Business Daily – “Is it the End of the Music Video?”

Podcast: Business Daily
Host: Daniel Rosny (BBC World Service)
Date: December 2, 2025

Overview

This episode explores the evolving role of the music video in the modern music industry. Once a central part of artist campaigns and global music culture, music videos now lag behind in the era of social media clips and dwindling budgets—at least in the Western world. Host Daniel Rosny interviews directors, record label executives, economists, and South Korean industry leaders to uncover whether music videos are becoming obsolete or if they’re adapting to new forms and revitalizing in unexpected places, like K-pop.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Shifting Status of Music Videos

• Music videos' former dominance:
  • Once launched global careers, defined cultural moments, and were crucial for sales and streaming platforms. [01:01]
• Current decline in relevance:
  • Closure of TV channels dedicated to music videos (including MTV), superstars like Beyoncé stepping back from production, and artists seeing slower growth in video viewership. [01:38, 02:20]
  • "With artists now asked to churn out content for social media, is the music video still relevant, especially as TV channels dedicated to them have shut down?" — Daniel Rosny [01:38]

2. Social Media’s Disruption

• Short-form content outpaces traditional videos:
  • Viral TikTok clips often garner more attention and engagement than fully produced music videos.
  • “My girlfriend can put up a video of a celebrity walking down the street and it can get 7 million views on TikTok in two days. But a video that someone spent 50 grand on, I’ve been in the edit for two weeks after, is that success now?” — Charlie Sauschild, music video director [03:22]
  • The “gauge of success” has shifted; unless on the scale of 100 million+ views, videos are now often overlooked. [03:22]
• Music video as secondary content:
  • “The music video is almost secondary to what everyone’s consuming on a daily basis.” — Charlie Sauschild [03:22]
  • Artists now split their focus between producing a main video and creating exclusive “highlights reel” content for social media. [03:22]

3. Budget Constraints & Creative Shifts

• Budgets have shrunk dramatically:
  • What was normal for a day’s filming (£100,000/US$130,000) has become rare—now, only “A-list” artists get such investments. [05:24]
  • “To make a music video now is so expensive. Once this whole you’re a signed musician, you need to be a TikToker as well dies down, everyone will realize that music videos are still just as important.” — Charlie Sauschild [05:41]
• Impact on creative choices:
  • Less ambitious videos—often just performance-based—are now more common, as the focus becomes what’s affordable versus what’s artistically ideal. [04:52]

4. Generational and Platform Shifts

• From scheduled TV to algorithm-driven discovery:
  • Amanda Klein (Assoc. Prof. of Film Studies; author, Millennials Killed the Video Star) connects the decline in TV-based viewing to the rise of Millennials and Gen Z audiences accustomed to on-demand and mobile-first media. [06:48, 07:51]
  • "With MTV, it was this captive audience... By the time you hit the early 2000s... Millennials... the first to have been raised with the concept of posting online." — Amanda Klein [07:51]
• Viewing context has changed:
  • “Are you going to sit there for three and a half minutes and watch an artist’s music video? Or maybe you'll go on TikTok and watch, you know, a short clip of it.” — Amanda Klein [07:51]

5. Major Labels’ Perspective

• Visual identity still matters—just differently:
  • Samira Leibmanshteta, VP, Warner Music (Europe/Middle East/Africa), describes a multi-platform approach: music videos now serve as part of a “visual world,” complementing short-form content on TikTok or Instagram. [11:09, 13:25]
  • “It is so important to have this visual world… not just a 15 second TikTok video, but for fans to fully understand the visual world they are trying to create.” — Samira Leibmanshteta [13:25]
• Investment is not gone, but diversified:
  • Instead of focusing solely on blockbuster videos, labels now spread budgets across different types of visual content (e.g., short-form, narrative-driven pieces). [14:08]

6. Economics of Streaming & Video

• Streaming is king, video is a small slice:
  • Will Page, author and former chief economist (Spotify, PRS), reports streaming’s global revenue exceeding US$20 billion—videos accounting for only about $2B, or 6% of label income. [15:04, 15:28]
  • “Video, in terms of its monetary contribution to the business, is relatively small.” — Will Page [15:28]
• The “attention economy”:
  • Metrics like comments-per-view on YouTube may matter more than pure view counts; quality of engagement is key. [15:28]
  • "You work with Artist B. Quality, not Artist A quantity." — Will Page [16:27]

7. Exception: K-Pop’s Music Video Boom

• Music videos are central in K-pop:
  • South Korea bucks the Western trend—here, videos are essential, with increased budgets and narrative focus.
  • “Music videos really are the center of the K-pop industry that brings the fans together and I think that’s what differentiates a music video’s role in the K-pop industry from other countries.” — Yun Hong Kim, CEO of Zany Bros. [17:28]
• Budgets are growing, not shrinking:
  • “Compared to pre-Covid times, I think we’re working on two or three times more of the budget that we used to work with before.” — Yun Hong Kim [18:27]
  • “K-pop has more budget than any other artistic or video industry in Korea.” [18:27]
• Integrated production and agile management:
  • K-pop companies combine management and production, allowing for quick decisions and big investments. [19:07]

8. The Future: Algorithms & Attention

• Social platforms and algorithms dictate what succeeds:
  • In 2025, audience attention—the scarcest commodity—is driving both production and promotional strategies.
  • "The future of music videos may not lie in the traditional blockbuster format, but in how artists, creatives and labels adapt to a world where attention itself has become the most valuable currency." — Daniel Rosny [19:28]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the shifting definition of success:
  “TikTok has skewed the sort of like gauge of what’s successful on YouTube now. So unless you’re on 100 million plus, is that a successful video?”
  — Charlie Sauschild, Director [03:22]

• On artists’ dual roles:
  “Once this whole you’re a signed musician, you need to be a TikToker as well dies down, everyone will realize that music videos are still just as important.”
  — Charlie Sauschild [05:41]

• On shifts in engagement:
  "You work with Artist B. Quality, not Artist A quantity."
  — Will Page [16:27]

• K-pop’s distinctive approach:
  “Music videos really are the center of the K-pop industry... I think that's what differentiates a music video's role in the K-pop industry from other countries.”
  — Yun Hong Kim, Zany Bros. CEO [17:28]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:01 – Introduction: Are music videos still relevant?
• 03:02 – Charlie Sauschild on directing, TikTok's impact, and changing video priorities
• 06:10 – Amanda Klein on generational differences and the MTV era’s end
• 11:09 – Samira Leibmanshteta (Warner Music) on building artists' brands in 2025
• 15:04 – Will Page on streaming economics and video’s place in the industry
• 16:37 – Gangnam Style: First music video to a billion views, K-pop’s rise
• 17:14 – Yun Hong Kim (Zany Bros., South Korea) on K-pop video budgets and strategies
• 19:28 – Closing thoughts: The future of music videos and the attention economy

Conclusion

The music video’s golden age may be fading in much of the world. While major Western markets scale back, focus shifts to rapid, short-form, and diversified content. In contrast, South Korea’s K-pop machine invests more than ever in music videos as a cornerstone of creativity and global fandom. Ultimately, the greatest value lies where attention goes—whether that’s in a 20-second TikTok or a glossy, narrative-driven blockbuster.