History of Music Videos
Why were music videos first created?
In the beginning, music videos were created as promotional tools for artists, meaning a technique to promote both a particular song and artist. Nowadays, this remains very similar. While some music videos can be made to tell the story behind a song, the reality is that their main purpose is to market the song and increase its public.
What are examples of popular music videos?
Some of the most popular music videos nowadays include ‘Despacito’ by Luis Fonsi, ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran, ‘See You Again’ by Wiz Khalifa, ‘Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson and ‘Gangnam Style’ by PSY.
When were pivotal moments in the evolution of music videos?
The music industry can be divided into ‘Pre-MTV’ and ‘Post-MTV’. MTV is a 24-hour music television channel, launched in 1981. After its launching, different music videos were broadcasted, and gradually the channel gained popularity and discovered some of the artists and songs we know nowadays. The first song ever broadcasted in MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles. However, MTV did not always exist. Before this channel appeared, Tony Bennet, an American singer, believed he created the first music video ever. The song was ‘Stranger in Paradise’, and the artist said he filmed himself walking in Hyde Park while his song was playing. This video was then distributed to local TV stations throughout the UK and America.
What is the future of music videos and music performance?
Nowadays, the music industry is becoming more and more related to technology. In the future, it’s likely that music videos and music performances will rely on various technological aspects. Since 2020 and the pandemic, the music industry has had to adapt themselves to continue reaching their audiences. Because of this, new aspects have been introduced, such as interactive marketing strategies, live concerts, social distanced concerts and interactive concerts. All of these have been slightly introduced throughout the pandemic, but the prediction for the future of the music industry is that technology will have a bigger impact as time goes on, and the way we purchase tickets, attend to concerts and interact with artists will be more technologically advanced as the years go by.