Categories of music videos

All music videos can be categorized into 3 different main categories. Performance, Narrative and Concept based. These all have different advantages and disadvantages, and used with different genres. I will be looking a bit into each category.

Performance based
Performance based music videos are music videos that are mainly showing a band or a group of people playing their instruments and usually a lead singer singing the lyrics. This category of music videos are mainly a hard metal genre. The advantages of performance based music videos is that it is very simple to make so it is cheap. Also it is effective as it makes the video seem more real as it actually shows real people singing it and showing their feelings. A disadvantage of this is that it is very not interesting and lots of people wouldn't watch the music video if it is just a band playing all the way through. Other types of music like sad songs and love songs are sometimes performance based aswell.

Narrative based
Narrative based music videos are music videos that show a short story of something that has happened relating to the lyrics of the song. This is usually showing someone who has a rough life, someone who went wrong in life, or just someone who just wants to share what they have been through. This category of music videos is mainly used in a love song or a sad song. However it is also sometimes used in pop and hip hop songs, these music videos tend to be a lot more happier and they show the good things that they are going through and what kind of life they are living. The advantages of this is that these music videos are a lot more interesting to watch, and people do watch them a lot more. As a result of this, this gives the band/singer more fame as people watch the music videos a lot more and they can see what the band/singer is going through and what sort of life they have. The disadvantages of this is that it is quiet expensive and has to be filmed several times to perfect it, which takes a lot amount of time and even more money.

Concept based

The concept based music videos are music videos which show a concept of some sort, for example, a concept about love, hatred, someone dying or being missed is mostly used. This is mostly used in genres such as sad songs, love songs and sometimes hip hop when they are singing about something bad. The advantages of this is the band/singer is able to share his thoughts and feelings with the audience, this will allow the audience to relate to the video as they have probably went through the same thing and shared similar experiences. This is a popular and successful category of music videos, partly because it supports Andrew Goodwin's theory that when people can relate to they video, they are more likely to connect with it and watch it. Also an advantage is that it gives the band/singer sympathy and the audience gets to know him better. A disadvantage of this is that it only targets a group of people, but if the other group of people does not like sad, depressing songs, they will not even bother watching the music video.