Last night, Beyoncé won best video of the year at MTV’s annual Video Music Awards for her hit, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” It’s a great song and a fun video, but is it the best music video? The choreography is what makes the video so addicting—it’s not the cinematography, the framing, or the video techniques. And yes, there are separate categories for cinematography and choreography, but it seems that the best video should, necessarily, draw at least a bit from these categories.
Of course there are no rules for what makes a music video great, just as there are no rules for a great song. But a video must go beyond its song, and it must go beyond a well-choreographed live performance. There must be something that makes it specifically a music video and not just a video of music.

And it’s not just Beyoncé’s video. Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” may be shitty song, but even its video boasted better technique than “Single Ladies.” It’s a catchy song though, and many critics praise its pop success. So, already, even on the surface, it deserves the award more than Beyoncé’s single.

Music videos have come a long way since Bob Dylan first threw placards of lyrics on the ground. We can’t expect Allen Ginsberg to meander through the frame, and we can’t burden every artist with coming up with a Spike Jonze-directed masterpiece (see below). But music videos are videos. They must keep the audience watching for more than sexy dance moves and a great beat.