1930's music videos/First music videos:
The first music video to be brought out was St Louis Blues by Bessie Smith in 1929. She appeared in a film called St Louis Blues to which this song St Luis Blues accompanied. It stayed in theaters till 1932.
1940's music videos:
In 1940 Walt Disney released Fantasia. An animated film which is accompanied by classical music. This is what made up their music video.
In the 1930's to the 1940's Walt Disney brought out Silly Symphonies, these were short films in which music accompanied them, they classed these as music videos.
As well as Silly Symphonies, Merrie Melodies also came out and was also a big success.
The animated short films from Walt Disney were built around the songs to create visuals to accompany the song.
1950's music videos/Middle of the century:
The earliest music videos or music promos were filmed in the mid 1950's.
The Panoram jukebox was then introduced with a few music videos on there at a time and you also had to pay to watch them. These were popular in taverns/night spots but faded out during World War II.
After the Panoram the Scopitone came out. The Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos.
1960's music videos:
The next major influence on music videos was The Beatles - A hard day's night (1964). This is the music video for the song but the song was made into a full move which goes on for 87 minutes. The bit that features in this music video is at the start of the full movie.
After The Beatles, there was an American TV series called The Monkees, they performed a few songs and one of their most known songs is I'm a Believer.
The Beatles then took music to new heights releasing movies/music videos for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane.
Psychedelic music period - Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and/or enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid-1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in the United States and Britain. Psychedelic music bands often used new recording techniques and effects and drew on non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music. (Source - Wikipedia). These music videos by The Beatles were introduced right at the height of the Psychedelic music period.
In 1964's TOTP (Top Of The Pops) came out and this was a huge success because for the first time you could see all of your favourite bands/artists performing on the TV or if you were lucky enough in the studio. This carried on through the 1970's, 80's and half way thorough the 1990's. This series carried on weekly for quite a while but was eventually cut off and only appears once a year as a Christmas special after the 90's.
In 1966, Bob Dylan performed Subterranean Homesick Blues. This video was just of some man in the field flicking through sheets of paper with the lyrics on. Unfortunately I couldn't find a music video for this song.
1970's music videos/ Modern Era:
The key innovations in the development of music videos were the video recording and editing processes. Also high quality colour video recorders came along and also portable ones came along and were much easier than the DIY made ones they used to use. These helped artists (particularly pop acts) to produce promo videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed, music directors opted to use 35 mm film as the preferred medium, while others mixed film and video.
The first "Proper" music video is Queen's - Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975.
1980's music videos:
In 1981, MTV (Music Television) was launched. It was the first TV channel to broadcast 24 hour music. In MTV's early years their main target demographic were young adults, but today MTV broadcasts are generally aimed at adolescents and teenagers.
The first video to be launched on MTV was Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star.
In the mid 1980's there were more sophisticated effects introduced in music videos.
Michael Jackson took music videos to a new level when he made them into short films, he was the first artist to use this technique. The ever popular Thriller is the one that sticks out in my head as the best music video - short film. Thriller was introduced in the year of 1983 and the video cost around $500,000 which was a lot of money back then to spend just on a music video. (I have only added the short version as it doesn't allow for the longer version to be put on here, the longer version however is about 14 minutes long whereas this shortened "music video" version is the typical 4 minutes long).
In 1985, VH1 was released and the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music.
In 1985, Dire Straights brought out a music video called Money For Nothing, this was the first music video to use computer animation.
In 1986, The Chart Show on Channel 4 was introduced and ran until 1988. In 1988, The Chart Show was then shown on ITV and ran until 1998. Channel 4 then got The Chart show back in 2003.
In 1986, Peter Gabriel's song Sledgehammer used special effects and animation techniques. This won 9 MTV music awards.
Now music television is in decline and the Internet has taken over as the platform for music video. YouTube, Facebook, Myspace and iTunes are now the go to places for artists. Lily Allen is probably the best example of an artist promoted and established through the Internet. Cheap technology also means videos can be made on any budget. The video for OK Go’s - A Million Ways cost less than £30 and was filmed in the singer’s back garden. The dance routine became an Internet sensation and was downloaded over 9 million times.
The most expensive music video is Scream by Michael Jackson in 1995. It cost $7 million to create. (Could only find it on VEVO on YouTube).
Top 5 most expensive music videos are:
- Michael Jackson - Scream - $7 million
- Madonna - Die Another Day - $6 million
- Madonna - Express Yourself - $5 million
- Madonna - Bedtime Story - $5 million
- Michael Jackson - Black Or White - $4 million
From this we can see that in the top 5 most expensive music videos, Michael Jackson and Madonna take all of the spots.
On YouTube the most watched music video is Psy's - Gangnam Style. It was released in mid-2012 and already has 1.7 billion views which is just incredible. It is also the most viewed video on YouTube.
On YouTube the top 5 most watched music videos are:
- Psy - Gangnam Style - 1.7 billion views
- Justin Bieber - Baby - 875 million views
- Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor - 680 million views
- Eminem - Love The Way You Lie - 580 million views
- LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem - 555 million views
Key Conventions found in Music Videos from different genres:
Hip-hop - Usually includes artist, normally set in a club or party environment, usually no storyline, typically the women are dancers or models and usually half naked, features jewellery, alcohol, sports cars, features mansion and branded clothing and usually other famous artists featured in the video.
Examples:
50 Cent - Candy Shop
B.I.G - Notorious
T-pain - Low
50 Cent - In the Club
B.I.G - Notorious
T-pain - Low
50 Cent - In the Club
Pop - Colourful, close ups of artist, fun and light hearted, appeals to younger target audience, shows artist/band involved in dance routines, good mood - location - happy e.g. a beach/house, teenager scenario (crush) and video has a narrative.
Examples:
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lady Gaga
Examples:
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lady Gaga
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