Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

There are codes and conventions that every music video follows.
The three main types of music videos are; Narrative based, Performance based and Concept based. However they can be mixed together to create a more diverse promo.

Music promos demonstrate genre characteristics, they do this through different mediums. Pop genre music videos will follow different characteristics to a punk genre video, for example a pop song such as Katy Perry's Roar is very upbeat and playful compared to Green Day's Basket Case video.

The song itself has to fit with the promo, this is done through looking at lyrics and visuals, music and visuals. Certain lyrics in a song can be used as a focus point to which a music promo can be made around, for example going back to Katy Perry's Roar music promo is jungle themed which is where the lyrics and visuals created have tied together. The music must also match the visuals; an upbeat song needs to have an upbeat promo for it to work.

Demands of record labels can also influence the music promo made, this means that the video may be required to have multiple close ups of the artist/band and artists may develop motifs that reoccur within each promo. This gives a music promo individuality as it is specifically tailored to a particular artist or band.