Cofie, who has directed music videos, feels their purpose has evolved over the last couple of decades.<\/p>\n
For her, they’re more of a way to “connect with artists” and for them to express their vision, rather than a crucial part of their press run like they were in the 2000s. <\/p>\n
Pop stars like Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo are among those who still lean on videos heavily to build out the visual world for each of their albums’ eras.<\/p>\n
Swift, who broke the record for most MTV VMA wins ever last weekend, is known for big budget productions which fans trawl through for Easter eggs – clues that could point to something else she has planned.<\/p>\n
She also often enlists the help of her star-studded contact book, with her recent video for Opalite jam-packed with famous faces<\/a>, including Graham Norton, Lewis Capaldi, Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson and Jodie Turner-Smith.<\/p>\n However, the music video was released exclusively on Spotify and Apple Music in February, and did not appear on YouTube until 48 hours later.<\/p>\n Industry analysts speculated at the time that the exclusivity period was due to a change in the US chart rules, where songs streamed on YouTube will no longer count towards the Top 100.<\/p>\n