How Music Videos have Evolved

Music videos first became popular in the 1980s. In fact, MTV was put on the air in August 1981. On their first day of broadcast, they aired music videos like 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by The Buggles, 'Hold on Loosely' by 38 Special, and 'Keep on Loving You' by REO Speedwagon. These videos were new and exciting at the time. In particular, 'Video Killed the Radio Star' was seen as a statement of intent that music videos would take the world by storm. Although only a simple video, showing the musicians of The Buggles just playing their instruments while the song was being featured, it had a big impact on music artists, encouraging them to promote their songs with music videos. 

After the crude and simple music videos of the early 80s, the whole concept of music videos began to change. Many musicians and recording artists took music videos as an opportunity to give more depth to their song and their image. However, a lot of artists also used music videos for activism purposes, encouraging people in the United States and around the world to listen and pay attention to the powerful, yet simple voice and image of change. This can be seen in an early Bob Dylan video for his song 'Subterranean Homesick Blues', in which Dylan simply sits and holds cards containing the lyrics to his songs. This video is known around the world for its simplicity and style. Music videos were still beginning to gain momentum. Duran Duran, is another example, who used locations and exerts from films to promote their songs in their music videos, showing how budgets for music videos were gradually increasing.

MTV really took off when more of the population were watching cable television. Access for music videos was now easier than ever and it became the norm for music artists to make music videos, to accompany their songs. The most iconic music video of the 80s was considered to be 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson. It had a 14 minute run time and cost $500,000 to produce. He was also one of the first African American artists to be aired on MTV, which started to show the significance of music videos in society at the time.

During the 90s, music video production became more cinematic and the budgets were bigger. Artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna had some of the most expensive videos of that era, typically costing £5-7 million to produce. MTV2 was later launched in 1996 to show more alternative music like Nirvana, to attract a wider audience.

In 2005, YouTube was launched. Accessing music videos became easier than ever and was instant for users. People could now watch music videos at any time rather than only when it was being broadcasted on TV. Some music artists saw it at first as financially unviable, but others saw it as a way to advertise their music. The band 'OK Go' rose to fame through YouTube videos that showed them doing synchronised dancing on treadmills. Unsigned bands and artists used YouTube to promote their talents and music, in the hope that they would get recognition. The company VIVO and YouTube worked together so that artists would still get money for their music videos via advertisement. However, users still upload videos that don’t produce income to the music industry. Although, most see this as free advertisement for their music.

In today's culture, music videos have changed drastically. Throughout the 80s, the majority of music videos still stuck to the performance variety. However, the 90s brought out more plot driven videos like 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by grunge-rock group 'Nirvana'. Music videos like this one enabled music artists of the 90s to take a political spin on their image. Bands also now take the time to shoot their music videos, which can take a few days to produce. Millions are spent on the production of music videos more than ever and videos are now viewed freely on many internet sites, including YouTube. Sexual content and crudeness is more widely accepted in music videos, however some videos still get banned. Since 2000 and up until today, the way in which music videos are approached by music artists, has completely changed. Artists are being more experimental and creative with their music videos, in order to portray a wider message about the song and music that they have produced.