Music Video Outlets

Music Video Outlets

Mainstream TV

People all around the world watch the TV, this means that the likely hood of someone watching a music video would be high as the music video would be shown during the adverts, however they only show parts of the music video as it tends to be shown to promote the album so this means the audience are more likely to go online to see the whole music video or will end up buying the special edition CD/DVD but that costs them more. The are both advantages and disadvantages to this, a advantage would be that it is easy to access and it is on 24/7 another advantage would be that there are constant advertisements to promote the video. However there are disadvantages to this as you have to pay for the TV licence, they do not show the whole video and this could mean you would have to buy a CD or go online to find the music video which takes time. An example would be channel 4 as they show the odd few music videos but they are very rare and are more likely to be during T4 on shows like The Album Chart Show, Hollyoaks music show and T4 On the beach where artists perform their latest songs.

Music Channels

Music channels are generally used to watch the latest music videos that have been released for the audience to see as they may not have Internet to watch the music video on or they may not buy the special edition CD/DVD to watch the music video. There are many pros to having music channels for example they give the top and most popular songs of the time, they also have a variety of different channels for the different types of genres so that a wide range of audiences can watch the videos of the types of musics they enjoy listening to. The music channels also repeat the songs many times during the day, so if you had previously missed it you can watch it later. However there are problems with this like that there are commercials and that they only do the top 50 songs so there is a chance that the video that you like may not be in there. There are many music channels for different music channels like Kerrang is generally watched by people who enjoy listening to rock music and the there is the box which plays pop and R'N'B music, another example would be 4 music which also has the latest music and they have a news segment showing what the artist are up to.

Direct CD / Special edition CD/DVD Releases

Many people still buy Direct CD / Special edition CD/DVD as they can watch the music videos repeatedly, however the only problem with this would be that for the special edition they would have to pay more than a regular CD would cost. People may also buy a special edition is because they may not have Internet to access websites like YouTube and ITunes where they can download the music illegally or legally, however this could be a problem as the album is likely to have some songs that you do not like on it so paying more money would be wasted if you do not listen to the whole CD. An example of this would be ABBA Gold: The Greatest Hits as they had 19 songs on the track list but in 2003 when it was released in Europe there was a bonus second disc with an extra 11 singles, when it was later re-released in 2010 the DVD with remastered versions of the video.

Streaming websites (e.g. YouTube)

Streaming websites means that you can watch something without having to download it, this allows the user to watch music videos instantly without having a problem.This is good for the fans as they can watch the whole video without it costing them anything so they can watch the video as long they want and as many times as they want. Streaming websites are also good for the artists and their record labels as they out advert on the video so if the user clicks on it they get paid, it also good for them as the more views they get the more money they make from it. However this could be bad for the fans as they the videos may be released in the websites but they are not always good quality. An example of this would be Justin Bieber's song Baby ft Ludacris is the second most watched video on YouTube with 819,379,356 views showing that YouTube is a popular site for people to watch music videos.

Artist's Websites

Most artists have an official website that has all their information on it like there tour dates, album releases, when there latest songs would be released and merchandise. This means that as soon as the artist has released their latest song there fans can immediately see it and it is free of charge. Artist's may also have other posts like the making of their music video, photos from when they are touring and also photos from there photo shoot to keep their fans updated and aware of  what they are currently doing. An artists website will also have links to websites like Facebook and twitter so you can also see what they are up to at the moment on those if they have not updated their websites. An example of this would be Adele's website as she put on latest information about herself and recent events she has been to, there are also links to other sites on her page so they can see her recent updates on the other pages.

Downloads (legal and illegal)

Many people download songs and music videos illegally as it is free and because they can frequently do so. However there are problems with this as the quality may not be as good, they could also get viruses and if they got they got caught they could get fined an example of this would be lime wire. Some people download things legally from Itunes as they can get music videos in good quality and instead of buying a special edition CD/DVD and paying for the paying a lot of money they can select any song they want, however they would have to pay for it. An example of this would be ITunes as you can download songs separately or you can buy the whole album which means you do not have to download every song separately so it is a better deal.