This document provides a timeline and overview of the history and evolution of music videos from 1929 to the present. It outlines some of the earliest music videos that were shown in theaters in the 1920s and 1930s. It then discusses pivotal moments like Tony Bennett's 1956 video being one of the first shown on TV, the Beatles influencing the genre in the 1960s, and Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1982 being a pioneering story-driven video. The introduction of MTV in 1981 is highlighted as a major breakthrough that centralized music videos and marketing. The timeline shows how music videos advanced from early promotional films to high-budget mini-movies and their role in promoting artists over time.
2. June 1929
Bessie Smith-St.louis blues
• This is one of the earliest examples of music videos that we are
familiar with today. It was shown in theatres in 1932, however we are
able to access music videos almost anywhere now and shows how
much technology has changed.
3. June 1956
Tony Bennett-stranger in paradise
• Tony's song "Stranger in paradise" was filmed in Hyde Park, London
and was played across UK and US television stations. However,
Bennett later claimed that his music video was the very first. This was
the first example of using music videos on TV, this would lead on to
create channels like MTV and Top of the pops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otJXFz5EN0o
4. June 1964
The Beatles- “A hard days night”
• The crutial moment in the development of music videos was the
Beatles "A hard days night", influencing the filming of music videos
that all/many contemporary artists use today.
1 June 1967
The Beatles- “Penny lane”
• The Beatles took music videos to another level with their next video
and started using the codes and conventions that modern post
productions teams know today, such as dramatic lighting, unusual
camera angles and rhythmic editing. p
5. June 1970
The Jackson Five- I want you back
• The 1970's saw the music video change with more emphasis on just
the artist singing. This style lead to music videos to the "Cross-
Cutting" stage where the song would portray a story that
accompanied the lyrics and "cross-cuts" to the artist singing it.
However the key to this innovation was the editing process, dealing
with more professional techniques like "Chroma-Key".
6. June 1972
Devo-The truth about De-evolution
• This was early example of a self-made music video, this started the
devlopment of the music video genre "Experimental". However this
music video was seen as the first 'Long-form video production'.
7. June 1980
Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody
• This style started a whole new era for the music video and the
introduction of "Top of the pops" which would promote the music
and then created a competition between artists for the first time.
8. June 1981
The Buggles - Video killed the radio star
• In 1981 it was the introduction of "MTV" and the first video aired was
"Video killed the radio star", it was a real break-through in the
evolution of music videos and as you can see it was a very high-
budget video in which we can see more devlopment in editing such as
"Over-laying". MTV was responsible for the succes of artists like
Madonna as it played a centeral role as marketing.
9. August 1982
Michael Jackson- Thriller
• This video was the pioneer of the 'Storyline' video which has a plot,
almost like a 'mini' movie. It contains sophisticated visuals and it took
the music industry to another level. Now music videos were really
being seen as promotion and made into high-budget productions.
10. June 1985
A'Ha-Take on me
• The comic book/live-action combination is called rotoscoping and
took 16 weeks to complete. This just shows how the song relies on
this type of promotion, mainly because it was the only the form of
marketing for a song in the 20th century.
11. Jun 2012 - May 2013
Emeli Sande – Next To Me
• Music video enthusiast often like the aesthetic appeal of them and
often watch them muted. Modern artists like Emeli, whose
contemporary 'soul' music needs to have their music video reflect the
genre and many artists do this.
12. June 2013
Iggy azalea-work
• In the current music video era that we live in today the adoption of
the 'Sex Appeal' of females has monopolised the music industry,
rather than choosing the more traditional methods because they are
less profitable
