Friday, 12 June 2015

History of a music video

Music videos development first began in 1894 when Edward.B.Marks and Joe Stern hired an electrician named George Thomas and multiple performers to promote their song 'The little lost child' they used a 'magic lantern' which is an image projector to make a series of still images appear on the screen in tune with the live performance of the song. In 1926 many short musical films were created, then vita phone shorts were created (and produced by warner bros) which featured many bands, vocalists and artists. The early 1930s featured popular musicians performing their songs on camera in live action segments, films based around music were a key factor in the development of music videos, many music videos has been modelled off of classic hollywood films such as 'bad' by Michael Jackson, which used the certain style of fighting from west side story, the first music clip was supposedly 'strangers in paradise' by Tony Bennett, the second was a much more famous 'jailhouse rock' by Elvis Presley. The Australian shows 'countdown' and 'sounds' were both key in the development of music videos and popularising them, both shows premiered in 1974, then top of the pops started in the late 1970s, in 1981 MTV aired, their first video was 'video killed the radio star', then in 1983 the most successful and influential music video was released, Michael Jackson's 'thriller' was released, a fourteen minute video costing $800,000 US dollars directed by John Landis created a new standard for music videos. In 2005 the most commonly used way of consuming videos now was released, youtube was created and music videos were uploaded to this website, allowing a wider audience to see the video at anytime, they could also determine how popular the song/video was by the view count, the most viewed video being, 'gangnam style' by psy which received over 2 million views.




There are many ways people can consume music videos now, youtube being the most common along with MTV and other music channels. Consumption is much more digital based nowadays, as you can tell by the way videos are judged on view counts on youtube to see how successful it was, every artist uploads their video to youtube as one of the first things they do, it is a key part of a successful song and video. Budgets for music videos have increased as the years have gone on, as music videos become more and more important in the success of a song, the budget has been increased, allowing for special effects and new technology to be used, the most expensive video is currently Michael and Janet Jacksons 'Scream', costing $7,000,000, a huge amount for a music video and has been the most expensive for 20 years, ever since it was made. The intorduction and improvement of smart phones have allowed for consumption to be easier than ever, a few taps and you are on the music video of any desired song by any artist, it is extremely easy to access music videos which is why it is so important to make a successful one. Multiple genres have been introduced in recent years, such as grime, also many genres have changed, the majority of genres are much more based on sexual attraction and that is how the majority of artists sell their music.

1 comment:

  1. This post demonstrates some understanding of how music videos have developed over the years. But you need to ensure that you have referenced your research!

    You have made a start on including the main points from the lesson, however, you need to fully explain the examples that you have provided, by relating the points back to the audience, to explain how it benefits them and also you need to explain the role of the music industry and how this have developed.

    Aim to include a conclusion, to explain how this post will support you within your own production. For example, how will youtube assist you in making your product successful?

    ReplyDelete