History of Music Videos

History of Music Videos

Music videos transformed the music industry, as artists were not only able to show their singing ability, but also how they perform and their image. Music videos are an effective way of drawing attention to a certain performer and their song, and in many cases receive more publicity than the song it’s trying to promote due to the controversy some bring. Examples of controversial music videos are Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ and The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’.

Music videos originated from an Australian TV show called ‘Countdown’, which first aired in 1974. Various acts appeared on the show, and a short music video clip was used to promote each of them. These clips proved popular, and the music industry soon discovered the potential of putting film to music.

A band from New Zealand, known as Split Enz, were one of the first groups to create an entire set of promo clips for each of the tracks on their album ‘True Colors’ in 1980.

The first nationwide video music program to air was ‘Video Concert Hall’, which premiered in America in 1981. A few months later, MTV was launched. This saw the birth of 24-hour music television, premiering ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ by The Buggles, as it’s first video. In 1983, the most successful and influential music video of all time was released. Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ was 14 minutes long and featured scenes of zombies and the famous ‘Thriller dance’. During the 1990’s, MTV launched music channels all over the world and has played a large part in the music industry ever since.