History of music videos


The way in which music videos are watched has changed dramatically with the sudden increase of technology in the last decade, preciously music videos were mainly consumed through the use of music channels.In more recent years music videos have been shared on many websites such as youtube for people all over the world to watch them for free in the comfort of their own home. 

In 1981 on August 1st MTV, this channel had been used to distribute music videos to audiences within america.It went on to quickly revolutionise the way in which the general public watched music videos.The first music video that was aired was The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” which was initially only aired to household within certain parts of new jersey. The brand name "MTV" was known as a influential source of pop culture and entertainment within the United States but as the brand grew it then went on to air in other parts of the world, including Europe,Asia and latin america.During the early years of MTV there were video jockeys that were provided by the record companies to introduce music videos to the audience. It was around this time period that record companies recognised that MTV was in fact a powerful tool to market music videos so money was invested in making creative, cutting-edge videos. 

In more recent years Youtube has become a key platform to watch music videos especially with the increased use of the internet.A large majority of artists have decided to upload their music videos on to youtube in order for their fans to watch them for free however both the artist and Youtube both continue to profit through the amount of views and the advertising used.This has become most people preferred choice when watching music videos as it allows them to watch any music video that they desire at any time which is not possible when watching music channels as it is not in the user control.The most watched music video on youtube is PSY- Gangnam style, it had 1,827,405,408 views. This was because the music video was unique and people have never seen anything like this before. The most expensive music video that was ever produced was scream by Michael Jackson, the total for this music video was seven million dollars.

Technologies has started to play its role in the production of music videos. The effects of green screens are making the music industry make different scenes easily rather than having to go to different locations to film the scenes that want to film. Green screen has made it easier for labels to create a music video as they could shoot a whole scene through the green screen as they can change the different backgrounds. The number of people that watch music videos has gone up dramatically as they can access them everywhere and anywhere now days, so people have different ways in watching it. Music genres have changed over the years as people have mad sub genres, such as punk, dance and electro-dance. People have gone against stereotypical media traits and they are now thinking about what different things the target audiences want to see and they have done this through sub genres of music videos.

The research i have gained will assist  with the planning of my own music video as it allows me to have a greater understanding of the evolution of the music videos and the platform in the which it is currently shown on, it has also made me learn further about the different technologies used within music videos.

what is a music video - miss.miller

The purpose of a music video is to promote a song and the artist to try to make the song popular and profitable. The style of a music video can be categorised into three different areas, which include performance, narrative and concept. In the music video stupid girls , Pink it uses the three styles that can be included in a music video. She uses the performance part of the music video when she is singing and dancing throughout the video, the narrative would be used to show all the different types of characters that are shown in various situations of acting like "stupid girls".The third style that was used was a concept, this was illustrated in the video throughout as the artists shows that girls should not conform to stereotypes and instead should be their person without the worry of others not accepting you. A music video can be used as a market tool to as it could make the artist promote a certain brand in order to make profit. In the Justin Bieber music video beauty and a beat, this was evident when he was promoting just dance 4 as the video was starting. 

The music video that I looked at was DJ fresh ft Rita Ora, hot right now. The style of the music video is dance and R‘n’B from either artist. This is evident as the character included in the video are all dancing and seem to be enjoying themselves, it represents what the dance genre conveys to the characters. The music provides the individuals with a large amount of excitement which is clear from the behaviour that they show.. The song can be seen as R’n’B as the artists is seen partaking along side the characters which is seen as stereotypical. Additionally, the style of clothing that is used in the music video illustrates the typical R’n’B singer and dancer.

The conventions that are used in the video are stereotypical to the genre of the video. There is a lot of dancing, singing and entertainment happening within the film, which is typical to a dance song as the audience should want to dance and be more lively when they hear the song.This type of song would typically be played in a club as it suits the club environment perfectly due to the electrifying vibes it gives to the audience which encourages them to enjoy themselves.However, the song can be used in a different context, as it is a dance and a R’n’B song people can relate to it being played at home to make a person relax, although it has a loud bass. People could use this video to relax after a days work or it could to used to party to depending on the mood and the place.

The purpose of a target audience is that it allows the artists to try to get them engaged into what they are doing. They want the audience to be able to see what is going on within the music video and they want them to see that the music is having a positive effect on them as they are enjoying themselves to the music that is being played.  The target audience for this video would be teenagers and clubs. The song would get people dancing at clubs and teens can relate to the music video as the narrative would be similar to what they would do on a weekend when they are not at school. However the R’n’B side of the song could attractive audiences that would not maybe be attracted to this kind of song such as working people as it may wind them down after a week of work. The target audience would be able to relate to the song as in the first song, the audience would be able to understand that everyone is different but the same as we all live in one community. The second music video as people would be able to understand that people just want to have a good time where ever, they are. It relates as the conventions shown such as dancing is stereotypical as people would dance around and have a good time while listening to this type of music.