Looking at how much videos have aged over the last 90 years, what music videos might look like in the future is rather unclear. With the death of music television and shrinking budgets, many are left wondering, will the music video itself go extinct? Even though the music video is not as in style as it was in its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, the art form is staying alive and remains constantly changing. Let’s look at 3 different ways music videos have already begun taking shape that will help lead the medium into the future, and some possible limitations that come in the way.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Social media has become a unique tool when it comes to releasing music videos. Hip-hop artist PartyNextDoor took an unprecedented approach for his 2016 video for “Come and See Me”: he premiered it on social media app Snapchat. Further, the video was shot to fit the medium: vertically. When it comes to smartphones, most things are done in the vertical position, like texting, taking photos, and scrolling through social media. Consequently, as vertical is the default position of smartphones, it is only fitting that videos are accessible that way, as the majority of people watching videos are doing so from their phones. Just like widescreen videos fit the entire screen when turned sideways, portrait videos work the same way, without having to turn the phone to its side. Neither Snapchat nor Instagram even allow viewing videos widescreen, though YouTube recently began supporting vertical video. Maroon 5 made a vertical video for "Wait", in which singer Adam Levine mouths the track in different Snapchat filters as if he's singing to you directly through the app. Taylor Swift also made a vertical video for her song "Delicate" that premiered exclusively on music app Spotify. Premiering videos via social media allows for access to analytical tools, like being able to see the number of views, how many times it was clicked on, and who fully watched the video, which is great for measuring success.  Vertical video comes with its own challenges, as most artists still elect to release a traditional, widescreen version of their music videos. This means shooting the video twice and using a special camera for the vertical version. Some even release two completely different videos. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another social media feature that has enhanced the music video experience is livestreaming. Apps including Periscope, Facebook, Instagram, and even YouTube, allow for artists to broadcast videos live, giving viewers the chance to all watch the video and hear the song simultaneously before the video is uploaded online for good. DJ Klingande used Facebook to livestream his video for “Somewhere New” in 2016. Livestreaming a music video also means shooting it one take, live. It’s a tedious task that takes a lot of rehearsing to perfect before broadcasting it to the world. But it lets the most devoted fans have the opportunity to be the first to watch it and brings fans together to a common place to talk about it. 

 

INTERACTIVITY

 

A slightly earlier take on moving music videos into the future is the interactive music video. Interactive videos allow the viewer to “play” with the video and create a customized experience every time they watch. They provide full sensory and emotional experiences because they immerse the viewer in the video. Arcade Fire established this approach with their 2007 video for “Neon Bible" and went to make interactive videos for “Sprawl II” in 2011 and “Reflektor” in 2013. Music video pioneer Bob Dylan actually created an interactive experience for “Like A Rolling Stone” in 2013, in which the viewer can flip through a virtual television with each channel featuring people mouthing along to the song. Pharrell Williams broke ground with his hit "Happy" in 2013: not only is the video interactive, but it's the first music video ever to last 24-hours. Other notable examples include Local Natives' "I Saw You Close Your Eyes", that senses when the viewer is watching through their webcam, M83's "Go", that lets the viewer play an 80s-esque racing game while an 8-bit version of the song plays, and Usher's "Chains", that also uses the webcam to make a powerful statement about police brutality. Since sites like YouTube don’t support interactive features yet, creating an interactive video means hosting it on its own website, making them a little less accessible. Also, some computer programs or browsers might not support certain features. For example, someone who doesn't have a webcam can't enjoy the interactive videos that require them. Interactive videos also arguably take a lot more time and effort to create because they require a plethora of software and visual editing skills. There are a lot of moving parts, and to give the viewer full access to full customization, the creator needs to take the time to add a variety of options.

 

VIRTUAL-REALITY

 

Another filmmaking craze that is sweeping the art of music video is virtual-reality. Like interactive music videos, virtual-reality videos provide viewers with a fully immersive experience. But instead of having features to customize the video, virtual-reality videos give viewers the chance to “enter” the video and feel like they are there inside of it. The truly innovative and unique aspect of virtual-reality that makes it so great is the idea of seeing multiple angles of the same narrative all running parallel. Wevr is one of the premiere VR production studios, making videos for Run the Jewels’ “Crown”. YouTube began supporting 360-degree videos in 2015, with Noa Neal’s “Graffiti” as the first. 360 videos make virtual-reality a little more accessible, as they don’t require any fancy hardware to view because they provide arrows the viewer can click on to look around right in their browser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Though arguably the most exciting innovation for music videos, virtual-reality also provides the most limitations. Even though YouTube supports 360 videos, filmmakers still argue that “real” virtual-reality is best. This means using VR headsets such as Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, or PlayStation VR. All headsets have different costs, capabilities, and requirements. Virtual-reality filmmaking so also expensive. A lot of record labels are nervous to dive into such a new and untraditional medium for videos at such a cost when the guarantee of success is so unknown. But, it is expected the virtual-reality medium will take off with tools like the Google Cardboard Camera and Sphericam 2 that record high-resolution 360-degree video right on smartphones, so amateur filmmakers can make professional-grade innovative music videos. It is also expected that future smartphones will have built-in VR capabilities.