Research: Functions of a music video

Music videos very rarely make an any money, they can cost  millions to make and it seems as if it doesn't help the artists. I've made a couple of reasons why artists use music videos

The first and most important reason is for the artists to promote themselves. Audio only tracks get significantly less online hits than music videos, and interesting aesthetics and cool people will attract a far larger audience.

The second is to entertain the audience. This links in very closely with the promoting of the artist (if more people like it then more people will buy it). The creators have to remember loads of points to tilt it to there specific audience. They also don't have to show the artist. In some genres, like dub step, the artist is rarely seen yet they have such fun videos that it isn't an issue.

Some artists use their videos to evoke emotion. This is rarely seen in the pop world, but in more depressing genres there is quite a lot of it, like in Kodalines video (which i've embedded below). If a video successfully makes you feel sad, or even uplifted, then you will automatically red it it as a very strong music video.