History of Music Video
Introduction
A music video is produced for promotional or artistic purposes. It is a short film
integrating a song and imagery, primarily made to market in order to promote
the sale of music recordings at the present time. Music videos are often called
promo videos or simply promos due to the fact that they are usually promotional
videos. Music videos are crucial to the careers of music artists as they are
being given the chance of impressing the public not just with their vocal talent,
but also with their looks or moves. However, looking back to when the first
music video was produced, the intention of creating a music video may have been
different. When the first music videos were produced, there weren’t many
places videos could get promoted other than on a television, however, there
weren’t any music channels, social networking sites or many people who owned a
television, therefore music videos would have been more difficult to promote.
However with developments being made year by year, it was till the 1980s where
music videos were easily promoted on television.
MTV was the phenomenal start. MTV gave so much power and importance to
music videos. It started broadcasting in the USA in 1981 and marked the
beginning of music videos importance and its ruling over the music industry. This
was an ideal opportunity for artists to promote themselves; therefore they
were encouraged to produce music videos more often so that the audience could
have visual views of them. Since the first music video that was published in
1929, there has been a variety of progression in terms of developing music
videos in order for artists to sell their song. The next phase of my work will
explain the different developments made during the years.

First Ever Music Video
Bessie Smith – St.Louis Blues was a black and white music video that was
produced in 1929. It hasn’t got a particular storyline to the video and isn’t
illustrative, and with the poor technology, there isn’t any vital effects produced
that would fascinate anyone at the present. It was popular at the time as it was
a first in the world so it was shown in theatres for a variety of years. The
purpose of the music video was to entertain people at the time and was only
shown in theatres, which only the rich people could afford to attend. After
sometime, it was then published on the television, but published only once to
show the development of music videos. Comparing to the technology and effects
used at the present, no way is there any similarity. The technology and effects
used at the present has huge effects which interest and attract people to
watch it. The use of camera works; the different types of editing software’s
make it much easier to record and produce a high quality music video. The
quality of the recordings is also not at the same standard that we see in a music
video today. The storyline of the video is neither presented in a story, but just
at a casual bar with everyone singing. With the present music videos being
produced, there is generally a storyline/narrative to each music video; St.Louis
Blues was more of a performance music video as
Bessie Smith is filmed singing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Who6fTHJ34

First Ever Music Video
Michael Jackson was the first artist to create the concept of the short film. A
short film is described as a music video that has a beginning, middle and an end.
In the early 1980s, artists started to use effects in their videos and add a
storyline or a plot. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean is considered the video that
brought MTV, a fairly new and unknown music channel at the time, into
mainstream attention. Michael Jackson’s record label tried their best to
present the music video on MTV as MTV refused to do so at the beginning.
After allegations of MTV being racist and not presenting Michael Jackson’s
music video because he was black, Walter Yetnikoff, president of Michael
Jackson’s label, threatened MTV of presenting these allegations on public T.V.
and newspapers, which this persuaded MTV to publicise the music video. This
was probably the best decision for both sides, as MTV gained a lot of
mainstream attention and progressed to be a main hit in the music industry.
People were not used to seeing storylines in music videos, which was a
contributing factor to why the music video became successful. Michael
Jackson’s dancing talent also had a contribution to why the music video turned
out to be a huge hit as yet again people were not used to watching people dance
and sing at the same time. The first moonwalk was produced by Michael Jackson
in this video which also caught the attention of several people and is a
memorable aspect of this particular music video. The history of this music video
is known to lie under the moonwalk produced by Michael Jackson, which is one
reason why it is one of the most famous music videos every produced.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWULhhL2F18

MTV (Music Television)
MTV had a massive profound impact on the music industry and the popular
culture. On the 1st of August 1981, MTV was launched as a music television; the
channels original purpose was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known
as VJs (Video Jockeys). MTV gradually became more popular, and started to be
the central location where artists and fans found music events/concerts, news
and promotion. It was an opportunity for artists to show their talents, not only
vocally, but visually to the audience. Artists where able to present their music
by visualising it and creating storylines which this gave the audience a better
understanding and interested them to buy the music. Artists were enjoying the
growth of MTV as it became the location of promoting their music and selling it
to their fans. The development of technologies in terms of the quality of
recording the song and the video, the effects being used and the visuals allowed
artists to promote their music at good standards. The use of technology gave
more creativity to the music video, which gives a larger chance of entertaining
the audience. The start of MTV gave artists the opportunity to sale their music
by promoting it with a video. Year by year, the impact MTV has on the music
industry has increased because artists create entertaining music videos for the
audience with the developments of technologies becoming better and better.

