A History of Music Videos

Vitaphone shorts were a creation by Warner Bros in 1926. Image was projected onto the screen while an accompanying audio track was played on a separate record. They were typically 6-12 minutes in length, featured animations, short stories or dancing. Many musical short movies began to spring up from the early 30's, helping to showcase new singing and acting talent for the Hollywood musicals.

In 1964 The Beatles produced A Hard Days Night with director Richard Lester. The mock-documentary featured the Beatles acting and performing, a format they would go onto repeat in the coming years. Similarly, In 1966 The US TV series The Monkees featured the band of the same name, acting and performing various songs as part of the narrative throughout the show. Such ideas started the concept of a music video, the need for music to be on TV with visuals.

The idea of a music video began to progress and TV stations would often air 'video clips' during the 70's. The Australian TV show Countdown used video clips would help promote artists who were to perform on the programme. At the beginning they were often just raw footage of the artist performing and 1/2 minutes in length. As record labels recognised how useful these were as promotional material, directors were appointed to make them more creative, and the format was rolled out around the world.

In the late 1970's the first full length music videos were played on Top of the Pops in the UK, although the amount they were allowed to play was capped to help drive music single sales. Artists such as David Bowie, Queen and Madness enjoyed success from using a music video. In the USA 'Video Concert Hall' was launched in 1978; the first nationwide programme showing music videos, notably before the creation of MTV.

MTV was created in 1981, a 24 hour music video station that undoubtedly sent demand for music videos sky rocketing. The first music video ever aired on MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles in 1981. The title of the track itself is telling in the attitudes many artists had at the time for the creation of music videos. Many feared that true musical talent could not be appreciated in a music video, instead looks would play a crucial role in the appeal of artists.

Madonna was a key player in causing such controversy. The music video for Like a prayer was first shown on MTV in 1989 and immediately caused public outcry due to the risque content. There was a character she made love to, who many assumed was a black Jesus, burning crosses and stigmata- the wounds of Jesus from the Crucifixion. The media criticised her fantastical music video for selling Cd's opposed to raw talent whilst others from the media gave her great praise for daring to cover subject matters none others dared.

Music videos helped to break down racial barriers in the eighties, and provided black music to the mainstream. During the first few years on MTV music videos predominately featured white artists. British band, The Specials, were the first mixed raced band to have a music video played on MTV. MTV received criticism from the public and music labels for failing to play black artists, who supposedly did not fit in with there 'more rock' image. The channel made the decision to put Michael Jackson's video for Billy Jean on regular rotation which helped to pave the way for more black artists promoting their music on MTV. It also significantly increased the popularity of MTV. The 1983 release of the worldwide smash hit Thriller by Michael Jackson, set a new precedent for all music videos and considered the best of all time.

Music videos were available for the mainstream in the 80's and 90's. Quality and style varied from artist-to-artist. It wasn't until the earl 90's that artistic music videos began to emerge, with specialist music video directors such as Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry. Since the turn of the millennium the internet has grown at rapid pace, with YouTube and Myspace providing music videos on demand at the click of a button. This has led to the decline of of music video channels, as viewers can instantly find the video they want on the net. A huge benefit to having music videos on the internet is the opportunity for relatively unknown artists to promote themselves, such as OK, GO. The received a hug amount of publicity for the video Here it Goes Again due to its simple concept. The band are shown performing a dance routine on treadmills and the camera remains static through out and the video is just one complete shot. Although this was obviously low budget, audiences everywhere were amazed at quite how the band manged it without falling over. See a still below.