AOB1- The history of the music video

The history of the music video

A music video is a selling tool that most artists and bands use as a way of creating the ideal image, which helps the artist to sell their music. Music videos have changed quite considerably over the years and are presented in lots of different ways. They are all usually very eye-catching and we seem to be able to watch them over and over again. For some artists a music video is simply a way of promoting their music in order to sell more. However some artists use it as a way of getting a message across like addressing the poverty crisis, for example Band-Aid. The music video can be a great way to do both. Within music videos there are three main types these are; when the video follows a story line called a narrative; a performance based video with the band performing; or concept based video this is when the visuals have no link in with the lyrics and therefore can be very random or focus on an idea the artist wants to portray. However many music videos combine these types using two or all of these ideas.

The first

Music videos go right back to the earliest experiments filmmakers had with sound and film. However it is hard to establish exactly when the first music video was made, after some research the evidence I have found does not always match as people have different options of what exactly a music video is. A music video timeline I found at http://timerime.com/en/timeline/596148/A+History+of+the+Music+Video/ states that still pictures were projected on to a screen in 1894 simultaneously to the playing of a song called ‘Little Lost Child’. Although many might argue that the first proper music video was not until 1923. However it was not until the 1970’s that they really took off and took part in people’s lives. Since these first early examples, music videos have come a long way and are now watched all over the world on television channels like MTV and the newer 4Music and Viva. Music videos are now viewed mostly on Internet sites such as YouTube and also downloaded from the Internet for use on IPods and other MP3/4 devices. However in the very early years when music videos first came out, devices such as TV, Internet, iPods etc did not exist. Without these new technologies music videos could not of reached the levels of popularity they have now.

The early days

It is not certain what started the trend of music videos but here is a look at the early examples; in the 1930’s the ‘Soundies’ were popular. These were films, which featured a dance routine to around three minutes of music. These where produced to be played on an early version of the jukebox called ‘Panorams’. These Panorams consisted of a 16mm reel that was projected onto a glass screen. They were put in cafes and pubs around the country featuring films of both a politically and sexually provocative nature. Following on from this, in the 1960’s came the introduction of the first play and rewind device know as the ‘Scopitone’. This device played songs and dance performances. The player could play, and rewind any of the 36 short films it held inside. But this slowly died out in the later years of the 1960s as television took over.

The first music on television

With the introduction of television in 1950 when films like Jail House Rock and Blackboard Jungle were shown they all included music videos. All of which for the first time were aimed at teenagers. When music videos started it was a way of swapping a live performance of the artist for a music video of their performance for anyone who missed them live. However it was not until 1964 that music videos like this started to appear on TV when Top Of The Pops started. This was a weekly programme shown by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) that showed songs such as ‘Strawberry Fields’ by the Beetles. This was the first stand-alone music video. Top Of The Pops was the worlds longest running weekly television show running for a whopping 42 years when it ended in 2006.  

Queen

 ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was Queen’s longest music video lasting a whopping 9 ½ minutes. It was far too complex for the use of stage so had to be made as a music video. It was done within 3 hours on the biggest budget of a single ever made consisting of £3,500, which is very little when compared to the millions of pounds/ dollars which artist use today.

24hrs of music

The first 24-hour music TV channel called music television (MTV) was released in 1981 playing Boggles ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’. This was a real opportunely for music stars everywhere to really show off their talent. This helped them on the road to become very famous and sell thousands of records. In the early days of MTV it was mostly about making cheap, fun music videos, which were as wild and wacky as possible to entertain the viewers. But later on the big business men took over and the main concern for them was making lots of money so they started dictating the content of the music videos. It was not long until music videos became the most advanced thing being shown on the screen. With this MTV soon became the red-hot centre of the music business helping the artist sell more and more records. There even became a ripe of vision of the channel called Dave TV. Through the first decade MTV helped to put together many bands including Duran, Duran and Boy Georges Culture Club. It was even promoted by Dire Straits who mentioned it in their song Money For Nothing in the line ‘play the guitar on the MTV’.

Videos got banned  

A lot of artists and music video makers liked to push the boundaries of what was allowed to be shown on TV. Some music videos pushed this too far and were deemed so offensive by the local customs and ethics committee that they were banned from being shown on all the major TV channels. Some videos that got banned in this way were videos like Smack my Bitch Up by Prodigy, Madonna’s Justify My Love and UNKLE’s Rabbit In The Headlights. All banned for regularity and ethical reasons for being either being too disturbing, antisocial or sexual for the public eye to see. The first music video to be booted from MTV was the 1982 hit ‘Body Language’ by Queen. There were also music videos like Duran Duran ‘girls on film’ which were completed banned from the BBC but still shown on MTV, all be it a heavily edited form. Some videos were banned but some were also restricted from being shown on MTV and BBC before a certain time at night.

Michael Jackson

 In 1979 Michael Jackson started his career with ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’.

He also did ‘Beat It’ this was a music video influenced by ‘West Side Story’ showing a strong anti violence message. He did some quite provocative videos but the most controversial was ‘Black or White’. But maybe the most memorable video was ‘Thriller’. This is a long music video lasting for around 13½ minutes, made on the budget of $500,000 it was the most expensive music video ever made and also in 2006 Guinness World Records listed it as the ‘most successful music video’ with selling over 9 million units.

The animated world

 In 1985 the animated trend started when Dire Straits Money For Nothing was released. This was the first time any video had consisted of Lego, computer graphics and CGI graphics and took the world by storm. In Money For Nothing there is a mix of the band performing while some animated Lego people watch them as they go about their normal life.  Later came A-Ha’s Take On Me, which includes a mix of animated drawings and real people dancing. There have been many others including ‘Love Rollercoaster’ by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, which uses animated people to get across the metaphor of the ups and down and twists and turns of a relationship.

Music for good

Occasionally artists have used music videos to raise money for charity. In 1985 ‘Live Aid’ was released to increase awareness and get support for the thousands of children living in poverty around the world. Many bands have used this concept since live aid, by releasing charity songs and videos, normally around holidays, and giving the proceeds to charity. Many of the charity videos were to raise money for comic relief these include ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)’ by the Proclaimers and ‘Is this the way to Amarillo’ although not an official realise for comic relief proceeding did have the intent of going to the charity.  

Films need soundtracks

A soundtrack is the name given to the music in the background of a movie or TV show. Depending on the film this can be music already released and chosen for the film or new music written just for the movie. Most films have a sound track which may be used at several points of the film. Few films like Fantasia just contains then in there content and have no spoken words.

Conclusion

 From looking at all this I can see that from the early beginnings of music videos they have come a long way to what we know of them today. From the very first music video back in 1894 they have come though a very dramatic change which could not have happened if it had not been for television, websites and other new technology. There have been television programs and channels as well as websites set up for the single purpose of showing music videos. This shows how popular the music video has become and the extent artists will go though to advertise their music.