Music Videos

Channel V and MTV and similar channels have changed the complete prospect of Music over a score of decades now. To tell you the truth, I am a music buff but I got introduced to world music after the launch of Channel V in my country. Music has immense effect on the outlook of a person. 20 or 25 odd years back we knew that Michael Jackson was an out and out popular singer in the Western world. Enter Music Channels and we came to know why people like Michael Jackson so much. And we also came to know about so many other artists from across the world.

There has been however a gradual change in the nature of the music videos over the years. Music in the yester years was an element of listening. Now music is half made without a video on it. Today an artist has to look good before he or she can sing well. Unless you have a sex appeal, you are not considered to be a good singer and you can’t become popular. This does not mean that you can’t become popular if you are the conventional type. It’s just that the influence of the Music Channels on TV have become so popular on the viewers’ ratings that videos and visual presentation of the song has become most important for the popularity of it.

The making of a music video has become expensive too. More money you spend starting from the conceptualization to the completion of the video, more popularity you get and more money you earn. Some songs do not need much conceptualization for a video, they just need some perfectly statistical girls doing the sensual dance with the least of expressions and most of skin show. The more the girls can shake their bon bon, more popular is the video. Yes, I am pointing out to the Rap and Hip Hop genre of music videos. Nelly, 50Cents, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, etc have mastered the art of conceptualizing the best rap videos. Sometimes it happens that you need to see the video to understand what the lyrics say. Some examples are Mariah Carey’s “My All”, Shaggy’s “Wasn’t me”, etc. Some videos do not have any link with the lyrics at all. The video is created just to complete the album. Graphic Technology has also helped in giving music videos a new and better edge. I recollect George Michael’s “Fast Love” one such video which became popular just because of its graphically rich visual effects.

Music Channels have really given a new meaning to music all together. Even the Grammy Awards have awards for best videos now. Some genres of music have however, not been effected by the video-fication of music. Trance, techno, club and New Age music remain popular amongst their limited listeners. Though some genres have been raunchy-fied by video-fications, bands like Enigma still have managed to gain popularity through simple videos of their music. Enigma’s “Return to innocence” is a video which one has to watch to understand the importance of the quality of the music than the video. Steve Vai will always remain the King of guitar even if his videos do not have anything but him playing on a stage. Karminsky Experience, Felix Laband, Robert Miles, Thievery Corporation, Enigma, etc will always be remembered for their music and not for their videos.

Music channels have however given a new meaning to the world of music. But this does not mean that music lovers will stop listening to music if the music video channels are taken of air.

Linus Orakles
http://www.authorclub.info/