About Music Videos in 2018?

#1

Where are we at with music videos in 2018? Label budgets aren’t what they used to be, but on the other hand, tools are getting cheaper all the time for video production. Then post-(M)TV it’s a lot more open in other ways like length, style, content etc etc. Youtube video streaming is pretty good quality these days too.

What do you reckon? Redundant? Important? Good ones / Bad ones? You see trends emerging in style or anything else? Noticed recent trends come and go? Any directors doing something new? And what do you predict is coming with the way music videos fit into things?

#2

well, Childish Gambino’s This Is America was released about a month ago so I wouldn’t call it redundant. in those rare occurrences it can challenge the normative and open a dialogue about the way we perceive society. in other cases it can amplify a song if it comes with strong visuals that go with the song. I think Xtina’s Accelerate is a good example for that. then, for music directors it still can be a stepping stone to get into the film business, while on a smaller level it functions as a good opportunity for art and film students to test their creative boundaries and get make a name for themselves.

one video that I’ve really enjoyed recently (and which has nothing to do with my aforementioned arguments) is the one for Jaques Greene’s mixtape. I’ve never seen the concept of voyeurism driven to such heights while maintaining an extremely simplistic feeling

#3

I feel like artists of all types (visual, musical, writers/rappers/poets and especially fashion/design) are really starting to understand the music video as a medium in exchange, in conversation, and within a larger flow or feed of internet comments and think pieces. Gambino’s This is America does that SO WELL…hes a writer and actor who happens to be rapping but knows the medium of streaming, film and tv really really well so makes a video that speaks on lots of levels - theres the visuals, the music, the choreography, the historical memory, the current event, and the rapper calling out other rappers levels…its almost endless when it becomes “reaction video’d” ad nauseum, not to mention theories, comments, critical reaction by both academics and bloggers, as well as interviews and podcast gossip.

Two guys that I’ve seen run a new model of music videos to blow up in the rap world are Lil Dicky and Tobe Nwigwe. They both released short self-shot videos once a week to gain a youtube following and create some type of internet buzz. For Lil Dicky it got him to a viral level and into the 2016 XXL Freshman Cypher. Here’s a few of them…followed by him slaying designer and anderson paak with his verse in the XXL cypher. Also keep in mind Lil Dicky is a comedy rapper but in the era of mumble rap he’s better than most…

Toby Nwigwe is doing something similar, making weekly videos that feature him, his wife and his producer. All the videos are low budget from the look but are shot with a clean eye for colors and shapes, also the fashion seems like it’s something they or their friends did. On point rapping and dance moves too. I hope this guy blows up I really like him. Also notice he subtitles his raps within the video so fans can learn and rap along easier…

just my 2cents on how music videos are changing in a YouTube Spotify Apple Music 2018 World…

#4

I was actually just having this conversation with someone the other day, admittedly prompted in part by the Childish Gambino vid. I remember in the last days of MTV playing videos, there was a real over saturation and homogenisation in music videos, which I feel like it was something that an artist had to have for a single. As such, it merely became a box to tick.

While we don’t really have the cultural touchstone of MTV anymore (despite some cute/sad attempts to revive the long-dead horse), I’d argue that consumption channels have an even wider reach than before, and great videos can easily stand out as the numbers are smaller (and as @Esquilax mentioned, gear is getting much more reasonable).

This video is one I still revisit quite often, to me it’s a prime example of how perfectly song and video can work together:

#5

There seems to be less onus on the need for a music video now as there was up until a few years go. Music Videos were the backbone of marketing before social media started up. They and the way they were broadcast were pretty much ‘old media’, whereas now the immediacy of social media demands more of a constant marketing stream out of artists.

#6

yeah, agreed. music videos from 1985-2010 set the image an artist formerly created with live shows, interviews, and crossover tv/movie cameos. From 2010 onward it seems like theyre not necessary but still useful in cultivating that image. I can think of newer artists like FKA Twigs whose live show is pretty much an extension of the world she creates in music videos.

#7

i think the self-directed videos of mike shinoda’s work rlly well. they seem to just be recorded with handheld iphone footage, and constantly use the front camera in lo-fi and close-up ways. which rlly fits the hurt portrayed in his lyrics, which u can guess what they are about if u heard of him and his work and how its been affected lately ;n;