Intro- Music Video

It is extremely difficult to specify one finite definition of a music video as they are so vast and varied. Concisely, it is a short film that is designed to promote a song, artist or album. Andrew Goodwin, the author of Dancing in the Distraction Factory describes a good music video as being “a clip that responds to the pleasures of music, and in which that music is made visual, either in new ways or in ways that accentuate existing visual associations.” Alternatively, a definition found on Wikipedia states that “A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes.  Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.”

Since MTV, a television channel created to play music videos, was first aired in 1981, music videos have become extremely prominent. Prior to this, music videos that were created were known as “illustrated songs” or “film clips”.
Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques including animation, live action filming, documentaries and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles such as animation and live action. There are no specific rules in which a music video must follow; they can be as creative and disjunctive as the producer chooses.
So to summarise, the primary purpose of a music video is to promote a song. Its secondary purposes are to promote the artist and their album, to increase their fan base and to maximise their profits.