This document provides a history of music videos from 1926 to 1994 in brief sections for each era. Some of the earliest recorded music videos were produced for films in the 1920s. In the 1960s, the Beatles starred in one of the first official music videos for their song "A Hard Day's Night", setting a template for the format. The 1970s saw the rise of music television programs like Top of the Pops, encouraging more artists to create videos. Queen released one of the most advanced and impactful videos of the time in 1975 as MTV was launching. By 1994, some artists were releasing music videos more as artistic works than solely for promotion.
2. 1926
• This is when “talkies” were invented or sound films. This
sparked the invention of music videos, one of the first recorded
music videos was from the film “Fantasia” by Disney.
• As well as this, Bessie Smith, a blues singer released a short
2-reel film.
3. 1964
• In this year the Beatles starred in their first music video.
• They used the song “A Hard Days Night”
• It was directed by Richard Lester.
• It was shot in black + white and was shown as a bit of a
mockumentary, it mixed music and comedy. The frames of
footage had basic templates which many other subsequent
music videos were modelled.
4. 1966
• In 1966 Nancy Sinatra filmed a music video for her song "These
Boots are Made for Walkin".
• Elvis Presley also started to record music videos to promote his
songs "If I can dream" and "Trouble/Guitar Man"; in these video
famous stars featured in them.
5. 1970
• In the 1970’s the Top of the Pops (TOP) started to air.
• This encouraged the creation of music videos as it was a new
form for artists to show their music to a large audience. This
sparked new channels to arrive a bit later on like MTV and VIVA
music channels that show.
6. 1975
• In 1975 Queen released one of the best video’s in music video
history up to the date.
• It included advanced effects and techniques that made it stand
out.
• This occurred near the start of MTV.
• The genre characteristics were challenged.
7. 1994
• In 1994 Lisa Lobe released '9 Stories (stay)' which was one of
the first music videos to be released as art rather than
marketing.
