There are 3 main types of music videos that are used by music artists in our contemporary music industry: Narrative Based, Performance Based and Concept Based. Each have distinct characteristics with different purposes for how they will gain their audience's attention and recognition. The record label to whom the artist/band is signed wants them to appear as original as possible to other contemporary music artists, so they look for unique attributes within them which they can emphasise to give them a unique image and persona that will attract their targeted audience.
NARRATIVE BASED
A narrative based music video tells a short story which often relates to the lyrics of the song. This can create a dramatic effect as it emphasises the meaning within the song, these effects may be emotive and so aim to gain a response from the viewer. The type of emotion that is aimed for the viewer to feel, depends on how the artist/band is represented and conveyed to their audience. An artist's view on certain issues may be the central theme of their music video.
Decemberists - 16 Military wives
This video is a prime example of a narrative based music video, as it conveys the band's views on war in the U.S.A through a role play theme. It tells us how people believe everything that is said in the media. In this case, this music video uses subtitles in order to give the viewer a greater understanding on what the video is about and trying to convey.
Another example of this is a song produced by the artist Beyonce whose song 'Irreplaceable', shows a narrative involving her and her unfaithful partner. It surrounds the period in which Beyonce has found out about her cheating partner and is throwing him out of his house, leaving him with nothing.
PERFORMANCE BASED
A performance based music video is mainly used by a band for entertainment purposes. It shows off their raw talent as artists as it allows their audience to see them in a live-like show. The bands are normally a group that perform rock or indie music and tend to attract teenagers aged 12 and onwards. They give inspiration to these teenagers to play musical instruments such as the guitar and drums. To create maximum precision of their music, the band will dub a prerecorded track over the live visual recording.
White Stripes - Hardest button to button
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWe-7Cm1GHg
This performance based music video uses a stop motion effect, to match the beat of the music. The camera follows this iconic image of the band around several places as they perform.
Green Day - American Idiot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg7YjwZzNz0
In contrast this video by Green Day shows the band performing in the same location throughout the whole video. It is easy to distinguish it as a performance based video as you can easily see the band playing musical instruments that match the song being played.
CONCEPT BASED
A concept based music video aims to convey an idea or concept or message that may be personal or impersonal to the artist and one which they wish to share with their audience.
I interpreted this video as concept based, as the whole video surrounds this piece of musical hardware.. Although, this could also be interpreted as performanced based as well, as you see someone playing an instrument; the idea that I first got when watching the video was the concept of modern technology advancing by in order to create new innovative ways in creating new sounds and music. This new hardware is able to produce visual graphics on the LED screen, which has been constructed into the music instrument itself. This illustrates that the artist is developing a new trend and genre of music by creating such innovative sounds with such a small piece of equipment.
Katy Perry - Fireworks
This is a very effective video as the concept is illustrated through both the lyrics and the visuals. The visuals help emphasise the lyrics and what their meaning behind it is. We see people with sparks and fireworks shooting out of them, which highlights the concept of being a firework, not in a literal way, but in a figurative way. For example, fireworks are bright which gives the concept when relating to the lyrics of the song, that you should allow yourself to stand out from others and show your true colours.
