Institutional research: History of Music Video (Similar Products)

History of Music Videos

• MTV (Music Television) was one of the first channels that took interest in music videos, they realised their importance to the music industry and took advantage of that. Since 1981, MTV started broadcasting in the USA and begun an era of 24 hour music on Television.

• MTV did not invent the Music video, there were many music videos before this, however, they were never successful or popular due to only occasional airings. In the early days of music videos they were simply clips accompanied by music or short films, this was done as a way to promote the music. The focus was more on the music rather than the artist themselves.

Importance of Music Videos in promotion and marketing of artist

• Music videos have become a way of the music artists to now only show their vocal talents to their audience but also their beauty or talent in dance. Music videos can also help attract a wider audience such s those who are visually stimulated or want to see the artist sing and dance to the song before their own eyes.

• However, despite all this there are also people who may be against music videos, especially pop and mainstream music videos as they tend to focus on the appearance of the artist, this can draw attention away from the music as some people may only view the music video due to wanting to see the artist themselves rather than truly enjoying the music.

History and evolution of Indie Music

• The term indie rock, derived from ‘independent’, which describes the small and relatively low-budget labels on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved. Although distribution deals are often struck with major companies, these labels and the bands they have signed have attempted to maintain their brand identity and non-conformity to mainstream ideas and stereotypes leaving them free to explore different sounds and styles without the worry of loosing their fan base.

Timeline of Music Video

1930’s

1940’s

1956

1965 1985

1982

2010

2005

Promotional ClipsThese were short clips which aired on TV, they showed popular jazz artists at the time and was accompanied by music. They were done to promote the artist and the music they created.

YouTubeYouTube was created in 2005, this allowed people all around the world with internet access to view music videos with ease.

Poker faceLady Gaga’s Poker face music video is the first to reach one billion views creating history.

MJ ThrillerMichael Jacksons Thriller music video was released, this was the longest and biggest storyline in a music video. This also encouraged the use of narrative in music videos.

Scream music videoJanet and Michael Jackson released their music video ‘Scream’ this was the most expensive music video to produce costing 7 million.

Screen SongsScreen songs were created, these were animations accompanied by music which encouraged the audience to sing along.

TelevisionWith the popular invention of the Television it was made easier for audiences to view music acts from the comfort of their own homes.

The Beatles1965 was the rise of the Beatles, they often used promotional videos to promote their music leading to the rise in popularity of music video promotions

Independent and Larger record labels

• Independent record labels are more likely to sign undeveloped or unusual artists than major labels are. Their releases are usually distributed by smaller regional distributors, but sometimes an independent record label would deal with a major label which would help to get a record into more stores. As they are smaller organisations, independent record label's will often be satisfied with smaller profits from any given act. While they lack the big marketing and distribution power of a major label, they may allow the artist to build on their niche appeal, rather than looking to convert them into a mainstream act.

• The main major record labels are the four biggest in the world, they consist of Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony Music and Universal Music Group. Major labels generally work with acts who've developed a fan base but will back new acts they have believe they could make popular. Sometimes larger record labels are aware that some people may be against the mainstream and would intentionally not place their record label on an album promotional poster so potential new fans would not be turned away at the sight of a mainstream label.

Synergy and Convergence

• Synergy in music videos is when two artists collaborate to promote each other and each others music to their audiences. A recent example of this is Taylor swifts music video for the song ‘Bad Blood’ it featured several popular artists and models such as Selena Gomez and Cara Delevingne. Their appearance in this would encourage their own fans to watch the video, simply to see them, which then may encourage them to listen to more of Taylors music.

• Convergence is the combination of two mediums, a good example of this is when Adele produced the song Skyfall for the James bond film of the same name. This works in a similar way to synergy as Adele fans may watch the new Bond film as her song features in it, and viewers of the film may enjoy the song and decide on listening to more of Adele’s music.