Categories of Music Videos

There are three main categories of music video which include:

• Performance Based videos
• Narrative Based videos
• Concept Based videos

Performance based videos usually have the vocalist/artist perform the song to represent their star identity and reflect the genre of music that they fall under. A variety of camera shots are usually used to show all of the performance, mostly including close ups, mid shots and long shots to show all of the band or to focus solely on the vocalist. An example of a performance based video is Imagine Dragons' "Demons".



This video shows the band performing to an audience, which instantly makes it performance based as the audio and visuals are in sync due to the lip syncing. The majority of shots are close ups on the main vocalist and a few on the rest of the band. However, the video also has features of a narrative based video as it shows 'stories' of some of the audience members and their problems at home. This reflects the message of the song, which is that many people hide their 'demons' in them, and that when they listen to the song they should embrace their demons and to know that they're not alone.

Narrative based videos attempt to tell a story throughout. They usually have a beginning, middle and end and may sometimes use footage from films or feature flashbacks to follow a storyline. An example of a narrative based video is Green Days "Wake Me Up When September Ends".



The video starts off with a long period of dialogue, introducing us to the characters and their relationship. We learn that the characters are a couple and the rest of the video shows them to be in love and their money troubles as the man realizes he has no money on him when him and his girlfriend are out for lunch and she has to pay for their meal. Then we see the couple having an argument over something that hasn't been revealed to us yet. It then becomes apparent that the man has joined the army, perhaps to solve the couples money problems. The video also includes features of a performance based video as we see snippets of Green Day performing the song in a studio, however it remains a narrative as the majority of the filming follows the storyline of the couple.

Concept based videos follow a single concept or idea, with very limited shots or editing in the video. Concept videos aren't very popular as they're not as entertaining as performance based videos as they don't fit into a commercial slot. An example of a concept based video is Benny Benassi's "Satisfaction".



The video consists of a selection of women dancing with power tools as the name of the equipment comes up on screen. This remains to be the main concept of the video throughout as no other characters or ideas feature. However, the video could come under Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'male gaze' as it could be seen to exploit the women in the video as they're dressed in very little clothing and dancing provocatively.