Research: History of Music Videos

Introduction:

Music videos have changed drastically as modern music videos nowadays differing from traditional
music videos. This is because modern music videos are more advanced as there been technological advancements over several years, they are able to make visually appealing in many ways comparing to traditional music videos that are a little bit on the simpler side. In addition modern music videos are more likely to be narrative or concept based with the artist as the main character acting in their music video. This is the use of star image in which modern music videos use to commonly attract their audiences and create a large and loyal fan base. The use of mise en scene, locations, cinematography and lighting has also changed drastically in comparison to traditional music videos from before that lack these particular elements where modern music videos tend to use more expensive locations, cameras and equipment to attract more audiences.
There has also been a huge development of many genres throughout the years which make modern music videos appeal to all different types of audiences. For example pop music videos are more likely to appeal to younger female audiences whereas rock music videos are more likely to appeal to older males. Despite this, traditional music videos did appeal to a larger audience as there was a limited choice in the type of music that people listened to for example in the early 1900's where there was only one type of music that everyone listened to and not really a diverse selection of genres to pick from. As a result, there wasn't a particular audience these music videos were aimed at, Modern music videos also have different particular purposes nowadays such as for entertainment purposes, films,
trailers and advertisement etc. In comparison to traditional music videos were often used to just accompany an artists song and entertaining the audience. The impact traditional music videos from the impact on modern music videos largely differ from each other as traditional music videos were less likely to contain inappropriate or controversial elements. This could result in a negative impact as well as positive due to the current changes in society today and the morals artists might have. Artists now choose to add controversial content to their music videos which sometimes they know will create a negative impact however does allow a mass audience to acknowledge their work which by definition does make their work successful and popular. Media in addition has also become extremely diverse with social media which is the key player in receiving information. Therefore artists are perceived in a particular way by media audiences, further influencing their music videos and the response it generates. For example, if an artist is given a powerful and likable portrayal from social media platforms, their music videos are more likely to be watched by a larger audience in comparison to an artist who is negatively portrayed that wouldn't get positive responses or views.

Timeline of the history of modern music:

• 23rd December 1938: Number 12 in our series of the 50 key events in the history off jazz music - This marked the first time jazz made a formal recognition for its own history, 'From Spirituals to Swing' was the title of a concert at Carnegie Hall on the 23rd December 1938. The concert was to being to the audience music of African-American origin that many were not quite familiar with. Producer John Hammond assembles an extraordinary group of people, more than 40 performers to this concert. The concert featured such performers as Meade “Lux” Lewis, Pete Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sidney Bechet, Count Basie, Big Joe Turner, Albert Ammons, Sonny Terry, and Helen Humes. The recording of the event is considered one of the most successful live jazz recordings ever produced.

• 1952: Number 13 in our serie of the 50 key eventsin the history of the world and folk-music - There is a famous photograph taken by Allen Ginsberg of 'film-maker' Harry smith 'Transforming milk into milk' in a New York hotel room in 1985. This roughed up some influence of featured recordings from a motley assortment of pre-war characters such as Dock and Boggs or Floyd Ming and his Pep-Steppers. The selection was made on the songs 'strangeness' which as a result critic Greil Marcus revealed 'the old, weird America'. Smith then wrote synopses of the song created from his own artwork including his other with of an etching of a monochord taken from a mystical treatise by 17th-Century English astrologer Robert Fludd. This later revolutionised Greenwich Village folk music in the late 1950's and early 60's.

• 18th January 1987: Number 14 of the 50 key events in the history of dance music - It was during the period in 1987 where dance boogied its way up to the chats. Steve 'Silk' Hurley's 'Jack Your Body' was the first to hit number one despite the fact that it arrived with barely any promotion, a video that was just cut from old black and white films hat had little lyrics. 'Pump Up the Volume' by M/A/R/R/S also jumped itself to the top on the 27th September being one of he first single to exploit the possibilities of sampling. In addition, among the 1987's popular dance hits were Frankie Knuckles' 'Your Love' and Coldcut's 'Say Kids What Time is it'.

