well it has done so for me:(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byza2ylKlKs

Here is an example of an excellent and recent music video.

I don't even like Kasabian that much, but this quite impressed me.

its ok i guess

In my experience it makes them better, for example. The Offspring's Pretty Fly For a White Guy, if they hadn't made that video I would've hated that song. But the video is hilarious!

yeah

I don't see what's so great about the Kasabian video - it just rips off the old iPod ads.

There are some good videos out there for current tracks - the Justice v. Simian and OK Go ones for example, and the Tim Burton video for the Killers song "Bones" bearable. And there are some excellent directors out there (Michel Gondry & Chris Cunningham, for example). But generally most videos are pretty formulaic.

But I've never known a bad video to ruin a song... I'd go along with whoever here said a good video can improve a song, but a bad video doesn't detract from it.

I don't think that music videos detract from individual songs. I think they can detract from the overall state of the music industry in general though. Crap music which is propelled by a great video has the overall effect of pushing crap music up the charts.

Having said that, its easier to fit a good video for a song which has a good beat or tells a good story in the lyrics, so if it encourages bands to write music with these qualities then maybe it's a benefit too.