The purposes of a music video

Jasmine Davies 

Purposes of a music video

There are many different purposes of music videos, the main purpose being to promote the band/artist, the diagram below outlines several other purposes. 

These all break down into four sectors:

1. Promotion- How do music videos promote the band/artist
2. Outlets- Where can these artists/bands be consumed
3. Production values- Major record labels V indies and how this effects the promotion of the band 
4. Promotional- The main purpose for a music video is to promote the band/artist

For this assignment I have chosen to look at Green day and Katy Perry, I have chosen these because, one is an artist and one is a band and they have different styles, also they both have very different image and reputation. These two will appeal to very different target audiences for example Green days target audience will be people who like punk-rock music, they may have tattoos also people  who wear rock clothing such as studied belts and black clothing, whereas Katy Perry's target audience will be people who are more mainstream who like pop music and keep up to date with the latest fashion. It is evident that they have different target audiences because of the different genres of music, the themes they sing about as well as how they are presented to the audience. 

How are artists/bands presented?

Green day are an American punk-rock band and formed in 1987 the band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist  Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, drummer Tre Cool and guitarist and backing vocalist Jason White, who became a full member after playing in the band as a session and touring guitarist for 13 years but isn't featured in pictures. Tre Cool replaced former drummer John Kiffmeyer.

In this picture they look smart but punk at the same time, they are in the 40's so they have been round a while, I think they are caring but wacky people. Billie Joe Armstrong has a lot of cool tattoos and he always looks well dressed, his hair is always stuck up and he has reputation, Frank Edwin Wright the 3rd who is also known as Tre cool is really wacky and always wears cool pants, Michael Ryan Pritchard also known as Mike Dirt has played in other bands, he got his nick name by playing air guitar and whilst pretending to pull the strings he would make a irnt noise.

Green Day have a large following, and their fans are made up of a mixture of people. They are a punk rock band and I think their target audience would generally be punks and rock fans who will dress similarly to them.   I also think that green day might have an older target audience because they are all in there 40's but will have some younger fans due to children listening to what their parents listen to.  


At concerts the audiences copy what the band wear, for example Billie Joe Armstrong wears black pants and a black shirt with a red skinny tie or black pants with a red shirt and a white skinny tie.  The fans copy this look, this is significant because is shows that they want to be just like Billie Joe Armstrong.  Fans often want to get on stage with the band,  many of them will wear stupid costumes in an attempt to get selected to go on stage. For a fan going on stage with the band is an ultimate experience. There are some fans who love the band so much that they go to extremes such as getting tattoo's of them.

The man below shows how some punks look. Punk-rock was developed between 1974 and 1976 in the US, UK and Australia, Punk-rock has a variety of origins garage rock was the first from of music called Punk. Punk bands created fast, hard-edged music which were often political, anti-establishment lyrics. The term punk was first used in relation to rock music by some American critics in the early1970's.  Punk music from it's origin, up until modern punk has always appealed to 'rebels'. Many of Green Day's fans would see them selves as rebels.

Green day are signed to two different labels one called Look out records and the other is called Reprise records, Reprise records are Warner Bros company, their album sales are quite high so this indicates that they are very popular worldwide. Warner Bros records have got very different artist/bands and the artists/bands are very different genre's signed with them such as, Katherine Jenkins, Cher, My Chemical Romance, Regina Spektor, Jason Derulo, Michael Buble, and Avenged Sevenfold. th

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, known as Katy Perry she was born on the 25th of October 1984. She is an American recording artist, song writer and actress, her parents forbid her from listening to mainstream pop music. As a teen she pursued a career in gospel music under her birth name and released her debut self-titled studio album, once she released her first mainstream studio album one of the boys it was her break through. Katy Perry has been nominated for nine Grammy awards and was named as 2012's woman of the year. 


In this picture Katy Perry look really pretty, her image is very conventionally attractive. This will appeal to both males and females. She also looks like a barbie doll she is 28 years old and she is from America, I think she is a caring person and she has good taste in clothes, her image never stays the same, on minute she has blue hair then the next she has pink I think that she is a good roll model for younger teens, I think this because she was brought up as a christian and this widely publisiced. This sends out a message to parents letting them know she is 'safe'. She knows what is wrong, but in her videos she has her body on show, in a sexually provocative way. She changes her hair colour which can ruin hair so this isn't normally what a role model would do. Katy Perry's fans dress up as her all the time just like in the pictures below, even little girls the age of 8-10 this shows how much of they like her and her music, they dress up like her because they want to be like her. Katy perry changes her image all the time to drive the fashion business forward, for example she wore the smurf dress and when I saw it I wanted it, when celebrity's wear something then it starts a fashion craze.

Katy perry is signed up to four different record companies which are Red Hill, Island, Columbia, capitol and virgin. Island are part of universal music group, Colombia is a big record company and it is part of Sony music. capitol records is a major record company in America and is owned by universal music group, Virgin records are a big record company in England. Katy perry has been signed by some of the biggest records in the world which means she is very popular world wide. Her albums sold very well world wide and most of her songs got to number one this indicates that she is good at what she does.

Where music videos and merchandise can be found?

Green Day- They have a wide range of merchandise such as t-shirts, hooded sweatshirt, hat, key ring, wristband, messenger bag, calendar, stickers and canvases. You can find this on their website or places like eBay or amazon. This helps demonstrates how big a band green day are, as it shows there is a demand for their merchandise. Muse have more merchandise than green day because there are known more in the UK and this all links back into money.

Katy Perry- She has a range of t-shirts and underwear and accessories also she has a film it is called Katy Perry part of me, it is a documentary that shows her life on and off stage. You will find her merchandise on her website or places like eBay or amazon, you'll be able to find her music videos on You tube, MTV and many more sites.

