History of Music Videos

When music videos were originally created, they were very daring and explicit similar to modern videos. They had very high levels of female display which got the attention of the male audiences. French films had highly suggestive sexual content predominating, with highly sexualised dance routines and close up shots of the female (covered) crotch, frequently bordering on pornographic films, in many ways prefiguring the over sexual display of contemporary music videos.

Music videos predominated because the TV industry needed it in place of studio performances so artists wouldn't need to appear in studio. This allowed them to spend more time developing their music and made it a lot more convenient for themselves. This is when artist started becoming more popular and also more big headed. They would often get the celebrity vibe where they think they are the best.

Image is now a key factor in making a successful artist. Some may even argue it is more important that the music now. Main stream artists that are signed to large music companies will have a core focus on image which then keeps people interested. This is why modern artist are often in the headlines of tabloids and online news pages. They focus on their image to entice people to buy their content rather than their musical talent.

When music TV channels were created, which consisted of only music videos and an occasional advert every few songs, advertisers saw a great opportunity. Since the majority of the viewers that watched these music, channels such as MTV, were young, this meant that they were easily influenced as to what they should buy since they would often not have a biased opinion towards a certain company or product. They would also usually have disposable income as they would not have to be paying for bills etc. This meant that advertising companies would pay a lot of money to have their adverts played in between songs.

The rise in popularity of music videos started in Britain where bands would need to make a music video to accompany their song if they wanted to get sales. Artist would often spend a lot of money in making big and expensive music videos which would then help for their sales to rocket. This popularity was then carried over to America where their artist started doing the same and spending lots of money on creating music videos. By the 80s, music videos were needed if an artist wanted their music to be successful. The price for making a music went from around $8000 in the 1930s to $2million in the 1990s.

Music videos started to propel some acts into mega stardom, which started bypassing the traditional live performances. An example of this was Madonna, whose music videos were always interesting and innovative. She and a host of other female artists had a rise to prominence which was undoubtedly precipitated by the availability of music video to showcase their talents. Image, performance, choreography and the use of the close up have suited the success of female acts in particular.

Pete Fraser, Teaching Music Video (BFI, 2004)