History of music videos

1927: The silent era of cinema was beginning to fall and a whole industry was forced to reinnovate itself and start from zero on how sound could integrate the films.

The Jazz Singer was the first film to sync audio and image. This meant that for the first time you could actually see a music performance that wasn’t live; up until then you could only hear your artists, see a picture of how he looked like or be lucky enough to see them live

1930: The Spooney Melodey series were the first to introduce the concept of short-films mixing live-action footage of the performer. It was shown at the movie theaters before the main presentations.

1958: Scoptione - A jukebox that played 16mm film synced with audio (technology invented for the WWII) was the rage of the 60s. In questions of film language the scpotione brought a very interesting dimension to the table and is heavily linked to the the video era and small screens. We see almost no wide angle shots and instead focus on more medium to close-up shots of the artist playing, something that had to be planned since the screen will be crammed in a corner with lots of people around it.

1965-1974: With film technology and 16mm getting a little bit cheaper and more accessible, the growth of broadcast television and consequently the rise of pop culture the late 60s and early 70s was a time of exploring all these new phenomenoms as a way to promote the music artist.

Considered to be the first music video to broadcast on television. The Beatles were already making some very popular full feature movies and were looking for a way to promote their record releases without having to make in-person appearances (primarily the USA). The concept is fairly straight forward and was meant to blend in with the television shows that were being made at the time.

The Beatles - We can work it out 

1974-1992: The endless possibilities of video revolutionises how music video are made and open up a door for endless possibilities. Together with the creative opportunities a whole new platform rises to once and for all kill the radio star.

The first music video aired on MTV prophesizes the impact that it will have in the music industry. Music videos become one of the main platforms for new artists to gain attention and for consolidated artists to show their latest works. The DIY video approach that initially inundated the MTV in the early 80s soon fade toward huge production budgets and an era where music video cost more than feature films.

The Buggles - Video killed the radio star 

1992-2004: Almost 10 years after its launch MTV in November 1992 began listing directors with the artist and song credits reflecting the fact that music videos had increasingly become an auteur’s medium. Directors like David Fincher (that in the 80s were making music videos) focus on directing feature films while a whole new breed of young and talented directors take the scene to express their unique vision.

2005 – now: Although you could find music videos on the internet since 1997 it was in 2005 when Youtube launched that the whole music industry had to change. Paired with the fact that MTV by mid-2000s largely abandoned showing music videos to air reality tv shows, Youtube became the home for artists and directors to explore new concepts and reach out to a worldwide audience.

Due to quality of image going up and prices of digital cameras going down, so many videos were produced and the sheer mass of new videos released each day made it even more important to figure out narrative and commercial ways to reach the audience.