The History of Music Videos.

The First Music Video.

Bessie Smith, St Louis Blues is one of the earliest known music videos, released into theatres in 1932, after the songs initial release in 1929. Although this was the first official music video, Thomas Edison developed the Kinetophone in 1895, a device which showed moving images, while a phonograph played sound separately. The 'Dickson Experimental Sound Film' was never released, due to the failure of the Kinetophone in the market.





The Most Watched Videos on YouTube.

The most viewed music videos on YouTube is Gangnam Style by Psy. With over 2billion views. The song rose to the top of the charts in 2012 and became an instant hit at junior school birthday parties. The video became an internet sensation due to its quirky narrative and iconic dance routine. It is part of what we call 'meme culture', meaning it is a popular choice for internet parodies.

Removing the bias of YouTube becoming a platform in 2005, meaning post-2005 audiences will be mostly responsible for contributing to the views of post-2005 videos, I have chosen to ignore the other top 50 most viewed videos, as they are all current chart songs, and have the same valid explanations as Gangnam Style.

Iconic Music Videos, such as 1982s 'Billie Jean' by Michael Jackson, were influential in the sense that Jackson was one of the first artists to combine dance choreography with his songs, as well as creating notoriously expensive video sets. With Thriller being one of the most expensive of all time; also iconic, as it is over twelve minutes long, and is one of the first key examples of linear narrative. Essentially a short film, with a musical feature.


Blink-182's 'All The Small Things' is a key example of music video parodying. The band is seen clearly making several ironic and sarcastic references to key pop culture moments and other boy-bands. Making fun of the industry and themselves as artists embodies the conventional stereotype of their genre 'pop-punk', and is arguably what it owes its success to. As the comedy behind it almost never grows old. This is a similar case with Foo Fighters, Learn to Fly.

 80s classic, Take On Me stands on YouTube with over 400million views, an important example in regards to the history of music videos, as it was one of the first to incorporate animation, something which is carried on by today's artists, most notably Gorillaz.

Why do artists use music videos?

Music videos are mots popular with artists, especially in today' society, as they are a means of promotional advertisement. Videos were historically displayed on MTV, a large platform that could gain a band or artist many fans, listeners, and inevitably, paying consumers. Music videos are often used in modern times as a promotional means to spread word of new albums or tours, often only radio released singles have a corresponding video. This is not the case for Beyoncé, who dropped a video for every song on a surprise album release which went global, mainly because she's Beyoncé; and global superstars can get away with breaking the uncodified laws of media. Some artists also use their music videos to advertise other companies or charities under sponsorship regimes, for example, OK Go, The One Moment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diary of a Day

Image
Friday 6th October. Today I will be travelling up to Reading to observe the location for the first time and get a feel of how I plan to direct the video, where I want to store props, and how I will set up the projector and my actors.  Pictured here is Stanley, unimpressed with his costume and the videomap. Can't win them all.  Saturday 7th October. Today I set up clearing space and organising how I wanted my set to look- as I am borrowing an artists' studio space, there was plenty of equipment and material that needed moving.  Sunday 8th October.  Filming day today, when we arrived at the studio it took a little while to work out how to block out the sun from the windows, we experimented a little bit with angle and how close the projector and camera would be before getting started. 
Read more

SWOT Evaluation of AS Blog

Image
My AS blog went well to the extent that it clearly and effectively presented my research and planning in a clear and accessible format. However, it was heavily criticised that many of my posts were over-complicated, and I recognise myself that I invested much more time and energy into the quality of the posts over than the quantity of material covered, leading to a frantic rush to complete the blog in the run up to the deadline, the standard of my posts were inconsistent throughout. My directors influences post is one of my favourite explorations on my AS blog as it is one of the few that is simple and to the point. Picking three directors with three of their films gave me an opportunity to explain similarities and differences from the chosen films and my own to my 'audience' as well as further provoking my own inspiration and creativity. My textual analysis of American Psycho I felt was also effective due to its format. The prezi platform allowed me to explore ...
Read more

Evaluation marking

Level 3 12–15 marks • There is proficient skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation. • There is proficient understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions. • There is proficient understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production. • There is proficient understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts. • There is proficient understanding of the significance of audience feedback. • There is proficient skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation. • There is proficient ability to communicate. Excellent first evaluation. Kate used the screen shots to ably demonstrate links between her own product and real music videos. I would have like a shot of Button Moon though! Kate demonstrates a clear link between her video and ancillary texts. I think the response she got from the band was absolutely lovely but this post lacks a little in depth and some evidence of the feedback would ha...
Read more