THE HISTORY OF
MUSIC VIDEOS

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".

 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 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.

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.