Music Video History

Basic information:

in the 1930's  'A colour book' by Len LYE was created and seen as experimentation which was funded by public money from places such as post-offices. This music video is also an advertisement for the local post office which can been seen when text is shown saying 'parcel'.







This can be considered the first music video because it shows images to music. 

In 1940 there was the creation of 'Soundies' which were shown on a video jukebox (a pamaram) 

This lined the way for such artsit as 'Nat King Cole' to have music videos on this machine. 

In the 1960's in France 'Scopitone' emerged and produced music videos in colour, butdid not create much of a 'hype' and mostly found in bars with males to be their main target audience, which explains the ammount of close up's on the women's bodies in featured song 'Pussycat a Go Go'  by Stacey adams on the 'Scopitone'. 





 
However down to social belief the first music video was 'bohemian rhapsody' by Queen. The music video was made because they could not attend a live gig, and they created the music video to be watched by audiences at the gig.   
1880- The first phonograph was created to record sound
1940- Records were now made to be marketed, not just for enjoyment (live performances)
1950- Youth culture changed with fashion etc, which brought alone a new era of Rock and Roll 
        - Pirate radio was also brought in as BBC banned Rock and Roll in fear it was a bad influence
1960- The Beatles came along 
1969 -  Free love festivals 
1970- Punk anarchy came into play, with the Sex Pistols. 
1980- First music video shown on TV (MTV) was 'Video killed the radio star' by the Buggles
1981- The walkman tape was produced
1982- The CD was produced
1985- The first live aid on the 13th of July
       - The music industry is taken over by Pop and chart music
1990- Alternative Brit-pop is introduced with bands such as Oasis

2000- Brought the age of technology, bands such as 'The arctic monkeys' became who they were by social media (Myspace) and the music industry began to look for commercial not artistic value with shows such as X-factor. 

MTV had a massive impact on music videos because it was the first music channel devoted to playing just music videos, meaning that the audience would be seeing more and more everyday with demands for more, and also for bands who created music videos with their record labels, it gave them a challenge to create new and more exciting music videos for their audience members to enjoy and watch, with the hope they would then buy the track the music video was to.




Why where music videos created?

The First music video to ever be created and shown was 'Queen' with 'Bohemian Rhapsody' 

Music videos were made in order to be used as a marketing scheme for the artist, the song with its sales, or even products which have funded the video or the producing of the song.

What are the most expensive music videos?

The most expensive music video was to the song ‘scream’ by Michael and Janet Jackson, which was directed by Mark Romanek in 1995 and ranged at $7,000,000. ‘Scream’ is closely followed by Britney Spears with her music video ‘Work Bi**h’ which was directed by Ben Mor and cost $6.5 million

Key conventions of Music video Genres:

Andrew Godwin studies music videos, and in 1992 publishes a book on his findings called ‘Dancing in the destruction factory’ Within this book he points out that all genres of music videos have different convention codes, and put this into seven bullet points.

1.       The Music video would demonstrate certain genre characteristics, for example,  a music video from a girl/boy band e.g. Pussycat dolls or Back-street boys, we expect certain things, for example group dance numbers. 

 We also expect this from music videos from rock/metal bands such as slipknot and ACDC, who are shown to be performing on giant stage with a giant audience.

2.       There is a relation between lyrics and visual context which is often illustrated, for example Lilly Allen with ‘Alphie’  which shows exactly what is happening within the song ‘there’s not need to swear’ when the puppet Alphie is doing just that.

This however is sometimes amplified by being completely contradictory to the piece, for example David Bowie ‘Let’s Dance’   the artist does not dance, and when talking about ‘holding her close’ he stand alone.

3.       There is a relation between music and video, for example ‘Around the world’ by Daft Punk. The video consist of many dancers, dancing to the beat of the song, for example, one set of dancers took the base line, while another took the lyrical beat.

4.       The demand from the record label askes for close up’s of the artist. Britney Spears in ‘I’m a slave 4 u’ due to her producer, the music video shows more close up’s and long shots of the artist in the first 30 seconds then most artist have in the entire music video.

5.       The artist may develop motive and/or iconography which would then re occur within music videos. This is shown within music videos from White stripes, such as ‘seven nation army’ and ‘the hardest button to button’ in which the drummer and guitarist is also shown playing.

6.       There is frequent reference to the notion

 of ‘looking, which is also the use of screens within a screen, such as CCTV or a hand

 held camera, which is used in the song ‘Alone together’ by Fall out Boy, which shows one of the band members, appearing on a TV screen, as well as the smaller screen on a camera.

7.       Intertextual reference to products. This can be seen as product placement, which is commonly seen in music videos, such as a band (Sony), within the music video ‘What the Hell’ by Avril Lavigne which makes intertextual reference to the products.  

This can also be from films and/or TV programmes, for instance, the final audition used within the film ‘Flashdance’ is referenced to within artist Jenifer Lopez, ‘I’m Glad’ to which the location, characters, camera shots and performance is identical to the original scene from the film.  

The Decade of Music video's


2010- onwards

5.  ‘Party rock anthem’  by LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett

4.  ‘Love the way you lie’ by Eminem featuring Rihanna 

3. ‘On the Floor’ by Jenifer Lopez

2. ‘Baby’  by Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris

1. Gangnam Style by PSY

1980: 

10. ‘Rhythm Nation’ by Jannet Jackson

9. ‘Every breath you take’ by Syhchronicity

8.  ‘Walk this way’ by RUN-D.M.C and Aerosmith

7.  ‘Hungry like the wolf’ by Duran Duran

6.  ‘Sledgehammer’ by Peter Gabriel

5. ‘When does cry’ by Prince

4.  ‘Take on me’ by A-ha

3.  ‘Girls just want to have fun’ by Cyndi Lauper

2. ‘Like a prayer’ by Madonna

1. ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson

1990:

10. ‘Virtual insanity’ by Jamiroquai

9. ‘November rain’ by Guns N’ Roses

8. ‘Waterfalls’ by TLC

7. ‘The rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ by Missy ‘Misdemeanour’ Elliott

6. ‘My name is’ by Eminem

5. ‘Smells like teen spirit’ by Nirvana

4. ‘Freak on a leash’ by Korn

3. ‘Vouge’ By Madonna

2. ‘Scream’ by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson

1. ‘Baby one more time’ by Britney Spears

2000: (00-10)

10. ‘Get ur freak on’ by Missy ‘Misdemeanour’ Elliott (2001)

9. ‘Californication’  by Red hot chilli peppers (2000)

8. ‘ Firework’ by Katy Perry (2011)

7. ‘The real Slim shady’ by Eminem (2000)

6. ‘Disturbia’ by Rihanna (2009)

5. ‘Single ladies’ (Put a ring on it) (2009)

4. ‘You rock my world’ by Michael Jackson (2001)

3. ‘I write sins not tragedies’ by Panic at the Disco (2006)

2. ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears (2004)

1. ‘Bad romance’ by Lady Gaga (2010)

These top rated music videos over the decades, were the most popular because they used Andrew Godwin’s theory, of stages ranging from point 4 (demand of record label) and 5 (A style of music video, or the way the artist is dressed)

References:  Youtube playlists. Google images


By doing this timeline of the music video history, it has allowed me to see just how far music video's have comes over the years, and how it will also aid me when it comes to wanting a popular music video that people will remember, for example looking at the top viewed music video's over the years and researching into them and adding elements of them into my own music video