Basic history of music videos, helpful for school students studying media A/2.

1. A brief history of music videos
Ellis Rogers

2. What is a music video?
• A music video or song video is a short film
integrating a song and imagery, produced for
promotional or artistic purposes
• Modern music videos are primarily made and
used as a marketing device intended to
promote the sale of music recordings.

3. An early example…Bessie Smith – “St. Louis
Blues”.
Blues singer Bessie
Smith featured one
of her hit songs in
the 2 reel short
film called “St.
Louis Blues”. It was
shown in theatres
until 1929.

4. Promos?
• Music videos are often called promotion
videos or simply promos, due to the fact that
they are usually promotional devices.
Sometimes, music videos are termed short-
form music videos to distinguish them from
full length movies pertaining to music.
In the 1980s, the term "rock video" was often
used to describe this form of entertainment,
although the term has fallen into disuse.

5. Disney’s Fantasia
In 1940, Walt
Disney released
Fantasia, an
animated film
based around
famous pieces of
classical music.

6. 1950’s/60’s development
• In 1956 Tony Bennett was filmed walking along The
Serpentine in Hyde Park, London as his recording of
"Stranger in Paradise" played; this film was distributed
to and played by UK and US television stations, leading
Bennett to later claim he made the first music video.
• Around 1960 a visual jukebox, was invented in France
and short films were produced by many French artists
to accompany their songs. Its use spread to other
countries and similar machines such as the Cinebox in
Italy and Colour-Sonic in the USA were patented.

7. The modern era
• The key innovation in the development of the modern music video
was, of course, video recording and editing processes, along with
the development of a number of related effects such as Chroma-
key. The advent of high-quality colour videotape recorders and
portable video cameras coincided with the DIY ethos of the New
Wave era and this enabled many pop acts to produce promotional
videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the relatively high
costs of using film. However, as the genre developed music video
directors increasingly turned to 35mm film as the preferred
medium, while others mixed film and video.
By the mid-1980s releasing a music video to accompany a new
single had become standard, and acts like The Jackson's sought to
gain a commercial edge by creating lavish music videos with million
dollar budgets; most notable with the video for "Can You Feel It".

8. 1890’s
• MTV was launched in 1981, with the first music
video aired to be The Buggles “Video Killed The
Radio Star”
• David Bowie scored his first UK number one in
nearly a decade thanks to director
• David Mallets' eye catching promo for "Ashes to
Ashes" .
• In the early to mid 1980s, artists started to use
more sophisticated effects in their videos, and
added a storyline or plot to the music video.
Michael Jackson was the first artist to create the
concept of the short film. A short film is a music
video that has a beginning, middle and end. He
did this in a small way with Billie Jean, directed
by Steve Barron, but it wasn't until the 1984
release of the Thriller short film that he took the
music video format to another level.

9. MTV
• Music video would, by the mid-1980s, grow to play a central
role in popular music marketing.
• Madonna, owed a great deal of her success to the skilful
construction and seductive appeal of her videos. Some
academics have compared music video to silent film, and it is
suggested that stars like Madonna have (often quite
deliberately) constructed an image that in many ways echoes
the image of the great stars of the silent era such as Greta
Garbo. Although many see MTV as the start of a "golden era"
of music videos and the unparalleled success of a new art
form in popular culture, others see it as hastening the death
of the true musical artist, because physical appeal is now
critical to popularity to an unprecedented degree.