A music video's editing pattern is largely determined before any footage exists. The song's arrangement provides the structure, and the edit is built against sections that already have shape.
Repetition in the music demands variation in the picture
A chorus returns two or three times with near-identical audio, so cutting it identically each time would make the video feel as though it had stalled.
Editors respond by escalating, using wider or more populated shots on each return, so the familiar music arrives with visual development rather than repetition.
The reverse applies to verses, which carry the lyrical content and generally receive steadier, closer treatment so attention stays on delivery rather than on the cutting.
Cut density follows the arrangement
Sections with dense rhythmic activity support frequent cutting, because there are more moments a cut can be placed on without appearing arbitrary.
Sparse sections offer fewer such points, so shots run longer, and an editor who maintains a constant cutting rate through both will make the sparse passage feel restless.
This is why cut density in a finished video tends to trace the energy of the arrangement closely enough to be recognisable with the sound removed.
Transitions are the strongest available moments
The boundary between sections is where the music itself changes, and a picture change placed exactly there is reinforced by the audio rather than competing with it.
Withholding a change at such a boundary is equally powerful, since the viewer expects one, and holding a shot through it creates tension the next cut resolves.
Instrumental breaks and bridges are treated as opportunities for a departure, because the absence of vocal removes the obligation to show anyone performing.
Lyrics constrain what can be shown
Shots that illustrate a lyric too directly tend to feel simplistic, and shots that contradict it distract, so most videos work at an oblique angle to the words.
Where a lyric is being mimed on camera, the shot is effectively fixed to that moment in the track, which removes flexibility an editor would otherwise have.
Length is decided by the record
Unlike other formats, the duration is not negotiable. The video ends when the track does, which means every structural decision is made within a fixed total.
Radio edits and extended versions therefore produce genuinely different edits rather than trims, since removing a section removes the visual development built across it.