Where it first began:
1926 saw the arrival of sound films and talkies, where many musical short films were first produced. The series entitled ‘Spooney Melodies’ is considered to be the first true musical video series, featuring various shots of the performer singing the song. The term ‘music video’ first came into use in the early 1980’s, when the major music channel MTV launched in 1981. The first video to be aired on MTV was “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles. MTV sparked a whole new concept of 24 hour a day music on television – this was the beginning of an era. By the mid-1980’s, thanks to MTV, music videos began to play an important role in popular music marketing, with many stars owing their success largely to the appeal of their music videos and also the clever construction, courtesy of the video directors.
The greatest music video ever’:
Musical films or ‘mini-movies’ are important in terms of influence regarding music videos, as several well-known music videos have been based around or have been influenced by the idea of a film. A prime example being Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, directed by John Landis; Landis is a famous American film director who has worked on many different horror projects. This is a very iconic video and also the most expensive video of its time. An innovative music video, fourteen minutes long - It captured the audience through its storyline and is often referred to as ‘the greatest music video ever’, setting the boundaries for other artists and music directors to follow.
1926 saw the arrival of sound films and talkies, where many musical short films were first produced. The series entitled ‘Spooney Melodies’ is considered to be the first true musical video series, featuring various shots of the performer singing the song. The term ‘music video’ first came into use in the early 1980’s, when the major music channel MTV launched in 1981. The first video to be aired on MTV was “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles. MTV sparked a whole new concept of 24 hour a day music on television – this was the beginning of an era. By the mid-1980’s, thanks to MTV, music videos began to play an important role in popular music marketing, with many stars owing their success largely to the appeal of their music videos and also the clever construction, courtesy of the video directors.
The greatest music video ever’:
Musical films or ‘mini-movies’ are important in terms of influence regarding music videos, as several well-known music videos have been based around or have been influenced by the idea of a film. A prime example being Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, directed by John Landis; Landis is a famous American film director who has worked on many different horror projects. This is a very iconic video and also the most expensive video of its time. An innovative music video, fourteen minutes long - It captured the audience through its storyline and is often referred to as ‘the greatest music video ever’, setting the boundaries for other artists and music directors to follow.
Music videos at present and their future:
Nowadays, many people are viewing music videos on the internet, with an increase in video sharing sites, such as YouTube, Metacafe and VodPod, accessing different videos has never been easier, whilst also being convenient e.g. if there was one particular music video that you wanted to watch, by simply typing in the name into YouTube, within seconds you would be able to watch it, in comparison to watching it on television whereby you would have to wait for it to come on. As MTV is beginning to focus more on playing programmes rather than devoting the channel fully to music videos like it did when it first came out, the internet has now become the chosen source for watching music videos. Most importantly, however, this still proves that people enjoy watching music videos and although it can be tricky to determine the future of the music video, this proves that there are still people out there interested in the videos, maybe as an artform. Considering that music videos began as a promotional tool, I have realised whilst undertaking my research that they have evolved slowly but surely into a craft of their own.
Nowadays, many people are viewing music videos on the internet, with an increase in video sharing sites, such as YouTube, Metacafe and VodPod, accessing different videos has never been easier, whilst also being convenient e.g. if there was one particular music video that you wanted to watch, by simply typing in the name into YouTube, within seconds you would be able to watch it, in comparison to watching it on television whereby you would have to wait for it to come on. As MTV is beginning to focus more on playing programmes rather than devoting the channel fully to music videos like it did when it first came out, the internet has now become the chosen source for watching music videos. Most importantly, however, this still proves that people enjoy watching music videos and although it can be tricky to determine the future of the music video, this proves that there are still people out there interested in the videos, maybe as an artform. Considering that music videos began as a promotional tool, I have realised whilst undertaking my research that they have evolved slowly but surely into a craft of their own.
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