2. A short film which accompanies a song.
They’re often used for promotional or artistic purposes, modern
music videos are primarily used as a marketing device to promote
sales.
WHAT IS A MUSIC VIDEO?
3. St Louis Blue’s – Bessie Smith 1929
Bessie Smith, a 1920’s blues singer, appeared in a two-reel
short film featuring the dramatized performance of the hit
song.
The film/music combination – creating a music video - wasn’t
shown in theatres until 1932.
EARLY MUSIC VIDEOS
4. It began that well known music videos would use intertextual
references which imitated classic Hollywood style films from
1930’s – 50’s.
For example: Madonna – ‘Material girl’ using references form ‘Diamonds are
a girl’s best friend’. Michael Jackson – ‘Bad’ used stylised dance fights from
‘West Side Story’
Tony Bennett claimed to created the first music video to the song ‘Stranger
in paradise’ . The clip was sent to UK and US television stations and aired
on shows including ‘Dick Clark’s American Bandstand’
SHORTS
5. ‘Tops of the pops’ created an environment of innovation and
competition amongst bands and record labels as the show's
producers placed strict limits on the number of videos it would
use - therefore a good video would increase a song's sales as
viewers hoped to see the video again the following week.
Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was the first song to reach a
global hit single with a video. It has been said that it practically
invented the music video seven years before MTV went on the
air.
1970’S
6. MTV was launched in 1981 with Buggles ‘Video killed the Radio star’ being the
first music video aired.
In the mid to late 80’s artists started adding effects in their videos whilst
adding a plot/storyline.
Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’ : first music video to introduce the concept of a short
film as a music video.
Tops of the pops became censorous with video content, so artists approached
the situationswith a promo that would be banned or editied and therefore
resulting in controvery/publicity to promote the release.
Duran Duran – ‘ Girls on film’ and Grandmaster Flash – ‘White lines’
1980’S
7. The 90’s was prevalent in the rise of directors. In 1992, MTV
began listing directors with the artist reflecting the music videos
had become an auteur's medium. Because of this there was a rise
in high budget music videos.
Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson – ‘Scream’ became one of the most
expensive music videos to date with a budget of $7 million.
During this time, MTV launched channels around the world to
show music videos produced in each local market. As well as
MTV2 (1996) to show alternative and older music videos.
1990’S
8. YouTube was launched in 2005. As this caused an effect on music
video viewings because it was quicker and easier, some artists
began to see success as a result of videos seen mostly or entirely
online. Enthusiasts of music videos sometimes watch them
muted purely for their aesthetic value, instead of watching the
video for the music. There is an increasing trend in the music
business to focus on visual appeal of artists, rather than the
quality of the music.
In 2009, Thirty Seconds to Mars' music video "Kings and
Queens" was uploaded to YouTube on the same day of its
release, where it has gathered over one hundred million views.
2000 - PRESENT
