Music videos? Do you watch them?

[littleheartsofjoy]

(This topic came to my mind recently so I wanted to post.)

Do you watch music videos? How do you feel about them (in general)? If you do, why do you watch them? If you don't, why don't you watch them?

When I say music videos, I mean videos with the artist/band in them and actually moving throughout the video, or doing something aside from singing. Not like a video with lyrics on the screen and/or an image. To me, that is a lyric video.

As for the poll, the first two questions are straight forward. Just put the answer that applies the most. The last two questions allow for multiple choices, because I figure that there can be more than one reason why you do or don't. I'm just curious to know how you feel about them and if you watch them,

[Xenopsyche]

I do. I usually flick through the music channels in the advert breaks (I hate adverts SO MUCH! *shakes fist*)

I watch them partly because I like to see music performed, even if it's only mimed as it is in most videos, partly because they can be awesome visually or just plain awesome like Thriller. Partly because many female musicians/singers are visually attractive and I like looking at pretty things, lol.

[AshenPhoenix]

I do. I usually flick through the music channels in the advert breaks (I hate adverts SO MUCH! *shakes fist*)

I watch them partly because I like to see music performed, even if it's only mimed as it is in most videos, partly because they can be awesome visually or just plain awesome like Thriller. Partly because many female musicians/singers are visually attractive and I like looking at pretty things, lol.

Adblock calls to you, young internet user :P

I watch them sometimes, mostly when the song is too new to have someone put out a lyric video, but most of the time I only watch lyric videos just because I see no point in putting on the official music video when I'm not even going to be watching it (I put the music on in the background)

[Vanadis]

I watch them, like them, love them, I actively seek them out. It's one of the first things I look for when looking up new music. I respond better to visual input, so having the image to attach to the music gives me a much stronger (usually positive) response to the song.

[5_♦♣]

I watch them, but I prefer to watch lyric videos as I like to know the lyrics.

[Xenopsyche]

I do. I usually flick through the music channels in the advert breaks (I hate adverts SO MUCH! *shakes fist*)

I watch them partly because I like to see music performed, even if it's only mimed as it is in most videos, partly because they can be awesome visually or just plain awesome like Thriller. Partly because many female musicians/singers are visually attractive and I like looking at pretty things, lol.

Adblock calls to you, young internet user :P

Unfortunately I am old and get scared easily by newfangled thingymajigs, so I watch tv on a err... tv, not over the internet. Plus my broadband speed, to quote Bart Simpson, both sucks and blows.

I watch them, like them, love them, I actively seek them out. It's one of the first things I look for when looking up new music. I respond better to visual input, so having the image to attach to the music gives me a much stronger (usually positive) response to the song.

I should have said this too, I often like a song more after seeing its music video.

[Guest FlamesofFire]

I like to watch them I think its funny how the artist interprets it differently then I do. But if its some ass shaking or other sex related stuff its predictable and boring. Not my cup of tea I prefer creative vidz.

[MarieAntoinette]

I love music videos! I always have a certain image pictured in my head while listening to a song, so I really like to see what the artists' interpretation is in their video. Lana del Rey's new short film video Tropico was like music video heaven to me ^_^

[Grumpy Alien]

I'm mostly indifferent to them. I usually just find them boring. I don't really listen to music, though. If the music video is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WOW GROUNDBREAKING EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT - then I'll watch it. If not, I feel like that's the longest two minutes of my life that I'll never get back. Unless I'm in the mood to listen to music and I like the song, I find music irritating. To have to watch something while listening to the song is even more irritating.

Yes, I realize that is completely bizarre to most people.

[FOXracingfan]

I like to watch music videos that actually show the story behind the song. Also the more creative the video the better it is, in my opinion.

[1/100 of me]

Sometimes I watch music videos. It depends on how much I like the song. Music videos, good ones anyway, can give you insight into what the artist was feeling when they wrote the song and what they were hoping to convey.

[Philip027]

I'm not really a music person, but even if I was, I never understood the concept of music videos.

