Video killed the Video Star!

      I remember growing up in the 90's, MTV aired numerous music videos and had a couple of actual TV shows. I think VH1 aired only music videos and The (Juke) Box aired nothing but music videos. The Box allowed viewers to request a music video for ninety nine cents (if I remember correctly). This was an outlet, besides radio, for artists to show case they're new songs. Music videos were a big deal back then. I even remember, sitting down with my family one night and waiting for Michael Jackson's Black or White video to premiere on Fox. Music videos allowed fans to see another artistic side from the artists. One of my favorite videos of all time is Aha's Take on Me. It gives a visual story to add to the song. These day's music videos really can't compare to the one's back in the day. Almost every rap video I see is just the rapper rapping, and a bunch of half naked girls dancing. This adds nothing to the song. With the decline of artistry in music videos, I ask myself how are artists marketing themselves? How are they surviving? With the rise of pirate sites and programs, the artists need SOMETHING tangible. If I were an artist I would have the most talked about tour with the hottest artists opening for me. Besides that, I'm sure artists are making money from I Tunes single song downloads as well. I remember back then, you would buy a CD and you only liked two or three songs from the album, so this is the perfect solution for that. A lot of artists these days are making clothes, fragrances, MOVIES! Beyonce' and Nelly are killing it in the clothes industry. Ice Cube, born from NWA (you know what that stands for, lol) is the family man in his movies. Brittney Spears has her own perfume. Another thing too, does YouTube hurt the artists? Yes and no. Yes, because someone will upload a video, that they either made themselves, or the official video for the song, and at the bottom there would be an option to buy the song from I Tunes. On the other hand, I see people download the video and extract an MP 3 from it. Then there are some artists who create a video log on YouTube, and this is great for their fans. Another question that begs to be asked is can YouTube help you as an upcoming artist? It worked for Justin Bieber! It also worked for Lana Del Rey. She is the only artist ever to perform on Saturday Night Live, who didn't have a number one hit on the radio. Unfortunately, her performance was said to be a flop! But YouTube still got her on there, and it made me check out her music. Let's take another look at an artist that wouldn't have made it this far had it not been for YouTube. Psy.... Gangnam Style! From this silly little video, Psy has gained world fame. According to an article in The Independent, record executives believe that the next Lady Gaga will come from YouTube. Read for yourself here. What do you think?