DS: Music videos - Commerical, Porn or Art?

Much debate circulates around music videos questioning the actual purpose of them. Are they to advertise the band and their production? Or are they are a tribute and an individual production to be admired alongside the music itself? Or perhaps they’re a provocative representation of the human body in an attempt to sell more records? Each of them is represented by artist’s individual styles, constructed by their own unique motifs. The answer is unknown, but every music video is unique and more or less falls under one of these three categories.

Commerical:

• Visual motifs and meta-narratives are used in music videos to set up an overall band image
• The band image is designed to advertise the band and not just the song, as the meta-narrative is the overall description of the band and not just their music 
• Narrative fuzz is then created, whereby the band can return to their narrative and even incorporate just a small part of it, and it will still be understood by their audience as their meta-narrative has already been explored and advertised
• Another feature of a music video being commerical is the actual shots within the video. Close ups of the band members and their instruments known as 'meat shots' help put the band in the best light. This combined with giving the band prevelance helps to put the artist in their best image and sell them.

Porn:

• The main technique which can portray music videos to be porn is the objectification of women
• Ways in which this is done according to Erving Goffman:
• Women being made to look artificial is often done in music video and their image doesn't properly reflect women in reality
• Dismemberment of the female body in music videos by focusing on parts of the women such as her legs or lips, which give sexual connotations
• Commodification where women are represented as objects to men for their own pleasure and consumption
• Laura Mulvey talks about the 'Male Gaze' where in music videos the audience is forced to view the text in the eyes of a hetrosexual man
• The concept of voyuerism is used a lot in music videos where the camera focuses on the sexual aspects and actions of a woman to be viewed by the audience

Art:

• These videos are generally art in the respect that the visuals of the video are used to create a story that corresponds to the track
• Advances in technology mean that people's imaginations are now able to be expressed through the music videos, and are no longer just clips focusing on the band, but short storys illustrating the song's meaning, just the way a piece of art does
• Music videos are now a new outlet not to assist making money for the track. but to make money by the videos production on it's own
• The fact music videos are becoming more like films means track can be sold largely based on the quality of the video, not just the actual music 

Conclusion:

To conclude, I personally believe music videos to be commericals. This is because even if a video is portrayed as slightly pornographic or as a piece of art, those concepts are created for a reason, to sell records. The music video accompanies the track, not the other way round, so regardless of the type of music video I believe the sole purpose of it is to give people a better understanding of the song, and help them paint a picture in their head if they struggle to do so. The music video gives a song more potency, enabling it to become more popular and consequently sell, regardless of it's defined as porn, art or a commerical.