Key dates in our history:

• 1929: Songs and moving images - Bessie Smith was an American blues singer who was also nicknamed the 'Empress of the Blues' as she was a popular female blues singer of the 1920's and 30's. Smith is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and had a major influence on other jazz singers later to come. She appeared in the two reel short film 'Saint Louis Blues' in 1929 which featured her performing the hit song. Lip syncing was the first established in this short film and therefore many argue this is in fact the first ever music video. Although many may argue that this doesn't regard this as a music video however, I believe it has true, significant elements of a music video we still see in music videos nowadays. This was to promote a film yet there are many popular artists that do this to promote the film and themselves. Despite there being no clear narrative or concept to the short film Smith did, it still shows her performing to the song which in my opinion is in fact a music video.

• 1940: Songs and moving images - Walt Disney produced an animated film called 'Fantasia' that consisted of eight animated segments set to classical music. Some may argue that this was when music videos were firstly invented. I would have to disagree with this idea as it doesn't properly reflect a music video. Despite the song accompanied with the moving images, there is no evidence of an artist promoted in this piece, in addition, there is no lyrics to the song which in fact doesn't portray a music video. This is a far from a music video as its simply a genre of music associated to the film itself.

• 1920-1940: Songs and moving images - After the film 'Fantasia' many films, animations in particular took the role of accompanying moving images with music. These films include 'Stream boat Willie' (1928) and the famous 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1939). Despite its similar elements of including music with moving images, this does not consider to be a music video as there is just basic editing of images to films/musicals which was actually a popular genre of film during this period, not music. I agree with this statement as these films lasted much longer than an average music video. Further it doesn't contain any other characteristics of a music video for example, visuals matching the lyrics or music.

• 1950-1960: Songs and moving images - In 1956, Tony Bennett was filmed walking along Hyde Park, London for his song 'Strange in the Park'. From this, it had resulted in the single/video being distributed all through the US and UK TV. Bennett claims that he made the first music video as a result of this. I believe that this one of the first examples of a music video as it has elements of a music video such as the performance played out and star image that was being presented to the audience.

• 1950-1960: Songs and moving images - Around this time, it was a key moment for The Beatles' song 'A Hard Days Night' that was released in July 10th 1964. This arguably was the set up of a basic visual vocabulary of today's music videos. This had influenced a large number of musicians at the time as many more began to create similar moving images to accompany their music. I do believe that this was also one first, more established music video as it does resemble similar elements of a music video today. It was performance and concept based, there is an evident star image and their surrounded by their beloved fans. The Beatles was already very famous which means that they're was very influential and impacted on many others to start their own music video.

• 1950-1960: Songs and moving images - 'Monkees' was a TV show that aired from 1966 to 1968 and consisted of each episode consisted a specifically made film segment that was created to accompany their songs used in their TV series. Monkees have a song called 'Daydream Believer' displays evident characteristics of a music video as the band are seen singing and playing instruments along to the music. There is also a star image that audiences can focus on and a performance that is evident in the video which suggests that its a music video. Despite this, in my opinion I believe that the Monkees did not invent music videos as they performed during their shows which is not the purpose of a music video.

• 1966: The birth of the top of the pops - Top of the Pops was created to promote singles which meant that many artists competed for air time as Top of the Pops only showed limited number performances and only the best ones that the audience enjoyed most.

• 1950-1960: Songs and moving images - In 1967 music videos began to develop as people began to use techniques from film including film effects, dramatic lighting, camera angles and rhythmic editing. For example, The Beatles video to 'Penny Lane' which consisted of these technological techniques to make  it look more professional and appealing to the audience. It was further supported by the band performing the song and acting in the video. The video is performance and concept based.

Modern Era of music videos!

• 1975: Queen 'Bohemian Rhapsody' The modern music video - Queen is also a very big, popular band with a loyal fan base. They created a music video in order to replace a live performance on TV. Although The Beatles did create videos with their music, Queen were the first to create music videos for it to be specifically played on TV. Bohemian Rhapsody was the first music video to be made on video format and therefore it would be fair to say that this is the first initial music video although it wasn't the first promo film.

• 1970-1980: Songs and moving images - Modern music videos were finally further developed when video recording with editing processes were invented which meant that artists were able to produce videos that were high quality with tape recorders and portable video cameras. This further allowed people to produce promotional videos quickly and cheaply rather than using film which was much more expensive. By the mid 80's, producing a video to support a new single and promoting an artist was becoming the norm and because of this artists were using high budgets to create these videos. For example, The Jacksons spent money on their costumes and focused a lot of time on the mise en scene to ensure their videos were of high quality. This helped attract the audience from their pleasing visuals.

