fits the codes of a vibrant pop music video as it has a narrative and it also has Justin Timberlake singing and dancing. 

Shows the meaning of the song which Is ‘mirrors’. This allows the audience to understand the meaning of the song. 

Summary

Analyzing this music video has helped understand the aims of music videos and what effect they have on the audience. This analysis will assist me with my own music video. It has helped me understand the difference between performance, narrative and concept based. This music video has a mixture of these three styles. My music video will have both performance and narrative. As a music video should tell a story and this can be done by narrative and performance is done by the artist is singing to the audience this engages them.