To me, music is something you hear. I never really saw the point of adding visuals, and the visuals they do add usually make no sense whatsoever to me; it's a lot of weird skipping-around imagery to me usually that doesn't have anything to do with what's being said.

[elainetta]

I watch sometimes, only when it's a band I really like/trust not to use so much sexual imagery (I'm there for the music, not to see the lead singer flaunt their body... this would be my "other" response for why I wouldn't watch them.) The exception was when one of my classes was required to watch some of Björk's videos and make observations about them and the messages they portray. Weird, but surprisingly little overt sexuality. In most cases, I like to let the song speak for itself... especially since some music videos, sexual or not, just interpret their songs in ways I don't agree with (even if they are the artists. XD Poetry and songs are open for audience interpretations.)

Also, I agree with most things said by the people whose posts I "liked". :)

[Waist of Thyme]

I watch music videos when I'm curious about how the specific song would be like in a video or when the lyrics are too vague to make sense of the song so more context is needed. Most of the time, though, I'd rather just hear the music or see the lyrics. It actually makes me anxious when I'm trying to find a song on Youtube and the only one I can find or use is the official music video (I browse Youtube on my ipod, and several videos on Youtube are unavailable for mobile devices. Often if one video playing a song is unavailable, every other video playing the song will also be except for the official music video).

[Piotrek]

I rarely watch videos that present a story. Come to think of it, I haven't even watched all of the videos shot by my favourite bands, and those I did watch I usually saw only once. I may be slightly more curious about videos showing the band performing, but again it's not a big thing for me.

My answers are slightly confusing, I guess, because I marked "sometimes", "I'm indifferent" and then I picked "I like staring at a band" AND "Other".

[Guest]

Sometimes. I'm not a very musical person, but I can enjoy a video every now and then. I don't have a real opinion of them because I don't watch them often, but I've found a few real gems. Especially this.

[cryptic_cynic]

The main reason I don't watch music videos is the fact that I don't listen to new/current music very often. I pretty much only listen to music from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, so obviously very few of the songs I like have videos. Some of the videos I've seen for some 80s songs were really fucking bizarre.

[DexM]

I used to watch music videos a lot. The Kerrang music channel, as well as the other more metal based channels, I would often watch with a cup of tea. I stopped watching those channels as they seemed to go through a period where they would only show videos for pop punk bands. They were a little too glossy and glitzy for me, not enough venom and hatred :P and so I stopped tuning in. I often enjoyed seeing my favourite songs actually being sung, rather than listening to them on a c.d. player, and it was the emoting of my favourite parts of the song that I enjoyed.

[littleheartsofjoy]

I'm not really a music person, but even if I was, I never understood the concept of music videos.

To me, music is something you hear. I never really saw the point of adding visuals, and the visuals they do add usually make no sense whatsoever to me; it's a lot of weird skipping-around imagery to me usually that doesn't have anything to do with what's being said.

I agree.

Sometimes. I'm not a very musical person, but I can enjoy a video every now and then. I don't have a real opinion of them because I don't watch them often, but I've found a few real gems. Especially this.

Yeah that is a very cool video! Thanks for sharing it.

I'm mostly indifferent to them. I usually just find them boring. I don't really listen to music, though. If the music video is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WOW GROUNDBREAKING EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT - then I'll watch it. If not, I feel like that's the longest two minutes of my life that I'll never get back. Unless I'm in the mood to listen to music and I like the song, I find music irritating. To have to watch something while listening to the song is even more irritating.

Yes, I realize that is completely bizarre to most people.

I feel the same as you about music videos.

I watch them sometimes, mostly when the song is too new to have someone put out a lyric video, but most of the time I only watch lyric videos just because I see no point in putting on the official music video when I'm not even going to be watching it (I put the music on in the background)

Cool, so I'm not the only one that does this! Music is always in the background for me as well and music videos have these moments of pause that make me wonder why the music stopped. I'll rather not really.

