The purpose of a music video

To promote a new music video release.
Record labels may release a new music video to promote the artist and to raise awareness of the artists new album or single. Music videos also raise the artists popularity in countries they haven't been heard of in yet.

Ed Sheeran is very well known in the music industry he has been around since 2005 but only become more popular in recent years.  When you think of Ed Sheeran's music you think of quite calm songs or intriguing videos.  With his new give me love video you can tell the video tells a story that relates to the lyrics.  The video for give me love is a very intriguing video, this adds to the excitement of the fact that it was released the same time as they song.  The song was released on the 21 November 2012, but the video was first played on youtube on the 9 November 2012.

To create a visual representation of the artist.
Most artists have their own style of dressing or acting or even both, fans want to know what their artist may look like so having a video is a good way to see this.

Kiss are known for their dress sense and makeup, they express themselves through
their fashion.  Their videos show their uniqueness.  When you think of kiss you instantly think of the four men that are in the band, they all have their own makeup design.

To extend the playability of and provide additional income from a song.
The more the artists video is played the more money they get,whether it be on youtube or music channels.  The money they receive from people watching it allows them to make CD's and more music videos.  This helps the artist stay in the public eye.

Justin Bieber's baby lyric version was released on the 18 January 2010 and the video was premiered exclusively  on vevo on the Friday, February 19, 2010 and currently has over 2billion views, this has helped make an album and keep him in the public eye for longer than other artists that have less views. 

To create synergy (business tie-ins) with other media sections.
Artists sometimes pair up with the film industry to help promote the film and also their music, without noticing people like the songs in the film so they look the song up and maybe even listen to the artists other songs which raises awareness for the artist.

Bruno Mars sang a song for the Twilight saga, this raised awareness for both Twilight and Bruno Mars.  When Bruno Mars sung it will rain it got Bruno Mars fans wanting to watch Twilight so they could hear his song and it got Twilight fans wanting to listen to Bruno Mars' songs.

To be art in their own way.
Every artist has their own definition of art, sometimes the artist just wants to make a memorable video which will get people talking which also helps promote the artists work.  The video's don't always have to fit in with the lyrics of the song, this creates enigma. 

t.A.T.u created a very memorable video for all the things she said by not relating it to the lyrics.  They could have decided to relate it but they didn't, therefore creating something really unique.

The outlets of a music video

Mainstream TV
Loads of people watch TV as it is an easy way to find out the top 10 plays for the week ahead, its on repeat all day so if you work during the day or at night you can always see it.  Its easy to access, you don't need the internet you just need a TV and free view. Most people know about and its well known.  However The video's aren't played for forever, they only play the top 10 of that week, and you cant choose what they play.

Music channels

All music channels show the latest music video's, they get you to watch the channels by saying exclusives that they may have or giving you reminders of things that my be coming up in the program every five minutes, it only shows music videos, they frequently repeat the songs, has different channels for different genres of music.  However you cant choose when you want to watch that specific song you want, there are often long breaks,  it doesnt play all the songs on the play list, it may only plays the yop 10-20.

Direct CD/Special edition CD/DVD releases

There are different reasons for why people want to buy or may not want to buy a special edition CD, the first positive reason is that you can watch back or listen to the music on the disk for as long as you have the CD however people wont want to pay loads of money for it so people would rather buy the normal edition.  Another reason why people buy the special edition is because you don't need the Internet to listen to it, but most people have Internet and can either download the music illegally or legally or just watch it on music websites, also you cant listen to the songs on there before you buy it so if you don't like half the music on there you cant change it.

Streaming website (e.g youtube)

Everyone is able to use sites like youtube, however with youtube to find out if the artist or band has uploaded a new music video you have to be subscribed to them. 

Artists websites

Most artist have an official website that they put their music onto with the videos so their fans can watch it whenever they want, the only downside of this is most website need you to be signed in and if you don't have an account for you to view them then you cant watch or listen to them.  It is very easy to find the website which makes this appealing to the audience as you don't have to go onto loads of different websites just to find the artist you want. If you don't have the Internet you have to wait and buy it when you see it in the shops.

Downloads (legal/illegal)

Downloading music is the easiest way to get a song or alum as most people have the Internet so it isn't hard to find the song or artist you want, however most people download music legally so they will buy it off of somewhere like iTunes when the artist brings out the album but there are some people who download it illegally this means they are breaking the law buy downloading it, although some people would say there not, they are because they haven't paid for that song or album.