728huey said:

A few years ago I would have said no, but with so many people watching YouTube and other streaming apps they are still relevant in that artists can still get publicity if they put out a viral video.

The RIAA now consider a certain amount of streams as the sale of 1 album, and streams are also now used by Billboard. That's how Drake, Lil Wayne, & Nicki Minaj have broken long standing chart records.

The Music Video is done because today's overall music is so bad......

because the past gets rehashed time and time again

No authenticity

lastdecember said:

They are extra cash for artists and promo for indie artists. But the fact is a million views on YouTube will make an artist about a thousand dollars on average.

Maybe not if the labels still charge the production fees to the artists and takes it out of their royalties. That's what happened in the past, another way to keep the act in the hole. I think Michael Jackson paid for his videos himself or at least some of them. Some made money by selling video compilations on VHS & DVD. But there's probably not much of a market for that now.

Depends on what country you are in. In the USA, not so much...hardly at all to be honest. In much of the rest of the world...including major markets in Europe...Yes, very much so....at least from my time there.

I think the videos for that Freddie Gibbs & Madlib album, Bandana, are challenging the notion that they don't matter any more. Gibbs has been hilarious in these and they are well made. They add on to how great the album is IMO.

For an indie artist it is important to have some sort of Visual since that is what everyone is looking for. SO you need that to be shared not just for billboard, forget them they are not relevant. But now the labels and marketers are your fans, with one click they are sharing and sharing your clips so it is very important especially in the indie world.

Maybe not, but I thought I'd reiterate this point, just because...

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According to music critics themselves: "As a number of reviews of The 20/20 Experience have pointed out, the 2002 single “Cry Me a River” was the song that propelled Timberlake out of the B-league and into the “next Michael Jackson” position that he currently occupies. Although there were a few other singles from the... "cleverly" titled Justified, none of them had the musical and cultural impact of that one, the video for which moved him carefully and deliberately out of the space occupied by Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and the boy bands, one of which he obviously used to be a part of."

https://www.popmatters.co...66647.html

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Timberlake wants to be thought of as an innovator. He struck gold at the beginning of his solo career with “Cry Me a River,” an icy amalgam of beat-boxing and Gregorian chants that’s still thrilling 16 years later."

https://pitchfork.com/rev...the-woods/

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It means there can be only one interpretation of this video clip...

https://www.youtube.com/w...&t=20s

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It transperantly reveals who is most responsible for the origins of his solo career, more than Timbaland, more than The Neptunes, more than Jive records...

[Edited 7/30/19 10:57am]

TylerTheDebater said:

I think the videos for that Freddie Gibbs & Madlib album, Bandana, are challenging the notion that they don't matter any more. Gibbs has been hilarious in these and they are well made. They add on to how great the album is IMO.

I agree. "Crime Pays" is Video Of The Year! I am so glad you brought this up. We should be talking about this project way more.

lastdecember said:

They are extra cash for artists and promo for indie artists. But the fact is a million views on YouTube will make an artist about a thousand dollars on average.

Could you please tell me where you got this info? (not attacking you)

I dont follow - why would they NOT be relevant? Do you mean that TODAY'S millenials are "audio only" or something?? Music TV channels still exist, probably even here in India, but...people are "cutting the cord", and I'm sure that no. will only increase. People here watch Youtube...everywhere - street, bus, gym (they work out with the music playing off of a phone which is playing a YT video, not an audio stream, which they're not even watching - what a fucking HUGE waste of bandwidth AND electricity! ). So, the death of TV, and in fact ALL media except the internet, is upon us. It's a question of When, not If. I wonder what comes Next....?

It's really scary to have Sundar and his band of engineers in charge of culture (world culture, at that!), but that is now the crazy reality, 2019! It's amazing how folks don't question the recommendation algorithm or what gets onto the front page - lots of them don't seem to understand the difference between a human playlist editor and software - is it THAT bad everywhere else???!!! How about the States itself??

[Edited 8/3/19 1:00am]