Changes and developments in the Music Video Industry

A music video can be defined as a short film consisting of imagery and a song that is constructed for promotion and artistic purposes. Music videos are created using a wide range of techniques and methods such as live action filming, animation and non-narrative approaches for example abstract film. 

Over the years the development and production of music videos has grown and changed significantly. Nowadays the release of a single is guaranteed to be accompanied by a music video that will be broadcasted on the many 24-hour -a-day music channels and available online. However where did it all begin?

The first step towards music videos was an example of an illustrated song which was composed in 1894. Still images were projected onto a screen in sync to a performance of ‘Little Lost child’ 

1926 saw the arrival of the ‘talkies’ and many musical short films were produced. The ‘musical film’ genre was then established in 1930 with several songs being interwoven into a film. ‘Screen songs’ were also released, cartoons would feature a song accompanied by lyrics that would aim to encourage viewers to sing along ‘by following the bouncy ball’ on the screen. 

In 1964 The Beatles set the trend for the modern music video with their first featured film ‘A Hard Days Work’. They then went on to develop promotional films that were used to promote and advertise album releases. This was the start to video promotions for many artists, as these videos were distributed and broadcasted globally enabling artists to reach out to foreign audiences.

1981 was the year of the release of MTV (music television) and the beginning of 24-hour-a-day music broadcasting on television. By the mid 80’s music videos played a central role in music marketing. Then in 1983 Michael Jackson released one of the most iconic, influential and successful music videos of all time, ‘Thriller‘. The video took video promotion to another level, having cost $500,000 to make. To wind in a new audience, VH1 was released in 1985 and featured softer music aimed at the older generation. 

In 1995, Michael Jackson continued to shock the music video industry by releasing the most expensive music video ever made (and still is today). ‘Scream’ which features Janet Jackson, cost a whopping $7 million to produce. 

Throughout the 90’s many variations of MTV were released and developed, for example MTV India and MTV2 which was meant for alternative and older music. With these variations, MTV have enabled themselves to reach out to many audiences and promote artists on a global scale. This shows how popular the music videos industry is becoming with rising directors and fast selling artists.

2005 saw the launch of YouTube. This marked a change in the way music videos were to be published and consumed. YouTube dominates online video viewing as it is much faster and easier to use then Google video, Yahoo video and Facebook. YouTube also gave new aspiring artists the chance to rise in popularity and gain recognition via the internet. In 2005 iTunes enabled consumers to download music videos from the internet. This was a huge continuing success and generated $1 million after only twenty days of running. 

Music videos are becoming increasingly popular with artists such as Lady Gaga hitting one billion views online. The internet is a popular and contemporary place to advertise and promote artists. Nowadays it is common for artists to release a music video before the single as it creates excitement for viewers, which then leads to fast sales of the single when released. The number of music videos online has grown to 34 billion with 183 million viewers. This fact displays how much this industry has developed and is continually growing.