YouTube, MySpace, Social
Networking Sites
The development of social networking sites has also had a great impact on the
music industries. Social networking sites have allowed artists to promote their
music via the internet. At the present, a variety of artists use the internet to
advertise their albums, their concerts/music events, promote their music
videos, create a dialogue through the internet with their audiences, giving
responses to questions being asked etc. The internet gives the opportunity for
the artists to have a closer relationship with their fans, which the fans also
enjoy the fact that they can be really close to artists and explore their
lifestyles and their music through the internet. YouTube is a social networking
site which probably has the hugest impact on the music industry. YouTube was
produced in 2005 for people all over the world to upload videos that can be
watched by everyone.
Unknown artists are able to produce videos and place them on YouTube so that
they can be recognise for the music they produce in order to sell it. YouTube
has become a promotional networking site for unknown and known artists to
present their music. An example of an unknown artist who became very famous
for the wrong reasons is Rebecca Black. Rebecca Black was an unknown artist
who produced a music video called Friday. Friday became a huge hit on YouTube,
having over 50 million views. It became famous for the wrong reason as it
received a large number of critics regarding the vocal talent of Rebecca Black;
however it allowed Rebecca Black to be spotted and become famous. Justin
Bieber however became famous for the right reason via YouTube. Justin Bieber
promoted his own individual music videos that have been recorded within his
house. Justin is singer who has a variety of instrument knowledge, and plays
instruments, and also dances whilst singing. Publishing videos on YouTube allow
him to catch the attention of several millions of people, which this earned him a
label as he got signed by Usher. After signing a label, Justin Bieber, already
famous, still uses YouTube to promote his songs. Other known artists such as
Eminem, Usher, and Drake also use YouTube to sell their music. Therefore,

YouTube has a fair amount of importance on the developments of Music videos
and the impacts it has upon music artists and their fans, as music artists are
able to promote their music, and fans are able to access via the internet.
MySpace, Twitter and Facebook are also examples of social networking sites
where artists use in order to promote their music videos. The internet is a
common product within the music industry as all artists look to publicise their
music videos, their concerts/music events and their albums on sites which are
accessible by everyone.

Impact of Digital Technology on
the Music Industry and the Future
of Music Video
The fact that digital cameras, editing software’s are so cheap and easily
accessible, it is not only large music companies who produce music videos, but
everyone who wants to. Unknown or known artists are able to produce a music
video at the same standard, because the software’s and technologies are cheap.
With editing software’s and digital cameras improving each year with new
specialities, the impact of camera’s and the software’s being used on music video
are increasing. The use of technology allows the artist to create a better visual
by editing the music video. This creates more entertainment for the audience.
The quality of the video is improving year by year with high definition and 3D
now being introduced. This yet again also has a positive impact on the music
industry as artists are able to produce music videos professionally at high
quality standards. The year by year improvements on the technologies is a
positive note to take in terms of the future of the music industry, as new and
better technology will increase the potentials of the music videos. However, a
problem that has started to occur and have a negative impact on the music
industry, and can have an even worse impact in the future is audiences being
able to download music legally and illegally. The internet gives the audiences the
opportunity to download music albums, videos etc via internet, which means that
they are not paying for the production of the artist. This is a major let down
for artists, and as stats show, since illegal and legal downloading has increase,
the sales of music albums from music stores have decreased. Fewer albums are
being sold, but more are being downloaded of the internet. This is the future
can be a major concern for labels and artists, as they wouldn’t be making as
much as money if the audience isn’t paying for their production.