History of the Music Video

  

History of the Music Video

The ancestor of the modern "music video" were short dramatised narratives featuring the artist and their song which were shown before movies in theatres in the 1930's. Although the practice was relatively uncommon, it paved the way for the evolution of the music video in the following decades.

The Beatles featured in their own short films (the first being "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964) to promote their albums, producing 10 in all. The advent and popularisation of television at this time led artists to realise the potential of the music video advertising to millions of potential viewers. The BBC launched Top of the Pops in 1964, which hosted each weeks' chart toppers preforming live in the studio. Television airtime gave artists an on-screen presence and image.

A Hard Day's Night

By the 1970's, Top of the Pops became big business for record labels. The music videos produced had to innovate to stay relevant and try to capture their artist in the spotlight. Music videos were also useful for use on Top of the Pops as instead of performing live, the video could be played instead. This was useful as it allowed the artist to tour without having to return to the studio to film TOTP every week. The Queen single "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 1975 was the first truly iconic and influential music video, with it still being homages still appearing to this day.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

   

Music videos hit the big time with the introduction of MTV (Music Television) in 1981. Since audiences now tuned in to see music videos, the purpose of the videos changed from purely promotional pieces to professionally made entertainment. Two years after the launch after MTV came possibly the most influential and successful music video of all time, Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The video introduced (or at least popularised) many of the tropes now standard in modern music videos. This includes the concept of the short film, a full story wherein the song is not playing the whole time, as well as dance routines.  The advancement of special effects and editing software allowed creators to express themselves in different ways.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

The 1990's saw a continuation of the success of the medium. The Jackson's "Scream" became the world's most expensive music video in 1995, with a budget of £5 million. Many radio stations launched their own music video channels on cable television, giving the audience more choice to cater to their preferences. Ways for videos to become popular at this time included controversy (The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up), a radical departure from the mainstream (Fatboy Slim's "Praise You) and intertextuality. The Beastie Boy's "Sabotage" used the latter, with heavy homage to 1980's cop shows. They did this by using stereotypes of that genre in their video, such as large moustachioed policemen, car chases and over the top stunts.


Michael Jackson - Scream
The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
Fatboy Slim - Praise You
Beastie Boys - Sabotage


                                           


The music video was revolutionised in the 2000's with the introduction of internet services which allowed smaller artists to get more exposure to an international audience. iTunes and YouTube utilse social media to share links to videos, which allow videos to become viral, amassing millions of views overnight. There have been examples of the video being more known than the song itself, such as Rebecca Black's "Friday" and PSY's "Gangnam Style". Lady Gaga is an artist who has benifitted from the viral aspect of the internet, with a total of over one billion combined views on her YouTube channel, with "Poker Face" having 163 million views in itself.

Rebecca Black - Friday (the original video has been taken down)
PSY - Gangnam Style
Lady Gaga - Poker Face