Each year, music videos are swept further into obscurity. They exist on the fringe, where they’re occasionally visited by the die-hard fan looking to satiate their pop culture appetite in ways an album on Spotify could never fulfill. And unless they’re lensed by a cult director or issued by a mainstream artist, more often than not they’re virtually ignored.
We only have ourselves to blame — or our attention spans.
Last year, we rhetorically asked our readers if they could recall the last time they actually sat through an entire music video. We concluded that it was likely a rarity for many, namely because we’re so desensitized in knowing that we can watch anything whenever and wherever. Nothing has changed in 2014; we’re still as distracted as we were 365 days ago. And that’s part of the reason why our news team has actually covered the medium even less in recent months.
Still, that didn’t stop us from naming our favorites. This time, however, we shaved off the excessive 20 entries and stuck with a solid and essential five. In addition to the traditional qualifications of ingenuity, direction, and theme, we expanded our focus to select those we’ll actually remember. But hey, who really knows? Given the half-life of most artifacts in pop culture, does anyone recall anything even two months later? Do we even remember who we were two months ago? Does anything matter?
Sigh. Just watch the videos.
