3 categories of Music Video

Performance Music Videos

This is the standard; it is the oldest style of music video, and it appears in the majority of them. The artist / artists singing the song in a performance music video — but it doesn't have to be that straightforward. Where are they going to perform? It could be in front of an audience, making it a live stage performance, or in a setting that reflects the mood of the song, such as the grounds of a country house, or in a recording studio with acoustic instruments, making it a live lounge video. The way it's shot, where it's shot, and how it's lighted are all crucial factors to make because they will affect the video's conclusion.

The beauty of a performance video, or even performance aspects in a video, is that it can be used by any artist and in any setting. You shoot in a manner that is appropriate for the performer or song. It can be basic and understated, emphasizing on excellent lighting, or it can be grand and extravagant, focused on a gigantic dance routine or the artist's sole performance. Take a look at some of the following instances. The Pretender by Foo Fighters is a straight up band performance in a vast venue, while Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares To You is mostly her face to the camera - alright, that's actually blended with other reflective images but I couldn't leave that one out.

Narrative Music Videos

People eventually grew weary of taping performances and broadcasting them on television, such as The Jackson 5's Rockin' Robin, and realized they could utilize their music videos to convey stories... much like movies.

Music videos with a story, or narrative music videos, have a beginning, middle, and end. This gives directors the freedom to express their stories the way they want, in the genres they desire. You can tell a story from beginning to end, as in Drake's Hold On, We're Going Home, or show parts of what appears to be a larger story, as in The 1975's Robbers, or even an alternative narrative, as in our own Remedy by The New Citizen Kane, in which the audience makes up their own mind about the story. This is when the filmmaker can really shine since they can convey a story in any genre and with any cinematography they want, sometimes even breaking storytelling standards.

Songs, for the most part, are already stories; they all tell stories, even if they don't have lyrics. The amazing thing about this is that the tale can be the song rolled out for you to view, it can be an alternative interpretation, or it can have nothing to do with the song at all, but it works like Alt-J’s Breezeblocks.

Concept Videos

The most accurate description is that it is an artistic expression. Like Childish Gambino's Sweatpants, there's a concept or subject that drives the images. These may be a lot of fun since, unlike narrative videos, idea videos have no rules. It's a never-ending playground where anything goes. Sure, CGI. Isn't stop motion entertaining? Yes, of course. A collection of images portraying various people's facial expressions? Indeed! The hauntingly stunning Feathers Falling by Amani is an example of interpreting a song and then bringing it to life in a way that only you (or the filmmaker) could do.

Now, I'm not arguing that every form of film has a place, but the vast majority of them do. You wouldn't expect One Direction to have an artistic concept video; this is more of a non-mainstream or non-pop music approach. Because concept music videos don't have to tell a story (at least not in the traditional sense), it's important that the video captures the feel and tone of the song, and this approach doesn't work well with pop music and its audiences unless it's a cross-genre like Darwin Deez's very cool and very quirky Radar Detector – he's an indie pop artist and a character, so it works.

For alternative musicians, a concept music video is a different method. It is the most open and liberating ways that lead to extraordinary results.