Timeline of music video

Music video timeline

'Help' was The Beatles first music video

The start - 1950's - 60's:

Elvis, The Beatles and Bob Dylan started to produce short films that went alongside their ever growing popularity with their music

Due to such mass fan bases, it became important to see the artist and not just hear them as it gave the fans a feeling of a stronger connection to them.

'Subterranean Homesick Blues' was
Bob Dylan's first video

They all used videos to promote their music, CD sales and concert sales at the peak of their carer.

It was very rare and unusual for music videos in these times, and with a changing society, images of these artists unconventional clothes and hair had some social controversy which just helped expand interest and views of these new videos. This was a concept people had never really seen before.

One of Elvis' most early videos

Although the videos had simple concepts behind them, and did not use the high tech editing that videos have now, they were something so new that seeing the artists play along to songs that were usually only heard on the radio was a big and exciting social change for many.

"We Can Work It Out" was one of the Beatles most early videos and they also appeared with live TV videos in 1966.

1970's - Top of the pops:

Many artists shown were involved more in
dancing and live performance than
narrative videos

This was the first TV program that focused entirely on showing music videos and new artists performing - the majority of the country would tune in to watch this so it was being reached and spread out on a large scale

In the 70's music videos that were being shown still were more along the lines of the early videos of the 50s/60s - this meant they were still performance based and had not yet developed complex plots and story lines that weren't exactly relevant to the song lyrics, but more as an expression of the artist.




Top of the Pops became such a national hit that the BBC later developed the program into a magazine





The top of the tops 'charts' (top 30) music videos,
shown in 1973

'Man on the moon' MTV launch

Music TV - 1981:  On August 1st 1981, MTV was launched and history was made with the huge drastic change to our viewing of music videos and the increase in how many were available. This became the real birth of the music video.

MTV was launched with pictures of Neil Armstrong to imply the channels growing ambitions and goals and then the first music video was played.

The first video played was 'Video killed the radio star' by The Buggles.

The video of 'video killed the radio star'

MTV rapidly became the main promotional tool for artist's in the decade. Due to MTV having so many viewers and the interest of such massive artists such as Michael Jackson and Elvis, there was really no space for small and up coming artists to be shown on music tv as they simply could not afford the fees.

The first videos to be shown on MTV
All by very big artists at the time







As MTV developed over time
awards were hosted for all
different styles and genres
of music.

At the time, MTV's main audience was rock lovers as the majority of videos shown was rock and roll bands. However they were later criticised by the black rap and hip hop community that they were not being shown. And then following this MTV became a growing hip hop channel, helping to promote that genre in the 90s.

This was so powerful as artists and genres that did not have much of a place with the wider public, like rock artists did, were being given a place and helping transform MTV into the channel we know now. Which is one that puts in slots for videos from genres ranging from rock to pop to be shown.

Iconic Music videos - 80's:

MTV was now a major platform where all big 'charts' music videos could afford to be shown and reach mass audience.

MTV did a run through of their current top 20 or top 30 music videos of the week. This were always videos from very well known and popular artists at the time.


It was by now that videos were starting to change a having less live performances, like the early videos, and were developing into different story lines with a more complex plot, a key example of this huge change is Thriller.
                                                                                                            1984 - MTV's top 20

Thriller - 1983;

Thriller had a $1 million budget and was a video that changed music video history.

                            Thriller music video

The making of thriller DVD being sold in stores

The large budget needed to find a way of funding, so Michael Jackson made a documentary of the 'making of the video' - MTV paid $250,000 and Showtime paid $300,000 for the rights of being able to show this hit documentary.

The large budget enabled a much different video with special effects and plot than ones that the public were used to seeing before. This new style was iconic and the time at set the way for much more complex videos.

MTV showed Thriller to the world and it broke the racial barriers of what videos were shown on TV.

2005 - YouTube:

2005 - launch of YouTube where anyone
could produce and upload music videos

The launch of YouTube changed the way videos were distributed and consumed dramatically. It also made the music industry suddenly have much easier access for everyone to try and find a place or platform in.

Views and uploads of videos in YouTube's first year

This modern technology created a online space where any one could easily post a video at any time if they wanted the chance of their music being seen. This changed the distribution and opportunities for small and undiscovered artists to be noticed and viewed, when before only well established artists could afford to have a slot on MTV. Suddenly there was space for smaller artists in the music video world.

Uploading videos is simple
for everyone and there are
even tutorials about how to

Another big advantage and change YouTube gave to smaller artists was the ease at which  they could self promote and produce videos. With easier editing available and a free and accessible platform, everyone could produce as many videos or clips of them singing as they wanted as the whole process was much cheaper than methods used in the 80's.

A home video that Justin Bieber uploaded

A good example of a artist who achieved huge success through this is Justin Bieber. He was young and unknown and couldn't afford to make high concept videos that would find their way onto music TV. However with YouTube he was discovered by the right people just through uploading clips of him singing in his living room. This is a clear example of how this new platform changed the chances of everyone and gave them a path into the industry without needing masses of money and huge teams working behind the scenes. 

YouTube also changed the way that the public consumed videos. Before there were certain time slots of programs like Top of the Pops to be shown, and MTV could only be viewed on the home TV. This meant accessibility was not as easy for people and a video could only be consumed when the broadcasters chose to show it, so people may have had to wait to watch their favourite one again. With YouTube it was a platform that had 24/7 access and a simple search bar to have any music video at the tip of anyone's finger tips. This easier consumption helped artists with their promotions has they could be viewed and unlimited amount of times and any point the audience wanted.