From The Mind of Merc - Music Videos

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about music videos. This is a phenomenon I’m struggling to understand.

To explain my consternation, there are innumerable musicians and music stars who claim to support various charities donating their time and effort to numerous causes. AND YET they and their record companies will still spend millions if not billions of pounds making videos to accompany their songs.

The reason this puzzles me is that such videos are by their nature redundant and consequently pointless as the companies are not selling the video – they are selling the music, which is purely auditory.

This means they are forking out ridiculous sums to create these ‘innovative’, ‘ground-breaking’, lurid and often unconnected new films for something which they want people to listen to – not watch – with the apparent intention that it will encourage people to want to listen to the song. Surely if the song is not good enough to sell on its sound alone then it is simply not good enough.

I firmly believe artists should revert to the previous format for music videos – i.e. them singing/performing the song in a plain surrounding. No gimmicks, no CGI, no exorbitantly expensive sets. Just them and their music. If it is truly the music that they love and want to share then that is all they will need.

As for the directors who create these ‘masterpieces’, if they are truly as gifted as the companies claim then they will undoubtedly find or be found work in other less spendthrift projects.

Also, it is increasingly unlikely that the majority of the population will see said video a) because doing so is time-consuming in an increasingly time-constrained world, b) because most people will no doubt purely either hear or only be interested in hearing the music itself and c) despite its availability through sites like YouTube these, and consequently it, are still not the first port of call for someone seeking a new tune or piece of music.

Just think of the people and charitable causes that could be helped if, instead of spending these obscene amounts of money on unnecessary film, the money instead went the causes they claim to support.

When choosing out of ‘Artist wins award for new music video’ or ‘1000s of lives saved thanks to donation by record company’ – I know which headline I’d like to see.