Research for Music Video: What is the function of a music video?

A Music video is the recorded visual of a performance that is integrated with lyrics of a song. The purpose of music videos can be both promotional and artistic. The reason why music video’s are considered artistic is because they provide the viewer with an understanding of the song as well as entertaining viewing, which showcases the talent of the artist/performer. This engages the viewer visually and audibly. The reason why music videos are considered to be good marketing tools is because they help to sell the artist and visually please the artist in a way that the artist's brand/products are seen worldwide.

A good example of this would be:

Nicki Minaj - Pills n Potions

In this video Nicki Minaj sings about someone doing her wrong but forgiving them and still loving them. She also sings about overdosing on 'pills' and 'potions' which are used as a metaphor for love in this song.

 To match the theme of 'pills' and 'potions', Nicki features the 'Beats Pill' stereo accompanied by animated purple pills floating around it. This is good product placement and an effective marketing tool as not only does it closely link to the lyrics, it also increases awareness of and promotes the 'Beats Pill' due to the catchy chorus.

Nicki also advertises her perfume line called 'Pink Friday perfume' as she holds it in the video and gives it a large close up shot. The word 'potion' in the lyrics heavily relates to perfume as it is a form of potion, which  the viewer is forced to remember.

The reason why I chose this video as a great example for music video's was because of the effective advertising alongside the catchy chorus, which helps to promote the single as well as the artist's products/brand. The entertainment side is also good as there are various effects/animations used which are interesting and makes the viewer want to return. This is evident as the video has 65 million + views.