The purpose of a music video

1. What do you think are the main  elements of an album marketing campaign?

 Distribution is an important element involved in an album marketing campaign as it can be through physical or digital release. Through platforms such as Spotify, a music streaming app, people were able to listen to the album without even purchasing it. Another major platform is YouTube which allows fans to listen too it also. In terms of physical release, stores will sell the album and as it sells more and more, it will receive more and more attention from the media. An example is HMV which is a well known music store which has a digital platform as well, giving people the option to purchase the album online on their website, as well as physically going to the store. 

Apps play a major part too, which is a digital platform to interact with listeners and fans. Through popular apps such as Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc hype can be created about the album which increases it's overall sales as more and more people will hear about it. Artists/bands can also advertise their album via their social media accounts.

Physically, posters and billboards are created to advertise the album and are a major way outside of social media people can hear about a major album release.  This element is also important as it reaches more people all over and can boost recognition of the release. 

Another method could be via media platforms such as music channels, an example of this is UK top 40 and MTV music playlist which play songs that have entered the charts. These are random hits from any range of artists and so often these can boost sales as more people hear about the song when they are featured on tv.

Another is through radio as the same principle applies. 

2. Have you encountered these techniques in your daily life?

Well known bands, such as One Direction, use social media as a major selling point for their music releases. Their fans, named "directioners" rely on the use of their social media accounts like Twitter and Instagram for any announcements of singles they're releasing. Their new single "Drag me down" hit number one straight away through the use of digital sales, meaning so many people bought the song via iTunes and streamed it on YouTube or Spotify that it immediately went viral before the video was even released. The fact that it went viral so quickly meant that it would feature on music channels like UK top 40 which counts down the top 40 songs meant that more people who listen to that channel are also hearing the song, over all increasing sales. 

As a user of social media, One Direction are usually trending meaning you're always know what they're doing in the music industry, this helps them sell more and more as people who aren't technically fans are aware of them, may listen to the song on a whim and like it enough to purchase it. Overall, this helps sales and awareness of the band. 

3. What factors make you 'like' a band and therefore download their music, buy their albums and attend their concert? 

They're many selling points of a successful band which attracts more and more fans. Firstly, image is important as it can give a taste of what kind of music they produce. Typically, if a band were to wear black clothing you could guess that they were perhaps music that dips into the Indie, Rock or Alternative genre. 

The style of music is also very important as it attracts different types of people and fans, pop is controversially the most popular genre as many songs are featured on the UK top 40's song lists. Many pop artist's win awards, and have millions of subscribers or followers on platforms like YouTube and Twitter. A popular genre is also rock/indie which gain fans via social media and word of mouth because most of their songs don't hit the charts and are forced to be spread through other methods. 

Another factor could involve the bands lyrics or type of song. For example, Catfish and the bottlemen sing about personal experiences with girls, evident by their songs "Kathleen" and "Cocoon" which grew popular with many people. 

4. What makes the music video unique? 

They're many elements which make a video unique, firstly is the narrative the video is telling. Although not crucial, it makes a lot of sense to link the video to the lyrics the artist\band are singing as it makes it feel as if it is being told as a story.  Contrary to this, a video which has no correlation to the music could add uniqueness to it as this is not normally done, either way the video should be telling a story even if it isn't in relation to the lyrics as it is more interesting to the audience and could entice them to watch it. 


Variety of shots is also important as it can go hand in hand with the beat and make it a fast paced type of video, these are usually the most popular with people.