Music videos were first created as a promotional tool in order to further the status of the artist who appeared within them. The video which is widely accepted to be the first ever is the one for Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, as it was called a "promotional clip" by its marketers. Music videos such as this one were produced to be shown on programs such as Top of The Pops on the BBC, as no channel which exclusively showed music videos was around until MTV launched in 1981. The first music video to be screened on MTV was Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles. This was clearly chosen in order for MTV to promote themselves as being the new way in which music would be shared and new artists would be discovered, although it didn't end up working quite like this. Now days music videos are created for largely the same purpose, as artist promotion, although the way the audience digest the medium has completely changed due to online streaming services such as YouTube.
The cost of making a music video can vary hugely - some music videos are produced for as cheap as £20, as Ed Sheeran told Q Magazine about the production of The A Team, but some have production budgets of over $7 million, such as Scream by Michael and Janet Jackson. A few of the most expensive videos to have ever been produced include Die Another Day by Madonna, Too Legit 2 Quit by MC Hammer and Estranged by Guns 'N' Roses. Most of these videos have been produced in a way which makes them appear to be a short film which has been set to the music, with editing and special effects which would be expected to be included in a blockbuster film rather than a music video.
Music videos within different genres have widely different conventions from one another. For example, the conventions of a hip-hop video are usually lots of men with weapons, throwing up gang signs and wearing jewellery. There is almost a competitive nature between the different videos within this genre, because different artists will use their music videos to show how much power they have (in terms of money, drugs, weapons and jewellery) over their rivals. An example of a music video which shows this kind of possession based competitive spirit as a convention of hip-hop is the video for I Don't Like by Chief Keef, as it contains lots of shots of people counting money and holding weapons.
However, the key conventions of a metal video are completely different to this. For example, an audience member would expect to see a band playing to a large crowd, with lots of close up shots on their instruments. In addition to this, each member will receive equal screen time, because there usually isn't a single star of a metal band, with all members usually being held in high regard by the audience. An example of this is the video for Thunderstruck by AC/DC, as the camera focuses on the audience as much as it does the band - it connotes that the band believe their fans to be as important to the music as they are.
A third genre with conventions completely different to these two is pop music. Whilst it is hard to exactly pin down what pop is, because what's popular changes very quickly, there are still some key conventions often included in a music video from a band who are trying to break into the mainstream.
In terms of YouTube plays, the most watched, and thus most successful music video of all time is Gangnam Style by Psy, which has just over 2 billion views (June 2014). Behind this, Baby by Justin Bieber is the second most successful music video of all time, having amassed just over 1 billion YouTube views. It is hard to measure audience figures of music videos which aren't on YouTube or have only recently been uploaded, as Michael Jackson's Thriller has about 180 million views on YouTube, but is commonly regarded as being the most successful video of all time, due to the promotion which it gave his career.
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