It's interesting. When I thought of this thread, I didn't know if anyone was going to be the same way as me. i figured that most people would say that they watch them but the various responses have surprised me.

[Waist of Thyme]

Cool, so I'm not the only one that does this! Music is always in the background for me as well and music videos have these moments of pause that make me wonder why the music stopped. I'll rather not really.

It really frustrates me when music videos stop the music to focus on what's happening in the video, and then I have to wait several minutes for the music to start playing again.

[Guest]

Yeah that is a very cool video! Thanks for sharing it.

No problem :) That was one of the very few videos that clicked instantly for me. I love abstracts and minimalist graphics to bits, and that song had them all. The video in itself made me appreciate the song, actually.

And something similar happened with this, too:

...Buuuut, I get this is not a video sharing thread, so I'll be out of here now. :P

[VindicatorPhoenix]

I listen to a lot of electronic music (hardcore, electro, dubstep, etc.). Since the majority of the songs I like are not nearly as popular as pop music and other genres in which videos are widespread, I rarely see one when listening to music on YouTube.

[Kellam]

A music video is the next best thing to a live performance...that's why I still watch them. I even make videos for my own projects past and present. I used to watch mtv when I was in junior high and high school back in the 1990's up 'till oh...'97 or so. Then my tastes went more underground, I moved outa my folk's house and didn't have a tv or computer 'till about 2006. The advent of youtube was teriffic, especially for punk fans. Videos are great little shortform films and I will always dig the medium.

[Prokhorov]

Tend to watch the videos a fair bit, as they're part of a music producer's overall artistic vision for the song. They're important to formulating a complete idea of the presentation, and they sometimes add something important to the music.

That being said, can't stand the amount of sexual content in modern pop and rap videos. You can ignore it in the lyrics, but once you get a visual...yikes!

[tuvok]

I don't listen to pop music so music videos are a rare thing... If something is worth watching I do like those epic rap battle videos is just as much about the video as they are about the music. Live/concert music is always with video. (Without that it's just a bunch of people screaming on top of a music track.)

I like to start with a video when I am introducing myself to a new band just to see if they live up to the hype. (When I was younger I was given the Queen at Wembley DVD and that made me feel closer to that music than if I just would have gotten the CD...)

[Aqualus]

I'm a huge fan of music videos. But as of lately I've been listening to a genre (Korean Pop) where the MV is highly regarded as well as the actual song. Which is a feeling I didn't get with most American music. There's great videos for pretty much every genre, so I'm not saying that a specific one hoardes them. But I've only recently gotten super into the videos themselves. I think it's fascinating when people manage to tell a story in such a short length of time. I've had my mind blown as well as been bored out of my skull, it's an interesting grab-bag of potential. Haha.

Here, I'll share my absolute favorite. The tone, the song, and the story of it all go together, and it leaves some for the viewers interpretation instead of SMACKING YOU IN THE FACE with what it's trying to say. Fair warning, it is in Korean, so...there's that.

[ponz]

1. Yes.

2. I like them.

3. I like to see how the video would be done, I'm interested in the outfits, other (the video usually helps further explain the backstory to songs and adds certain aspects of the story and tone of the song).

4. I do watch them.

Btw, LINKING VIDEOS TOTALLY SCREWS MY BROWSER!!!! It would be nice if y'all could put the videos in spoilers. T_T

[oldgeeza]

the music videos I watch are ones from when I was young, the days when there was a TV in the house, now I watch them on YouTube, they bring back memories of my youth

[Piotrek]

the music videos I watch are ones from when I was young, the days when there was a TV in the house, now I watch them on YouTube, they bring back memories of my youth

Yeah, I tend to do the same sometimes. I can spend quite some time digging up songs (with videoclips or without them) from mid-90, i.e. the final years of my elementary school.

[Kellam]

I mostly watch vids from the 1990's too. I'm in my 30's and my best friends are my age or a bit older and we often have youtube nostalgia fests.