Are Music Videos Promotional Devices or Products in Themselves?

¶ … Music Videos Promotional Devices or Products in Themselves

Music Videos: Promotional Device or Separate Product?

Music videos are constructed in many different ways, but many of them involve the artist and others singing and dancing to specific songs. Some also tell stories or provide other background dealings that make the music video much like a television program. An example of this would be Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' which was a very long video that involved much storytelling and other information as opposed to just the song. Some of these story type videos are still done today but this seems to be more popular in country music that it does in rock-and-roll.

No matter what genre is dealt with, however, the debate as to whether music videos are promotional devices or a separate product in and of themselves has been continuing for many years. In 1981 music television first began broadcasting music videos 24 hours a day across the nation. It has grown to such an extent that it is almost constantly associated with pop culture in today's young people and over 28 million individuals watch music television in the United States in any given week. In Europe that number increases to 39 million. Music videos also cost record companies a great deal as these companies spend over $50 million every year to create and produce music videos. However, while many would believe that music videos are a separate product, evidence would indicate that this is not the case.

Music videos are designed primarily as promotional devices and they influence the culture of individuals and their social interests. Pop culture expects music videos and these videos reshape how individuals think about music and how they think about television. Videos have such a strong influence on everything from movies to commercials that the young people in America and across the world today would not know what to do without music television and videos. Much of the reason that this is the case is that music videos tend to involve the audience in a way that regular television shows and music CDs cannot do. Because music videos are very artistic and impressionistic they are open to interpretation by the audience in a way that other genres are not. Because there is so much meaning they can be taken from many of these videos individuals who watch them are not only interested in seeing the video that comes along with the music but learning all of the little innuendos and other issues that come along with specific music videos.

Many see music videos as a promotional tool but also as an argument to the fact that communication is a social action and mass communication is a way to get individuals and audiences to participate actively in the communication that these individuals see and hear in the media that they are involved with. They view the contents of music videos and they construct various meanings based on what they have seen. Because of this the process is interactive and as this process has gone on there is meaning that is delivered to various things that are seen and heard throughout the video. There are meanings that were created by those who designed and produced the music video, but there are also meanings beyond these created by the observer of the video.

How the particular person who views the music video interprets it and what it means to them is an important part of research into this issue. Perception is the most important thing because those who are viewing the music video will be the ones who will be possibly purchasing the CD or buying the clothes that looks similar to what the individual is wearing for the video. Because of this, it is extremely important that how music videos make others react be understood and how these videos promote various artists, their lifestyles, and other items also be understood clearly.

Music videos have many uses and play several different roles. One of the most important roles is seeing music video as promotion and argument. How something is interpreted by a receiver compared against the intent of the creator and the content of the message is very important in social action theory. The interaction of communication between these various things is what makes this theory valid. This looks at a thorough argument that is centered around the audience and looks at it in three separate ways: The arguments that are perceived and judged by individuals who receive them; the arguments are created by the actors or producers of a particular thing; and the arguments that occur in communication based on the process of interacting with one another and the message that was given regardless of what the sender and receiver may feel.

Music Videos as Promotional Devices

Music video has only strongly existed since MTV was created. There were music videos available before then, but MTV actually brought these videos to the forefront of many individuals' homes and experiences and showcased them in the way that no other show had done before. There has been a great deal written on music videos and the music video industry since it has become so popular and analyzing or critiquing MTV, the music industry, and music videos in general has also become highly popular for many. Unfortunately, most of the studies that have been done do not deal with the audience. In other words, the way about the audience who views the music video perceives the video and the content that is being portrayed have not been studied.

This makes it difficult to determine whether music videos are actually designed for promotion or whether they are utilized as separate products. This is largely due to the fact that music videos that are designed for separate products in themselves and not for promotion may not be seen that way by other individuals. Because of this they may be assumed to be the promotional material when they are not originally designed that way. In order to understand popular culture and to get a better understanding of contemporary society today and an understanding of music videos and other cultural issues it is very important that this understanding must not come from the side of those who create the videos and what they are trying to say but from the side of those who watch the videos and what they believe the individuals were trying to say.

