Soundies, short films featuring jazz and pop artists, paved the way for music videos. MTV’s debut in 1981 led to the creation of artistic visual interpretations of songs. Music videos have become a recognized film genre, with many modern fans considering their visual impact as important as the song itself.
In the 1940s, an experimental collaboration between musicians and filmmakers resulted in short films known as Soundies. These films generally depicted jazz or pop artists singing popular tunes of the day, most likely in a studio or nightclub setting. While few people may remember Soundies today, they helped pave the way for future music visualizations known as music videos.
Music videos began primarily as promotional films created by a music label’s advertising department or an artist’s management team. When studio appearances became virtually impossible for bands like the Beatles, their label would often send out these promotional tapes in the group’s stead. Early videos weren’t always creative, but instead showed the artist performing an upcoming single from an unreleased album or a live performance of a current hit.
However, not all musical artists of the 1960s or 1970s had a collection of promotional films or recorded performances. Highly successful solo artists such as Rod Stewart and Elton John have had a number of promotional music videos, but many other groups have relied on videotaped television appearances or documentaries to provide such material to their fan base. The idea of actually producing stylized videos was largely foreign during the 1970s.
In 1981, a new cable channel called MTV, short for “Music Television,” debuted, choosing a music video by The Buggles, “Video Killed the Radio Star,” as its first song. Because there were so few professional videos available, MTV hosts relied heavily on promo videos provided by a handful of labels.
As the demand for professional-grade videos increased, a number of aspiring filmmakers began collaborating with well-known bands to create artistic visual interpretations of their songs. Instead of simply running tracks in a standard linear progression, bands could incorporate all kinds of visuals and effects to enhance their music. Filmmakers could also employ a number of experimental cinematic techniques rarely seen outside of commercials or short films.
Music videos are designed to capture the essence of an audio performance and interpret it visually. Some videos, particularly those created in the 1980s, follow a relatively linear path, combining shots of the band in performance with a lyric-based subplot. Others use the band members as actors in a short film or leave the band out of the video entirely. Animation is also a popular visual device in videos.
What was once considered a disposable item with little commercial value has now become a recognized film genre in its own right. Mainstream filmmakers like Spike Jonze started their careers producing high-end videos, and many of the editing and visual effects used in many films and commercials today can be traced back to experimental music videos.
While both MTV and its competitor VH1 have largely abandoned the video genre for other types of programming, many bands continue to produce cutting-edge videos as a way to promote their work and create iconic images for their fans. In fact, many modern music fans consider the visual impact of a song video as important as the song itself.
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