What is a music video?

A music video is a short film or piece of footage which will accompany the music, but a
music video can be so much more than just that, thankfully it can be broken down into three
basic categories.
Performance piece, when the band plays either live or pre-recorded, or has a
dancer performing alongside the song. (Joan Lynch)
Narrative is when there is a story being played out which can relate to the song in
some way and is often edited to match the pace of the song. (Joan Lynch)
Concept, doesnt have to match any of the above and can
contain all the above or nothing at all. Concept is
interpretative and may not be wholly relevant to the music.
(Joan Lynch)
But a music video doesn't have to stop there, instead of just
the basics, in Jon Gows theory:
It can be broken down further, it can include special effects and be a spectacular piece
known only for that highlight often called the enhanced performance, what is the imagery
links closely with the music and identity with the musician/band name or label. Through
performance alone, you can have a dance/song number where it focuses on the ability of
the performer as they perform accompanied to the song. Anti-performance piece which
does not contain any performance of the song. A performance documentary, which
documents the performers outside of performing on stage or documents the performer on
stage. Finally the pseudo-reflexive performance which features the recording and editor
process of the music video.
And with further variations and technical codes from the theory of Andrew Goodwin
Such as the iconography which can be developed
over time, which the star/celebrity is known for and
associated with. Or if the record company require
lots of close ups of the main artist as part of the
record label deal. A relationship between the music
and the visuals either illustrating or contradicting it
and the same can be done with lyrics. It could have
intertextual references to another music videos,
film or TV series. And finally voyeurism in terms of the looking through screens, such as
camera, binocular, or screens within the screen.