history of a music video

Through the development of technology the way in which the public watch music videos has changed. In 1981 the first ever music channel, MTV, was launched which meant that music videos were regularly broadcasted on television. However, as the internet advanced and surged into popularity, the video-sharing website Youtube was launched in 2005 which opened a whole new door of opportunities for music videos. The invention of Youtube meant that people could have a lot more easy access to music videos and not even have to be at home to watch them. Over time, both music channels and Youtube have dramatically improved; now there are a whole spectrum of music channels available, giving the public unlimited choice; e.g. Kerrang! specialize in rock and heavy metal music and 4Music specialize in more mainstream, pop music.

The first ever music channel launched was MTV (Music Television) that was launched in 1981 in America and is a subsidiary of Viacom Media Networks. The channel's predominant target audience is teenagers and young adults as the music is a lot more mainstream than anything else. However, the music channel's main genre actually used to be rock - Nirvana were a key band promoted by the music channel. Each of the 340 million viewers the channel holds are able to enjoy at least one aspect of the channel as it successfully caters for audience as it has subsidiary channels such as MTV Dance or MTV Rock. Therefore, watching music videos via MTV has become easier than ever, particularly as they feature on both their website and the TV. The first ever music video to be broadcasted on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star", which is a song written by "The Buggies". It was first released in 1979, when it originally aired on the BBC's "Top of the Pops" in order to promote the single. The video was produced on a budget of 50,000 dollars and it merely took one day to film and then a few days to edit. The video made "an aspirational statement" and became extremely competitive with other music platforms such as radio. 

In 2005 the video-sharing website called Youtube was released and since 2006 it acts as a subsidiary of Google. The website allows users to upload, view and share videos of content such as clips from movies/TV shows, music videos and video-blogs, all for free. Youtube has over a billion users on it and the number of people watching every day has increased by 40% since March 2014. The invention of Youtube has been extremely significant to the consumption of music videos as now it is so accessible that people just have to type in a few words into their search engine to find any clip they want about a TV show, a movie, an educational show, a blogger etc. 

Above is a screenshot of the top ten most viewed Youtube videos of all time. As you can see, the number one most viewed video is "Gangnam Style" by Psy, a South Korean singer-songwriter and rapper. Arguably, the reason why it is so popular is simply due to its uniqueness. The music is generally quite catchy, with the rhythm being simply and repetitive, therefore appealing to the audience as it is a dance style song with a whole dance routine attached with it. However, there is also synergy between the music and the visuals which is a lot more appealing for the audience to watch.

Above is a screenshot of the top ten most expensive music videos ever made. To this date, Michael Jackson's "Scream" still holds number one position at a production cost of 7 million dollars. Making a music video means you have to give yourself a flexible but sensible budget as you have to take into account all the aspects of making a music video. You have to pay for all the different sets to film your music video on, the actors/actresses to use in the video, the props, costumes, hair/make-up team etc. Michael Jackson's music video for "Scream" used 11 different sets, effectively making the production cost exponential. The video is all in black and white which ironically gives it a futuristic feel to it as the settings used are quite Star Trek-like. However, despite this music video being the most expensive, it is certainly not the most viewed out of the list or any other music video, which clearly demonstrates that spending a lot of money on a music video is not always necessary if it does not conform to audience expectation's or the narrative content is not of high enough quality for the audience.

The development of technology and special effects has had a major impact on the production and consumption of music videos. Now that artists have the choice of using special effects such as green screens, they can add more elements to their music video to make it as interesting as possible for the audience. It also makes production a lot easier for the artist as they do not have to spend so much money or time actually travelling to another location to film their video. Technological advances have also ensured higher quality of music videos for the audience to enjoy in the privacy and comfort of their own home as everything now uses fast-speed internet (e.g. Youtube). The development of smart phones has also altered the consumption of music videos as now most people use their mobiles to quickly search up a music video on Youtube. Therefore, the amount of views a music video receives on average has dramatically increased as due to the lack of having to wait till you get home to watch a music video on your computer, you can just do it whenever you are out with your mobile. This increase in the number of views on Youtube demonstrates the way that the audience has also changed; as society has developed, people expect different things now, compared to before. A lot of people conform to what is mainstream and therefore artists tend to produce a music video that they fully know will attract the audience as it contains what they know the audience will want to see and aspire to; as opposed to something which is authentic and unique. Music videos used to be created for the purpose to be creative and give the audience something more as well as to illustrate a deeper meaning behind the artist's lyrics; now, it is done more for marketing and promoting the artist and to establish a certain image about themselves that they wish to uphold.

Ultimately, the way that people watch music videos now, compared to the past, is completely different. When MTV first launched in the 1980s, people were only just beginning to watch cable television. However, as the film and music industry started working together more to create music videos, more artists took to this idea as a way of promoting themselves further. One exceedingly well-known music video is "Thriller" by Michael Jackson which became a huge influence for many other artists to create music videos of their own. In 1990, MTV reached 28 million viewers worldwide and therefore took to broadcasting music videos 24 hours a day. The industry started producing music awards, e.g. "best music video of this genre..." etc and therefore more people were consuming, producing and talking about music videos. Then, in 2005, Youtube was produced and accessing music and their videos became easier and more instant than ever. Through the increase and perpetual development of technology, the ability to stream and share music videos has become easier than it could ever be.

The research I have done into the history of music videos will help with planning my own music video as I have learnt that it is acceptable to slightly mix genres. Strictly adhering to one set of genre conventions may be tedious for the audience, therefore you should come up with something completely unheard of (Gangnam Style is a quintessential example). It is also important to think more about quality not quantity; this means it is not necessary to spend so much money cramming as many things into a music video, but instead a simpler music video is still entertaining, if what you have produced is of exceptional quality. Not only has technology developed but music genres have also developed. We now have a whole spectrum of genres available for our entertainment, which also includes sub-genres. We instance, there is not just electronic music, there is house music, trap music, drum n bass, etc. Artists now have a lot more freedom when making a music video as they are able to mix different genres together and it would still appeal to the audience.