Andrew Goodwin, in Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992, Routledge), has identified the following features of music video:
1. Music video demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video, dance routine for Boy/Girl band)
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of a record label will include the need for lots of close-up of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)
5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference (to film, TV programmes, often music videos, etc).
It is also worth considering:
Whether the video is primarily performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based and how elements of each are used in it.
You can use Goodwin's categories analyse music videos for yourself.
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