Watching contemporary music videos, im struggling to find the point in them these days. Many seem futile, pointless and irrelevant, and even a struggle to watch. They are cartoons, random dance sequences, or even worse, a random sequence of images. I thought the point of a music video was to sell more records, or sell the artist? How does a random, single-shot treadmill dance sequence achieve this? Have any of you brought the record for ok/go?!
Im arguing that perhaps we are seeing a revival in the importance of the song/music itself, and that Video didnt in fact kill the radio star. Perhaps today, even though the majority of music is downloaded, we are reviving an appreciation for the music itself and the sheer emotions it brings us, rather than emphasising the commerciability of the artist. This is further evidenced by the fact that we are seeing an increasing array of talent present live shows to our shores. It seems that a manufactured image of the artist is not enough - we want the real thing!!
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An interesting point. Many commercial videos, despite the amount of money thrown at them are generally bland, along with a lot of the music sounding the same. The latest Linkin Park video and song is very nineties in look and sound. The video is shot in the desert, gear all set up, wind blowing hair around, snippets of the world going wrong. How many times have we seen this! Deftones, Soundgarden, and even U2 have all had the "desert" treatment, so why are video makers consistently playing it safe, and why are the artists not demanding more originality? There are very few artists that are pushing the boundaries of the medium. I was viewing the early Adam and the Ants videos, and the main director said in an interview that most of Adam Ant's videos are now in the Modern Art Museum in London! They're old but really strange and unique, and that was all Adam's vision. How many artists could claim that now. The eighties did produce some amazing video's from artists such as Depeche Mode, The Cure, and Bjork's videos are all amazing, but the mass of videos today just don't push the boundaries. The video has to seen as an art form again, not just a vehicle for hearing the music and seeing the band's posturing. Yes, I think that we are listening more to the music now as the video medium is tired. Who knows, with this 3D cinema arriving soon (U2), who knows what may happen for the future of the music video, but there's certainly nothing wrong with appreciating the music again.
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