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Series of still images
Publishers Edward B.Marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song 'The Little Lost Child'. Using a magic lantern, Thomas projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This became a very popular form of entertainment known as the illustrated song, which was the first step towards music videos. -
Cartoons
In the 1930's, cartoons were very popular among artists of that time. Musicians would perform their hit songs on-camera in live action along and during the cartoon. -
Soundies
Soundies were produced and released between 1940-1947. They were musical films which normally included short dance sequences, similar to later music videos. -
Early Music Clips
Tony Bennett claims to have created the first ever music video in his autobiography. He was filmed walking along the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London in 1956 with the clip being used in the song 'Stranger in Paradise'. This hasn't been 100% proven however it could possibly be true. The oldest example of a promotional music video with similarities to more abstract, modern videos seems to be he Czech 'Dame si do Bytu' (Let's get to the Apartment) created in 1958 and directed by Ladislav Rychman. -
1960-1973 Promotional Clips
1964, The Moody Blues producer, Alex Murray, wanted to promote his version of 'Go Now'. The short film clip he produced and directed to promote the single has a striking visual style that predates Queen's similar 'Bohemian Rhapsody' video by a full decade. In 1965, the Beatles began making promotional clips for distribution and broadcast in other countries-primarily the USA- so they could promote their record releases without having to make in-person appearances. -
Continued
In May 1966 they filmed two sets of colour promotional clips for their current single "Rain Paperback Writer all directed by Michael Lindsay Hogg, who went on to direct The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus and the Beatles' final film, Let It Be. The colour promotional clips for "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", made in early 1967 and directed by Peter Goldman,took the promotional film format to a new level. They used techniques that no other film had used making theirs stand out. -
Beginning of Music Television
The Australian TV shows Countdown and Sounds, both of which premiered in 1974, were significant in developing and popularizing the music video genre in Australia and in other countries. Also, it establishing the importance of music video clips as a means of promoting both emerging acts and new releases by established acts. In 1975, the British rock band Queen employed Bruce Gowers to make a promotional video. This was widely credited to the marketing strategy. -
Music Videos
The music video to David Bowie's 'Ashes to Ashes' became the most expensive ever made having a production cost of $582,000. The video was made in solarised colour with stark black and white scenes was filmed in multiple locations. This video became one of the most iconic music videos made at the time, and its complex nature is seen as significant in the evolution of the music video. -
Music Videos go mainstream
In 1981, the U.S video channel MTV launched, airing 'Video killed the Radio Star and beginning an era of 24 hour a day music on TV. In the early 1980s, music videos also began to explore political and social themes. Examples include the music video for David Bowies China Girl which explored race issues. Bowie said 'Let's try to use the video format as a platform for some kind of social observation, and not just waste it on trotting out and trying to enhance the public image of the singer'. -
Rise of the Directors
In 1992, MTV began listing directors with the artist and song credits. Directors such as Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Floria Sigimondi all got their start around this time, all bought a unique vision and style to the videos they directed. Some of these went on to direct films. -
2005- Present
2005 saw the launch of the website YouTube which made the viewing of online video much faster and easier. Along with Facebook, Google Videos, Yahoo Video and Myspace. These websites have had a profound effect on the viewing of music videos, some artists began to see success as a result of videos seen mostly or entirely online.To further signify the change in direction towards Music Video airplay, MTV officially dropped the Music Television tagline on Feb 8, 2010. -
Vevo
Vevo is an American multinational video hosting service founded on December 8, 2009. Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. It is based in New York City. It has been a part of near enough every British artists music video.