• 1981: MTV launch and development of music videos - MTV was first launched in 1981 with the first video to be aired being Buggles. 'Video killed the radio star', which was trying to prove that once music videos were invented and began to become more popular, the number of radio listeners decreased and so did its popularity.

• 1984: Michael Jackson's Thriller... and the concept of short film - After Michael Jackson's thriller, the concept of a short film was being established in the music community. A short film is a music video with a clear beginning, middle and end. Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video took this into account when creating his iconic music video. 'Top of the Pops' started to censor video content that was considered inappropriate or controversial that could've upset people. This was actually another tactical way in promoting an artist or single by using controversial ideas that would produce publicity and help promote its release. More early examples of this was Duran Duran's 'Girls on film' which included females with little clothing who were portrayed in a promiscuous and vulnerable manner in contrast to the dominant males that were in the video too.

• 1980: MTV and musical success - By the mid 1980's, music video began to play central role in popular music marketing as many artists began experimenting and creating music videos sue to its popularity. There were many artists such as Madonna who owed a great deal of her success to her skilful construction and seductive appeal to her music videos that changed the game and influenced many others. There are many people that see MTV as the start of the 'golden era' of music videos that helped the success of a new art form in popular culture. Others see it as the death of true musical art as it should be appreciated not by its physical appearance.

How have music videos changed over time?

Music has changed so much and have changed in a  number of ways over the years. The key players in the ways that music has changed over the years are associated with the development of technology, value, formats, representations and the importance of music videos.

• Development of Technology - Before music videos began to develop and before the modern era, there was little technology to use whilst making music videos. The little music videos that were being produced tended to be low quality and lacking professionalism however, due to the increase of technology advancements such as editing and sound programmes have enhanced the music videos quality in how they look and sound. This could mean that there is a big deal in music videos which now more and more artists are putting the vast amount of time and money in. For example if we compare the two famous bands from two different eras, The Beatles and One Direction. In their music videos we can see a big difference in the quality through visuals and audio. There are also huge differences in editing techniques and programmes that were used. Furthermore, The Beatles are seen in their music videos playing instruments whereas One Direction who are not. This highlights the changes that has taken place such as the sound programmes that encourage artists to steer away from performance based music videos and focus on narrative based performances instead. There has a big improvement in technology which has enabled music videos to be globally viewed on many different media platforms including social media, YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, etc.

• Formats - Music videos can now be saved in various formats including WAV, PCM, AIFF, PCM etc. Because of these formats, nowadays videos are able to be synced onto iTunes ad other music programmes allowing the audience to further  use different forms of media to listen to their favourite music videos such as YouTube, iTunes, gaming consoles, internet etc. 

• Representations - Over the years, artists are represented differently to how they were before. Often artists are portrayed as living the lavish lifestyles which has resulted the different ways that males and females are portrayed. For example females are objectified and seen as vulnerable in comparison to males who are seen as more dominant. In the past representations were different as there were more male artists than female ones. Due to the feminism movement not yet existing before and males were mot portrayed as dominating, just as role models perceived as attractive towards the female fan base.

• Music video importance - The importance of music videos have massively decreased as their  is now less emphasis on them due to other forms of media being sued by media audiences to listen to music. Before just when music videos were newly introduced, they were portrayed as more important as it caused hype for the audiences. However, the lack of importance has led to artists using different ways in promoting their music for example, films and adverts. An example of this would be Ellie Goulding's song 'Love me like you do' and The Weeknd 'Earned It' to promote the film 'Fifty shades of grey'.

• Values - Artists nowadays gave more values than in the past ensuring that hey made music videos that did not portray them in the negative manner. However artists today have less values and its ore about getting out there and making your name recognisable. They make choose to put out controversial content to create hype and publicity such as Madonna who does not consider other peoples opinions yet is very popular.

Conclusion: Why is it important know about the history and what ideas have you gathered?

From the research I've done on the history of music videos, I know understand how music videos have developed over the years comparing to the traditional music videos. Overall, I now know that idea of music videos as a whole came from Tony Bennett and the Beatles who created videos to accompany their music. Their work therefore created an impact on other artist to pursue this idea making it popular. Michael Jackson created a more advanced music video by making a short film for his song thriller which was very popular and was included in 'The top of the pops'. All these traditional music videos have led to modern music videos using them as a guide and becoming higher quality due to the developments in technology, formats, representation, music video importance and values.