The History Of Music Videos

When did Music Videos Start?

. As soon as cinema was developed, there came with it opportunity to put songs to music

. As early as the 1920's jazz musicians began to make short films to accompany popular songs

So what do people consider to be the first music video?

. In 1965, Bob Dylan made 'subterranean homesick blues' as a segment of the film 'don't look back'

. This is widely recognised as one of the music videos

MUSIC TV - PROMOS

. In the 1970's producers of music television recognised an opportunity to make short promotional films to promote their artists

. They began to make "promos" - early music videos. These often replaced live performances which had previously been the most common way to promote releases on TV.

Bohemian Rhapsody

. In 19745 Queen released "bohemian rhapsody" with a groundbreaking video which marked the beginning of the music video era and set the language for the modern music video.

. The video is considered one of the first to use advanced visual effects

The first feature length video

. Soon artists realised the power of the music video and how it could affect their image

. In his 1988 book Moonwalk, Jackson expressed interest in having director John Landis direct the music video for "Thriller". Having seen Landis' previous work on a horror film. Jackson based himself on a a character from Landis film.


. In 1983 MJ released Thriller, a 14 minute music video. It was shown in many cinemas during its release. This led to acting roles in films including 1990 when he starred In arachnophobia.