The history of the music video

  • First ever music video

    First ever music video
    The first music video was done by Thomas Edison in his studio.
    The oldest known music video made for a device called a Kinetophone, which would show moving pictures. In the film, its inventor, William Dickson, plays operetta music on a violin and two men dance beside him. The music was recorded separately on a wax cylinder. This was called the “Dickson Experimental Sound Film,” and was not released, because the Kinetophone never caught on with consumers.
  • Illustrated songs capture moviegoers

    Illustrated songs first started in 1894 as a publicity stunt for marketing sheet music. Illustrated songs were a series of photographic images painted in colour and projected from glass slides, sometimes with silent moving pictures. Audience members would watch these before silent films started or during the reel changes.
  • Sound-on-film

    In 1923, New York City’s Rivoli Theater presented the first motion pictures with sound-on-film. Sound on sound film synchronized movies and their soundtracks, The Jazz Singer is an example of this. Many early sound-on-film productions featured vaudeville stars, opera singers, bands and other popular musicians these were known as musical shorts, these clips were played before feature films up until the 1940s. Later, during the 1950s, musical shorts made a comeback as filler footage between televi
  • Soundies

    Soundies
    Soundies were three-minute films featuring music and dance performances, designed to display on jukebox-like projection machines in bars, restaurants and other public spaces. Jazz singers, swing dancers, chamber musicians and comedians all appeared on the jukebox.
  • The word 'music video' was invented

    The word 'music video' was invented
    According to some music historians, singer and songwriter Jiles Perry Richardson, who went by The Big Bopper, became the first person to use the phrase “music video” in a interview in 1959. The “Chantilly Lace” singer is also know to make some of the earliest known rock videos in 1958.
  • The Beatles combine movies and music

    The Beatles combine movies and music
    The Beatles were seen as the power of film to market their records and express themselves as artists. In addition to starring in full-length features such as “Help” and “A Hard Day’s Night,” The Beatles recorded promotional clips some with narratives and others of psychedelic images that were seen in England and overseas. Many rock and roll bands of the late 1960s and 1970s followed their lead, releasing increasingly sophisticated promo films that shared the lineup with live performances on tele
  • Music programmes such as Countdown came along.

    Music programmes such as Countdown came along.
    Two weekly teen-oriented music programs premiered in Australia in 1974. Both featured music videos, some were created especially for the shows. In 1978, three years before MTV hit our TV screens, the American program “Video Concert Hall” began offering several hours of unhosted music videos every day on the USA Network.
  • The introduction of MTV

    The introduction of MTV
    MTV broadcasts a variety of reality and television programs targeted at teenagers and young adults. MTV started out by focusing on playing music videos mainly from the pop culture. Back in 1980 MTV was the first to access music videos and the latest music news. Something which was unique and new to TV. MTV has In 1980 MTV was supposed to be a TV channel providing music videos 24/7 whereas now MTV is a mix of interviews and TV shows rather than just music, this could suggest that our need for the