What Makes A Great Music Video?

As we of the MTV generation know, music videos are a great medium for artists with only a few restrictions. One must convey a message within the two or three minutes designated for the song (of course except for rare cases like Thriller ). It must be entertaining enough to encourage multiple viewings, and be 'main-stream' so to allow for TV viewings at midnight or mid-day. Follow these, and you'll have a video fit for MTV or VH1.

But what makes a great music video?

1. It must be unique. This is a given. We have all seen enough angst-ridden m.v.s where the crying/angry/hurt girl/guy rides the bus/train/car, etc. Same goes for rapper videos with scantily-clad female dancers.

2. Tells a story. It can be a bizarre story that doesn't make much sense until the end, but one must feel satisfied at the conclusion [see Eurostar by YeYe or Everlong by Foo Fighters.]

3. The artist or director must not feel confined to matching the visuals of the video perfectly with the lyrics. While good in some cases ( Aint' No Other Man ) it tends to be a sign of a novice (bad) video director. [A good example of non-matching visual-to-lyrics? Watch Weapon of Choice.]

4. Makes a lasting impression and/or is memorable. This applies more to the older music videos, the forerunners to great music videos, that might not have the best production values but people still remember them and are often sampled by other artists & mediums. An obvious example is Aha's original Take on Me and Family Guy's version.

5. One must realize that a great music video does not mean a great song with a mediocre video, but a fabulous mv can have a mediocre song. There are some fabulous and iconic songs with okay music videos (some being uploaded to this spot) but this soapbox article is a tribute to those videos that stand out. Do you think of the music video long after you've seen it, even if you've only seen it once? Did it captivate you when you first saw it? These should be the questions you ask yourself when determining whether it is great!


Please let me know what you think adds to the formula of a knock-out music video!

Source: Fanpop