There has been some research on music videos which focuses on how the audience feels about the videos that it sees and most of this has been in political work. There have also been many that have dealt with the social influence of many music videos and the potential that these videos have to influence different parts of society. Descriptive studies have also been done that analyze the content of various music videos and these music videos have been investigated in various ways. Much of what is analyzed in music videos when they are examined has to do with gender, sex, and violence. It has been determined by some that have studied the issue that nearly 60% of music videos today portray sexual activity in some way and slightly over 50% show violence or criminal activity of some type. Other studies have looked at music videos and used a coding procedure to look at violence and sexual elements as well as the outlets for the music and the general trends in videos.

These studies have indicated that violent behavior and sexual activity have occurred in over 55% of the videos that they viewed. It appears that music videos have a relatively high degree of sexism and most women in music videos are used only for decoration. Many of these videos also look toward material wealth and luxury as being the only things that are important and tend to glorify these habits and ideas. While females in music videos do not appear as victims of violent acts nearly as often as males, over 60% of the videos that were studied did have violence or aggression in them in some way. Many videos also contain information that relates to issues that most would consider controversial. However, these studies only examined what they felt was in the video based on these issues and not whether those who viewed the video also shared this opinion of the messages that they saw.

It appears, however, that the content of music videos is quite often considered to be more than simply entertainment. It appears that videos are promotional material only, at least in the opinions of many of those that study it. However, the concern becomes not only whether the music video is only promotional but what types of behavior the video appears to be promoting. Naturally, the video is designed to promote the artist and his or her music, but it would appear that violence and other issues are also being promoted in the videos of many individuals today. There have been some studies done that have examined the content of various music videos and that have looked at how viewers interpret what they see and what type of responses they have about what they have witnessed.

Even though studies into these types of issues do not look at whether a music video is promotional and persuasive they do look at the perceptions of the viewers of the videos and how they comprehend what the artist in the video is trying to get across. Individuals who have participated in these types of studies and been asked open-ended questions about a particular video and the message that it portrayed have been noted by researchers to have differences related to gender, race, and whether someone was a fan of the particular artist whose video he or she watched. Some of this information has also related sexual activity and violence to the viewing of various music videos. This shows that there is definitely a correlation between music videos and the influences that they have on various audiences.

This relates to their promotional abilities, but this does not mean that everyone who views a particular music video will be interested in following along with or portraying much of what is seen in that video, but only that videos have the power to make certain individuals react this way. Because of this they can be used as promotion not only for the artist but for a particular lifestyle or idea that the artist either wants to get across or inadvertently gets across to the audience based on the message that the artist gives in the video. However, studies done in which sexual themes and violence were added to videos indicated that the regard that the audience had for this particular video was not enhanced by those types of activities.

Other studies have followed along in the footsteps of previous studies and looked at the effects that violence and sexual activity have when the audience is judging a video based on the visual appeal, the emotional response, and the musical appeal. Individuals in these studies were shown a music video that had already been categorized by researchers as having high, moderate, the low levels of both visual violence and sexual themes. After the test subjects watched this video they were then asked to rate the music, the video, and the lyrics on the various scales that related to emotional response and visual content. Even though it contrasted with research that was done previously, this study indicated that sexual themes ad a positive effect on the appeal that one had for a music video and violence had the opposite effect.

Another study in this same area looked at music videos and the violence that they often portray against women. This study indicated that men viewing videos depicting violence toward women can create an antagonistic attitude toward women in reality although it does not necessarily promote men to be more violent toward women in the real world and there was no evidence that music videos actually caused this. It is also important when studying music videos to distinguish between the lyrical content and the visual content of the video. The lyrical content is often the same that an individual would get on a CD when listening to music but the visual content is what makes the words on the CD come to life and have more meaning. It seems that audiences that listen to popular music participate in that by the various processing of information and framing of perceptions that is undertaken while the music is being listened to. Studies also indicate that this same type of cognitive processing goes on in music video watching as well as listening to music.

