Music Video Distribution

There are many ways for audiences to access music videos, each of these ways have there own individual benefits and disadvantages. This is down to the distribution techniques of music labels.

Before, music videos were mostly watched on music television channels/programmes such as MTV or Top of the Pops. However, thanks to the internet there are now many more, somewhat, better ways for an audience to view videos. With music television the audience could not choose the video to watch, instead they would have to view whatever was on at the time. This meant only very famous music artists would be known for their music videos. One possible benefit for music television is the fact that the audience could not choose the videos being played, which could potentially lead to fans the music artist would not receive otherwise. Usually an audience will have a particular song in mind when looking for it on the internet, but with music channels they may be exposed to new songs.

Social Networking sites can lead to music videos becoming 'viral'. This is where information about a certain music video will be spread quickly to huge numbers of internet users. One of the main ways of music videos becoming famous is down to 'word of mouth', and with social networking this has become a much better way of gaining a fan base. A feature that helps music videos become famous through the use of social media, is the fact that videos can be embedded into posts. This allows viewers to immediately watch a posted music video, rather than clicking on a link, which means users are more likely to do it, because of ease.

YouTube is another very popular distribution method. Almost all music artists will upload their video to YouTube, because it is such a key website for gaining views. If someone wishes to watch a music video YouTube is the easiest way to do so, because it is free, and will almost certainly contain the video. The gain in popularity of YouTube has meant that many small-time musicians can become famous, because YouTube can be used by anyone. An example of a singer who became famous from YouTube is Justin Bieber. Bieber had no fame when he released a cover of Chris Brown's 'With You', and was discovered by a talent manager. Since then he has become one of the most recognisable names in the music industry.