History of music videos

1. Bessie Smith – ‘St Louis Blues’ [1929]
To many people, this was one of the earliest
examples of a music video. It was shown in
theatres in 1932 due to no technological
screens (such as a TV) to watch it on).
Tony Bennett – ‘Stranger in Paradise’ [1956]
Bennett was a popular American jazz and pop
singer and claimed he created the first ever
music video. It was shown publicly in London’s
Hyde Park and over multiple UK and US
television stations. Although it is debated
whether Bennett’s video was the first ever one,
it is in fact the first example music video shown
on TV; ultimately leading to the creation of
MTV– increasing song sales and marketing.
The Beatles – ‘A Hard Days Night [1964]
Arguably the most crucial moment in the
development of music videos was the Beatles
involvement with “mock documentary” ‘A Hard
Day’s Night’ which joined filming, dialogue and
music together. This influenced the filming of
music videos that almost every contemporary
artist uses today.
The Beatles – ‘Penny Lane’ [1967]
The Beatles developed the production
and concept of music videos to the next
level by using stereotypical codes and
conventions that modern post-
production teams use today. These
consist of dramatic lighting, wide range
of camera shots/compositions and
rhythmic editing.

2. The Jackson 5 – ‘I Want You Back’ [1970]
During the 70’s, music videos developed by putting
more emphasis on the artists performance. This
new style created ‘cross cutting’ in which the
music video would cut between performance and
narrative scenes. This also developed editing
techniques and skills such as ‘Chroma-key’
(blocking out colours, grey scale filters,
manipulating footage etc.).
Devo – ‘The Truth About De-Evolution [1972]
This was a very example of a self-made music
video which started the development of the
music video genre, “experimental”. Although
many agree it is not the start of the music video
genre, it is in fact the first music video for “long
form video production”.
Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in particular, started a
whole new era for music videos. It also
introduced hit show ‘Top of the Pops’ which
would help sell, market and promote music
whilst also creating competition for artists to
against each other for the first time (for
entertainment purposes).
The Buggles – ‘Video Killed the Radio Star [1981]
MTV was introduced and its first ever video (The
Buggles ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’) was aired.
It was considered a real break-through in the
development and evolution of music videos. The
video itself consisted of complex editing such
as overlaying and really appealed to its
audience. MTV helped to promote and market
music videos and is responsible for the success
of many artists such as Madonna.

3. Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’ [1982]
‘Thriller’ was the “pioneer” for narrative
videos. It included “sophisticated” visuals
and developed the music industry to
another level. This was the push for music
videos to be made into high-budget
productions.
AHA – ‘Take On Me’ [1985]
AHA’s ‘Take on me’ video took 16 weeks to
complete and contained footage/shots of both
live action and animation (rotoscoping)
sequences. This impies how bad the song
relied on this type of promotion because it was
the only form of marketing for a song and for its
marketing to be successful, it had to been
different from other videos – something the
audience wouldn’t forget!
Emeli Sande – ‘Next to me’ [2013]
Audiences who enjoy music videos especially often
prefer an aesthetic appeal to them. Emeli Sande’s
music video for ‘Next to me’ included visuals that
reflected the genre and music which helped to develop
the popularity of the music video genre/industry
because it appealed more to a global audience and
created and “experience” when viewing them.
Iggy Azalea – ‘Work’ [2013]
In most recent and modern music videos, a
majority of the music video scene adopt
the “sex appeal” aesthetic from female
artists visually which has dominated the
music video scene. This is because using
traditional appeals/concepts are less
profitable – highlighting the popular motto
of “sex sells”.