Purpose of a Music Video

The music videos main purpose is to promote a single/ album and the artist/ band themselves. A music video should be memorable so that the audience remember it and therefore remember the song and maybe the message behind the song. As many music videos have narrative, performance and concept it can help the audience understand the meaning of the song and the lyrics by showing the story of the song.  The music video is also there to entertain the audience. Depending on who the target audience is will depend on what is in the music video. For example high school musical did music videos for some of their songs which were targeting young children. These were based on the film and the characters were in the music video instead of the using their real names e.g. Zac Efron still played Troy in the music videos as children usually only know the characters and not the actual actors whereas in an adult music video the only time that characters are in a music video usually is if there is intertextuality. When I make a music video I need to make sure it fits its purpose and tells a story, promotes the song and artist and helps tell a story.


An example of a music video that is aimed at an older audience then children because it does refer to a film but uses intertextuality rather than the whole music video being the film is flashlight by Jessie J.