History of music video

1. History of a Music Video
BY ELSIE CUNNEW

2. Bessie Smith – St Louis Blues (1929)
This is one of the earliest examples of music videos that we are familiar with today. It was shown
in theatres in 1932, however we are able to access music videos almost anywhere now and
shows how much technology has changed.

3. Tony Bennett – Stranger in Paradise (1956)
Tony's song "Stranger in paradise" was filmed in Hyde Park, London and was played across UK
and US television stations. However, Bennett later claimed that his music video was the very
first. This was the first example of using music videos on TV, this would lead on to create
channels like MTV and Top of the pops.

4. The Beatles – A Hard Days Nights (1964)
The crucial moment in the development of music videos was the Beatles "A hard day’s night",
influencing the filming of music videos that all/many contemporary artists use today. The music video
shows the band performing with their instruments, a theme that is still used in today’s music videos.

5. Top of the Pops – (1964)
Artists performed on the show and if they could not make it, dancers performed on stage
to the song.

6. The Beatles – Penny Lane (1967)
The Beatles took music videos to another level with their next video and started using the codes
and conventions that modern post productions teams know today, such as dramatic lighting,
unusual camera angles and rhythmic editing.

7. The Jackson Five- I Want You Back (1970)
The 1970's saw the music video change with more emphasis on just the artist singing. This style
lead to music videos to the "Cross-Cutting" stage where the song would portray a story that
accompanied the lyrics and "cross-cuts" to the artist singing it. However the key to this
innovation was the editing process, dealing with more professional techniques like "Chroma-
Key".

8. Devo-The Truth About De-Evolution (1972)
This was early example of a self-made music video, this started the development of the music
video genre "Experimental". However this music video was seen as the first 'Long-form video
production'.

9. Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody (1980)
This style started a whole new era for the music video and the introduction of "Top of the pops"
which would promote the music and then created a competion between artists for the first
time.

10. MTV – (1981)
The first video aired was "Video killed the radio star", it featured high-budget techniques such as
"Over-laying" editing. MTV was responsible for the success of artists like Madonna as it played a
central role as marketing. Although some see this as the “golden era” of music videos and the
success of an artist to perform in new culture; others see this as the start of the decline of true
musical talent as now appearance is so important to a success artist.

11. The Buggles -Video Killed the Radio Star
(1981)
In 1981 it was the introduction of "MTV" and the first video aired was "Video killed the radio
star", it was a real break-through in the evolution of music videos and as you can see it was a
very high-budget video in which we can see more development in editing such as "Over-laying".
MTV was responsible for the success of artists like Madonna as it played a central role as
marketing.

12. Michael Jackson-Thriller (1982)
This video was the pioneer of the 'Storyline' video which has a plot, almost like a 'mini' movie. It
contains sophisticated visuals and it took the music industry to another level. Now music videos
were really being seen as promotion and made into high-budget productions.

13. A'Ha-Take On Me (1985)
The comic book/live-action combination is called rotoscoping and took 16 weeks to complete.
This just shows how the song relies on this type of promotion, mainly because it was the only
the form of marketing for a song in the 20th century.

14. Michael and Janet Jackson – Scream
(1995)
Micheal Jackson ft Janet Jackson, Scream cost around $10,800,000 to produce. This music video
featured incredible CGI (for the time) of Jackson and his sister in a space station, doing futuristic
leisure activities whilst screaming and singing. This video won awards in the category of Best
Short Form Music Video at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards.

15. Britney Spears- Hit Me Baby One More
Time (2003)
Child star Britney Spears rose to fame after this controversial music video was released. Britney
became a cliché popstar, caring about beauty, fashion and having ‘the look’. Spears dressed in an
iconic school girl outfit whilst performing complex dance routine. This is a good example of how
the music industry begins to sexualise and sell women rather than their music using fashion and
dance moves.

16. The Invention of YouTube - (2005)
Being able to upload videos online changed the music industry forever. This has allowed us
nowadays to watch a music video anytime and anyplace. In today’s world this is now the main
way that we view music videos.

17. iTunes – (2005)
In October 2005, Apple made TV shows and music videos available on iPods. 42 million of these
video enabled iPods in the first year of release. By February 2006, iTunes had sold its one
billionth song.

18. Emeli Sande- Next To Me (2012)
Music video enthusiast often like the aesthetic appeal of them and often watch them muted.
Modern artists like Emeli, whose contemporary 'soul' music needs to have their music video
reflect the genre and many artists do this.

19. Gangnam Style- Psy (2012)
Korean rapper Psy's music video for his viral hit "Gangnam Style" holds the title of YouTube's
most viewed video ever at over 2.2 billion views since its release on July 15, 2012.

20. Iggy Azalea- Work (2013)
In the current music video era that we live in today the adoption of the 'Sex Appeal' of females
has monopolised the music industry, rather than choosing the more traditional methods
because they are less profitable.