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1. THE HISTORY OF
MUSIC VIDEOS

2. What is a music video?
 A music video is a short film which incorporates a song and imagery to
create a piece for artistic or promotional purposes.
 Today, their primary use is being an essential marketing device that is used
to promote the sale of a song for various music artists.
 The origins of the music video dates back to early 20th century and
become very important in the 1980s, when MTV Music TV channel was
launched and intended to base their format around the medium of music
videos.
 Before the 1980s, music videos were described as "illustrated song", "filmed
insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip" or "film clip".

3.  The success and popularity of music videos started off with the launch of MTV, 31 years ago but the
timeline of music videos goes back to the late 19th century. The first music video was filmed in 1895 at
Thomas Edison’s studio. It was made for a Kinetoscope. This is where the viewer would look into a
peephole and watch a motion picture which would be accompanied with sound. The sound and
picture were made synchronous as they would be connected by a belt. In the film, its inventor, William
Dickson, plays music from a popular operetta on a violin as two men dance beside him. The soundtrack
was recorded separately on a wax cylinder that went missing for several decades, turned up at the
Edison National Historical Site in the early 1960s and was finally reunited with the picture in 1998. Intended
primarily as a test, the “Dickson Experimental Sound Film,” as the clip is known, was not released.
 Early 20th century - First introduced in 1894 as a publicity stunt for marketing sheet music, illustrated songs
consisted of photographic images painted in colour and projected from glass slides, sometimes
interspersed with silent moving picture clips. Audience members in vaudeville houses and nickelodeons
would watch these visual displays as pianists and vocalists performed corresponding music, usually
before silent films started or during reel changes.
 In the 1920s, a theatre in New York called the Rivoli Theatre, presented the first motion picture with sound
on film, this synchronised movies and their soundtracks. In the 1940s, jukeboxes played “soundies”.
“Soundies” were three minute films featuring music and dance performances by the era’s greatest
talents. They were played in bars, restaurants and other public places in order to promote the song and
the artist as publicly as possible. In the 1960s, The Beatles used the power of film to promote their records.
They starred in full length features such as “Help” and “A Hard Days Night”. Rock and roll bands in the
late 1960s and 70s started to follow their lead by releasing promo films. In the 1970s, music programmes
premiered in Australia. They featured music videos and created a large following which spread to other
countries. In 1978, three years before MTV, an American program called “Video Concert Hall” showed
music videos everyday.
 In 1981: MTV, the first 24- hour satellite music channel, launches and it rapidly became a major hit and
cultural icon.

4. MTV – MTV first launched in 1981 and the first music video they aired was by the Buggles called
“Video killed The Radio Star” In their early days they aired basic music videos that were introduced by
video jockeys. They were provided for free by record companies and as a result, MTV was valued as
a promotional tool. Directors of music videos including Spike Jonzeand Michel Gondry worked on
music videos before going into feature films. In the 1980s MTV was a huge part of promoting careers
of artists such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and many other music legends. By the late 1980s
MTV started to debut reality TV series’, documentaries, game shows and then launched the MTV
Music Video Awards followed by the MTV Movie Awards.
VH1 - In 1985 VH1 was launched. This music channel featured soft music and had a target audience
of an older demographic which widened the audience of people who enjoyed watching music
videos. Their original purpose was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos but they
then also started playing reality TV shows.
YOUTUBE - YouTube is a website that was introduced in 2005 and allows people to watch videos
online. Users can upload, share and view videos which has massively promoted them and thereford
increased their popularity. For example, Lady Gaga’s music video of “Poker Face” has 375 million
views alone and her other music videos have previously reached one billion views. Also, there are 34
billion music videos YouTube with 183 million viewers. Recently, Vevo was introduced in 2009 which
also provides music videos from the “big four” record labels.