A brief history of music videos

1. MUSIC VIDEOS

2. A Quick History
• Multiple sensory experience (ears & eyes)
• Making associations between the 2 is a great way to engage audiences
and potentially increase sales
• Music videos really took off in the 1980s but they existed long before
then as a promotional tool
• Songs accompanied the moving image as soon as technology allowed
• ‘Talkies’ in the 1920s
• "WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK" 1937

3. A Quick History
• By the 1960s, bands often performed live/lip-synched on TV
• Recordings of these were broadcast later
• Artists quickly realised that making their own films to accompany their song
would increase their audience & popularity
• The Beatles appeared in 2 feature films, released in cinemas, that were really
extended advertisements for the accompanying soundtrack
• "A Hard Days Night" 1964 & ”Help” 1965
• This allowed fans to see the band perform, even if they could not attend the gigs

4. A Quick History
• TOTP (1964) featured a number of best-selling singles – the top 20 –
each week
• Typical audience of 15 million viewers – appearing on the show was an
essential promotional tool
• Self-contained music videos became increasingly popular & more
sophisticated
• Bob Dylan – Subterranean Blues – early example of today’s popular lyric
videos
• The Beatles – Strawberry Fields Forever – unusual editing &
cinematography to catch viewer’s attention & reinforce The Beatles ever
changing brand & image

5. A Quick History
• TOPT is indirectly responsible for the most influential early music
video, which today is ICONIC.
• This song went to #1 but the band couldn’t appear live on TOPTP
as they were on tour
• Instead, they made a promotional video, packed with special
lighting and editing effects, which became an instant classic.
• Can you guess the band???

6. A Quick History
• Following the success, record labels started to offer the BBC free
promotional videos for TOTP
• TOTP imposed limitations to increase the competition between
record companies to get their artists featured on prime time TV.
• This led to both innovative and controversial content…
• <INSERT TOTP COUNTDOWN>

8. A Quick History
• Video-recording & editing equipment was becoming cheaper,
more portable and easy to use
• More bands/artists could make videos without needing a lot of money or
skill
• BUT THEN…
• Big stars appeared with big budget videos which set the standard for high
production values and cinematic presentation (these 2 were the most
expensive at time of production)
$582,000
in 1980
$1,000,000
in 1983

9. A Quick History
• Spurred on by budgets like these, music videos soon became more
sophisticated in terms of direction, narrative and genre – some
being regarded as short films in their own right
14 minutes
long
‘story
within a
story’
narrative
Intertextuality –
Director John
Landis also
directed ‘An
American
Werewolf in
London’ and used
some of the same
special effects

10. A Quick History
• By the late 1990s, the music industry was undergoing significant
changes to its business model
• The internet made it super easy to download illegally
Launched in 1999
Gained 80 million active users
Tons of lawsuits from record companies who
claimed it infringed their copyright
Shut down in 2001