The visual content and the lyrical content in music videos are often distinguished between and there is an indication that the use of persuasive themes in various music videos can be identified by audience members. A study was conducted where an individual was allowed to hear only the music from a particular video or allowed to watch the video instead of hearing only the soundtrack. Individuals then completed questionnaires about perceptions and feelings related to this information. The study indicated that there were many differences in meaning between the group that only heard the music and the group who saw the video. In other words, individuals feel differently about something based on the images that they see portrayed when they listen to the music.

This is a significant finding due to the fact that simply listening to the CD of a particular artist may not promote a lifestyle or an attitude in the same way that a music video would be able to. Whether music videos are considered as arguments and therefore persuasive or promotional material is still debated but is highly important not only to those who create music videos but to many researchers in the field. There are several key questions that must be asked when it comes to whether music videos are seen as a promotional tool. These questions are asked by many researchers in different ways, based on what they are trying to specifically find out, and they include:

Do viewers perceived music videos as argumentative or persuasive material, and to what extent?

How are dominant claims or messages seen in music videos?

Are audience members influenced by the messages that they see in music videos?

Are music videos regarded by audience members as political or social messages?

Is an audience member's like or dislike for a particular music video associated with the influence that it has over that person?

Do audience members who view a music video judge this video as to whether it attempts to influence their behavior or their attitude toward something?

Do audience members see music videos as being influential in their lives and to what extent?

Do audience members believe that those who create music videos seek to have audience agreement with their main promotional message?

These questions and others are all very important because they will work to show the correlation between the music videos that are created by specific artists and producers and the audience members who view these videos and have opinions about them. It is possible that some artists may create something that they have a specific feeling about but when others view it they may see something entirely different in the message. When this happens the wrong message can sometimes be given to an audience and most artists are not trying to send any kind of dangerous or upsetting message to various individuals. Because of this, it is extremely important that the messages that are sent to individuals when they see music videos are the ones that the artist intended.

Music videos must be handled very delicately so that the proper message is sent and dangerous and incorrect information about actions and behaviors is not transmitted. It is clear that there is social influence in many music videos and many studies have indicated that this is the case. However, there are some concerns that there are various limitations to many of the studies. For example, many of them watch these videos in classroom settings on large projection screens and this is much different from what most individuals will typically utilize when they would view a music video. The video is also shown to individuals in these studies usually only once and it is quite possible that someone may come to feel differently about a video if they have seen its multiple times.

This is similar to radio stations that play a particular new song over and over again. A person hearing the new song for the first time may hate it but after they have heard it enough times they will decide that it is enjoyable. Nothing about the song, the artist, or the radio station has changed, but the perception of the individual listing to the music has changed. The same can be true for music videos that are viewed multiple times. Where somewhat is when they see a music video, who they are with, and how they are feeling can also have a great deal of influence on how individuals feel about music videos. For example, someone who has recently broken up with a cherished companion may not wish to hear love songs or see videos depicting romantic involvement and happy individuals. Given other circumstances this video may have been watched and enjoyed as the individual may have felt that it spoke to the relationship that he or she had with his or her significant other.

The way that individuals in most studies self-report how they feel about music videos is also called into question as multiple methods and different forms of data analysis might be more important in the future to ensure that these individuals are not having difficulty understanding the questions and discussing them correctly so that the responses that they reveal are truly accurate. Despite some of the concerns into research dealing with music videos, enough research has been collected and discussed about music videos that it would indicate these videos definitely make a persuasive argument and therefore are designed to be largely nothing more than promotional material.

It is accurate to say that these videos are often included as parts of other packages and so some may feel that they are separate products in and of themselves.

However, they are usually included as bonus material and are therefore not something that can actually be easily seen as a separate entity. They appear to be attached to the other issues that relate to the artist and are not something that can be purchased by themselves with the possible exception of some DVD video collections for various artists. Most who see and hear music videos report messages in them and not all of these are the same message that the artist was attempting to get across. But it also appears that both political and social material is seen in music videos not only in a visual sense but also by the lyrics that are created. This helps to show how music videos influence the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of various individuals and are therefore used as promotion of various things.