How the audience is targeted by the band/artist music videos?

The audience is targeted by there music videos by how they look, the story, the lyrics and if its a band/artist that they like then they will instantly look at there new music video also if the lyrics have a meaning to that particular person then that person will relate to it.

I think green day's fans will be able to relate to Green Day because of their lyrics, on some of their songs they have a special meaning like Wake me up when September ends. It's about Billie Joe Armstrong's dad dying of cancer on the 1st of September and said to his mother Wake me up when September ends. Some other fans will relate to them because they dress similar to them.

Katy Perry's fans will be able to relate to her image, her fans like to wear what she wears. Some of the cloths that she wears have become costumes and fashion craves. They can relate to her by her religion, some of her fans might have the same religion as her, which will become fashioned. She will target her audience by the genre she uses and the reputation, which will lead to her getting more money and fans.

How synergy can be used as a promotional tool?

What is synergy: synergy is the working together of two things to produce a greater amount than their individual effect.

Disney was the first company to mater the use of synergy this could be a factor why they are the worlds largest media company

Advantages of synergy are that the company will generate more profit off one idea for example Harry Potter first there were books then films then merchandise now theme park and studio tours.

When you see a song that is associated with the film its often referred to as the films title track, in stardust, Take That do the title track which is called rule the world. This film got £14,765,659 the song got 2 in the charts and stayed there for 2 weeks, the production company for the film are paramount pictures and the production company for the song is polydor. 

Another example is Katy Perry's hot and cold it was used in The ugly truth this is an example of synergy, she would have made money off this an so would Columbia pictures. This films box offices figures were( £572,870,05.4) $88,915,214 and the song got to 4 in the UK charts. 

Green Day did 21 guns for transformers: Revenge of the fallen.

Using synergy will get the band/artist more money and more of a fan base. The film got (£259,053,185.8) $402,076,689 and the song got 36 in the UK charts. 

The different production values of music videos and this ties into their image and target audience.

The Bigger the band or artist typically they will have more expensive music videos, the smaller independent bands will have cheaper videos, this links into audience expectation. There expectations will get higher with each new music video they bring out.

Typically underground artist want to keep it underground because if they had a sudden change then there fans wouldn't expect it and possibly wouldn't like it, e.g if Marilyn Masons music turned pop and he changed his image to indie then his fans wouldn't like it.

Some bands or artist stay underground because the don't want to be safe like  the prodigy with smack my bitch up, the music video was banned because of the content.

The different styles used in music videos and why they are used.

Styles used in music video's:

• In concert ( as live footage)
• Animation ( stop motion, digital)
• Interpretative 
• Narrative
• Surrealist
• Pastiche
• Parody
• Homage
• Influence of/ on adverts

They are used because very artist/band doesn't want to be the same also not all styles wouldn't match some artist/band such as Katy Perry's style wouldn't suite Green Day.

Choose a Katy Perry video and Green day video and discuss what styles re being used, how does this suite them, why have these styles been used. 

The styles that are being used in this music video are narrative and surrealist, these styles have been used because these are the typical conventions that the pop genre has. This suites Katy Perry because she is in the pop genre.

The styles that are being used in this music video are narrative and as live, these styles have been used because these are the typical conventions that the rock genre has. This suite Green Day because they are a rock band.






The generic conventions expected in music videos.

Green Day's generic conventions would be:

• Black clothes 
• studied belt
• Black shoes
• Tattoo's
• Guy liner 
• Red tie
• Quite dark lighting 
• Instruments 
• Narrative (some times)
• Live footage ( some times)

This links into the punk-rock gene because mainly all of theses conventions are in a punk-rock video, some of the singles that green day have done are memorable because they have a real story behind them, Green day's songs are also popular because they have repetitive lyrics.

Green Day- Oh Love

Green Day- American idiot 

Katy Perry's generic conventions would be:

• Colourful clothing     
• Bright lighting 
• Nice make-up
• Sex appeal
• High heels 
• Narrative 
• Upbeat
• Happy
• Modern
• surreal
• Repetitive

This links to pop genre because mainly of these conventions are in pop videos, mainly all pop songs are remembered because the chorus will be repetitive, they are all popular because they have appeals for both men and woman such as sex appeal or beauty appeal.

Katy Perry- Waking up in Vegas

Katy Perry- California gurls 

The techniques used in producing music videos.

Having an expensive music video helps to create a hype, this is because people want to see why the video cost so much to produce.

Michael Jackson- Thriller
Cost- $1,000,000

Madonna- Die another day
Cost- $6,000,000

Guns and roses- Estranged
Cost- $4,000,000






Green day's longview music video looks a lot cheaper than their Kill the DJ, this is because it was in 1994. Kill the DJ is dearer because Green Day have generated more fans through the years, now that they have more fans they can afford to have a big productions.
The bigger a band gets, the more money they generate, the music videos and promotion of the band will reflect this.

Green Day- Longview

Green Day- Kill the DJ

Katy Perry- California gurls

Katy Perry hasn't been out for long, but she has generated millions of fans so that she can have expensive music videos. 

Madonna's lucky star is a simple video, this wouldn't have cost much because there is only her and two dancers. She wouldn't have been as popular at that time that is why the video is simple. When she gained more fans her videos got more expensive such as 4 minutes

Madonna- Lucky star

Madonna- 4 Minutes 

To conclude, i have covered many different purposes of a music video such as, the techniques used in producing music videos, the generic conventions expected in music videos, the different styles used in music videos and why they are used, the different production values of music videos and this ties into their image and target audience, how synergy can be used as a promotional tool, how the audience is targeted by the band/artist music videos, where music videos and merchandise can be found and how are artists/bands presented.