History of Music Videos

A music video is like a mini movie; it tells a story with a song and vivid images, for our entertainment.  Generally, music videos are made to promote the music of various artists, although businesses are increasingly looking to the music video as a way to reach younger audiences. 

• The first step towards the music video was made in 1894 with the “illustrated song” but it wasn’t until the invention of the “talkies” in 1926, that music videos became popular. Known as musical short films, the videos lasted around six minutes and used decorative animation and backgrounds combined with a performer singing.


• In the 1930s, audiences were introduced to a bouncing ball that invited them to sing along with popular tunes and even early animated films from Walt Disney were centered on music. 


• A pioneer of the music video was musician Louis Jordan.  He made a series of musical shorts films in the 1940s to compliment his songs and these were spliced together to form a film.  Musicals from this time period were also very influential in the formation of the music video.  Many classic music videos such and Madonna’s “Material Girl” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” recall these classic musicals.


• The term “music video” was first used by The Big Bopper in 1959 and the rise of music videos is inexorably tied to the rise of television. One of the earliest successful videos tied to a Top 40 hit was “Surf City” by Jan & Dean, recorded in the summer of 1963.  The video was indicative of an early 60s California Beach scene and instrumental in the success of the song.


• The importance of the music video grew over the years but it really exploded on to the scene in 1981 when MTV was born.  A television channel devoted to the music video, MTV broadcast music videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, starting with “Video Killed the Radio Star.” In 1983, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was released and the 14-minute long video is considered the most successful and influential of all time.


• Today, the Internet is the medium of choice for most videos.  A few music television channels still exist, but the online market for fresh music videos is immense.