A brief history of the music video

Music videos are now a huge part of the music industry, with audiences expecting to be able to watch a video whenever new music is released. This is good, because it merges two different industries together. However, it hasn't always been this way, which is surprising to many.

The first sign of the music video era came way back in 1941, when clubs were beginning to play video clips alongside the music that customers were used to. However, it wasn't until fifteen years later, in 1956, where moving image being accompanied by music was accessible to everybody. This is when music-orientated films began to surge, and it marked the beginning of an arise.

The first notable music video was courtesy of Queen in 1975, who used advanced effects to produce a video for their hit 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

This set the standard for many other artists around that era, if they were to keep up with their biggest competitor. It was an exciting time for the public, as they were living in the time frame that many look back on today.

Five years later, in 1980, David Bowie released 'Ashes to Ashes'. Again, this was accompanied by a music video which to this day, is still enjoyed.

The music video consisted of monochrome colours, which matched the notorious style of David Bowie. The video effects were phenomenal, and it proved the up in standards from when Bohemian Rhapsody. From what was once considered advanced by Queen, audiences now witnessed some effects that were unheard of in the music industry.

In 1984, Michael Jackson revolutionised the music video industry, by going one better than anyone else. He made a short film to coincide with his song, 'Thriller'. To this day, this song still gets played over and over, particularly when Halloween comes around.


Fast forwarding a few years now, the new millennium allowed music artists to distribute their music to a much larger audience, the internet. 2005 saw the launching of YouTube, a website which allows users to watch videos online. This year was also iconic in other ways, because iTunes was launched also. This meant that music video producers could feel safe in distributing their work in other ways than television.

This saw the rise of many artists that are considered iconic in today's music world, for example Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

In just nine years of being released, Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face' has accumulated just under 500 million views, emphasising the effect that the internet has had. This music video is also iconic because of Lady Gaga's choice of costume. She was infamous for being relatively 'out there' in her wardrobe choices, which caused a spark of inspiration to other artists.