Display The Band?

To show the Band or not?

A great argument within the industry is whether a video is at a disadvantage if band members do not feature. Many media critics state that many bands likeability is down to firstly its music and then the bands members. If the band is marketing a song they have made then surely it should appear in order to further enhance the popularity of this song? Many bands however are hugely successful without featuring in their music videos. For example, Gorillaz are yet to feature in a video, but yet they still have sold millions of records. In fact they have actually made it iconic that they don’t feature in their videos, instead they have created cartoon versions of themselves to represent the band.

Again genre is a major factor. Within the pop and rock industry the lead singers personality and talent often needing to be expressed. Where as in the dance genre it is more likely for the audience to associate a video including a choreographed dance not needing to feature the singer.

My personal preference as a consumer lies within an amalgamation of some of band members on-screen and some form of visual representation of imagery as a good balance.

The second debate is whether the band needs to feature on the CD cover. Is it necessary for increased song sales? Well, in an age of mass consumption where so many album covers strive to create individualism and stand out from the crowd, perhaps not. Again branding is the necessity rather than the band being seen if the band does not feature in a CD cover as a consumer can quickly associate the CD with the band. In terms of accessibility and promotion of band image the CD cover is perhaps not the best outlet to express. 

For our music video we have decided to put the front man in the video, however, we do not incorporate the whole band but just the front man. We have assumed that similar to most bands the lead singer is the most iconic such as Muse – Matthew Belamy is seen as the most recognizable from the band, and then put other imagery to symbolize the rest of the band.