3. What is the function of a music video?

The main purpose of a music video is to promote the song, the album and the artist.

 A music video does this by selling the song in a way that enables the audience to easily remember it.

 It also provides the viewer with a better understanding of the song so they can engage with it visually and audibly; usually achieved by performance or “story” telling. 

A music video should also be able to entertain the viewer by demonstrating the artists’ musical and performance talents or their attractive physical appearance.

A music video is a good marketing tool that is used as a visual aid to help sell the artist, their brand and their products (singles, albums, gigs) to as wide an audience as possible.

Some music videos have a certain dance move that makes it memorable. This then creates further interest in the artist. 

Psy made the "Gangnam Style" dance famous. He was unknown till the release of this song. He then went on to release more music, went on tour and became a well known celebrity all over the world. 

Some videos are controversial with the purpose to shock, get people talking and watching the video and therefore also searching up the artist.

Miley Cyrus' video "Wrecking Ball" was controversial as it was a complete image change from her previous work. It now has over 800 million views on YouTube.