From seeing Adele sing "Set Fire to the Rain" live at the Royal Albert Hall to watching Foster the People's innovative "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)," music videos are still a viable medium for artistic expression. They still have the power to introduce new songs and even new artists to new audiences.
Check out "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye. It starts off as an interesting ballad about a relationship breakup, and visually it showcases some stop-motion animation like some of the trendsetting music video pioneers of yore. Then Kimbra is introduced, starts telling "her side of the story," and literally pulls herself out of the abstract painting. As her voice picks up the melody and kicks it into high gear, Gotye jumps back in. It's a pretty cool "he-said-she-said" power duet. It's a good example of a song that's become linked to the visuals of its video.
If movies, television shows, and full-length stage musicals can be compared to novels, then music videos are the equivalent of shortstories. They can serve a song's narrative purpose, like Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away" or attempt to interpret its meaning, like The All-American Rejects' quirky "Beekeeper's Daughter."
Although tunes dig themselves into my mind just by my listening to them on the radio or downloading them from AlmostFreeMusic or iTunes, they chain themselves to my psyche when I see and hear them on the screen as a music video. Safetysuit's "These Times," Young the Giant's "Cough Syrup," Gavin DeGraw's "Not Over You," and Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain" are trapped in my head and won't get out.
We don't have to wait for MTV to decide to replay Jessie J's "Domino" or Pitbull's "International Love." We can just look them up online and watch them (and rewatch them) anytime we want.
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