Music Videos throughout History

Music Video Timeline

Early versions of the music video It can be argued that the first incarnation of the music video could be the

“talkies” of the 1920s, which were short films with music playing in them. Here is a well known example, Spooney Melodies. This example is from 1931.

The videos features models being moved around on a set with music being played live. Though simple, this could be considered an early development into music videos

The 1950-60s This is when early developments of the performance music video began.

The Scopitone, a visual jukebox was invented in France , and featured a 16mm film component as well as audio capabilities

Kenneth Anger’s experimental film Scorpio Rising (1963) featured popular songs instead of dialogue, therefore could be considered to be a type of music video.

The 1950s-1960s In 1965, the Beatles started to make promotional clips for their songs

which they could have broadcast in the UK and the USA. The clips were simply a mimed performance of a song that was filmed in a studio, and among the first was their 1965 single Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out. A clip can be found here.

The 1950-60s The 1960s was also the decade that held the first promotional Music clip to

have some sort of narrative. The Kinks – Dead End Street was released in 1966 and with it came a promotional film with the song playing along.

1970s – The beginning of Music Television In 1975, Queen hired Bruce Gowers to make

a promotional video for their song Bohemian Rhapsody which would be shown on Top of the Tops. This song is widely considered to be the first music video to be released as a separate art form instead of a promotional clip for music. Also, the showing of this music video on a music based show could be considered as the early beginnings of Music Television as we know it.

1980s – The beginning of Music Television In 1981, the Television channel MTV was launched in the USA, being the

first channel to broadcast music videos 24/7. With the beginning of the channel, they broadcast The buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star, which is now as the first music video shown on a music video dedicated television channel.

1980s – The beginning of Music Television The 1980s was also a pioneering decade in the use of animation in Music

Videos. Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing was released in 1985, along with a music video that featured a computer animated sequence.

1990s

During the 1990s, directors started to be listed on music television channels as well as the artist that performed the song. This is clear sign that music videos were being treated an art form in themselves rather than an accompaniment to a song. Also, the internet became available in 1995, which would later become one of the main ways in which people view music videos.

2000s – The internet and Music videos YouTube, which quickly became the world’s

most popular video streaming service, was founded in 2005 and allowed anybody to upload their own video content on it. This has since became the primary platform for musical artists to upload their music videos on to. Additionally, Vevo, a streaming service specifically for music videos, was founded in 2009 by several major music labels. There are also vevo channels for a large amount of musical artists on youtube.

Success through music videos on the internet Due to the influence of online streaming services, many musical artists

have found success through sharing their music videos through YouTube. An example of this would be OK Go, An English pop rock band who released the highly conceptual music videos to their songs ‘A million ways’ and ‘here it goes again’ onto youtube in 2005 and 2006 respectively, which recieved critical acclaim and launched the band into the mainstream.