As we of the MTV generation know, music videos are a great medium for artists with only a few restrictions. One must convey a message within the two or three minutes designated for the song (expect for rare ones like thriller). It must be entaining enough to get multiple viewings.
So what makes a good music video here are some answers:
1. It must be unique. This is a given. We have all seen enough angst-ridden m.v.s where the crying/angry/hurt girl/guy rides the bus/train/car, etc. Same goes for rapper videos with scantily-clad female dancers.
2. It must tell a story. Even if the story is bizzare at the start but makes sense at the end then it still does it purpose of telling a story.
3.Makes a lasting impression and/or is memorable. This applies more to the older music videos, the forerunners to great music videos, that might not have the best production values but people still remember them and are often sampled by other artists & mediums. An obvious example is Aha's original Take on Me and Family Guy's version.
4.The artist or director must not feel confined to matching the visuals of the video perfectly with the lyrics. While good in some cases ( Aint' No Other Man ) it tends to be a sign of a novice (bad) video director. A good example of non-matching visual-to-lyrics is the video Weapons of Choice by Fat Boy Slim.
5. The most important is realising that a great music video does not mean a great song with mediocore music video, but that a fabouls music video can have a mediocore song. There have been many great songs with ok music videos and therefore the song being remembered more than the video, but a good music video can help add value to a song that is just ok which has been the case a number of times.
The main success to making a great music video is it being unique and standing out from the rest even if the video is completely random which is probly the reason why the song "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel in 1986 is still remebered today because of the music video standing out from its sheer randomness.
