What is a music video?

A music video is a short clip or film that is used to promote the sales of a particular song. The song is accompanied by the film to create a 'music video' that advertises the song artist/band. Music videos appear in many different ways- most commonly actors or the band members themselves appear in a filmed, pre-rehearsed video that often includes the band or singer performing or shows a story unfolding that can be associated with the song it is accompanied with. Other methods producers sometimes use to create music videos are animation, documentary-style footage, a non-narrative approach such as abstract filming or a combination of the listed approaches.