The Role of Music Videos

Music videos have not always accompanied music. In the past, music was released as a record and could only really be advertised over the radio. In 1965 the first real music videos were created by the world famous band 'The Beatles' in order to be able to have their music shown on different TV shows around the world without them having to do a live performance.

The next band to begin making music videos was 'Queen' in 1975. Again it was made due to the inability to make a live show but this time the show was the BBC's 'Top of the Pops'. After this, music videos started to become popular and by the early 1980s there were just enough of them to sustain an entire TV channel, MTV.

MTV was a very controversial channel when it was introduced. Although to many people it was viewed as the beginning of a new era in music history where musicians can show what they've got besides singing, many others viewed it as the loss of many possible musical talents due to the fact that musicians could become more appreciated if they were good looking. At this point the role of the music video changed. They were no longer just for appearing when bands couldn't make performances but were now becoming necessary for the advertisement of the song as well. MTV showed non-stop pop music and became the first of the many music TV channels that exist today. It even gave birth to a new form of director where directors can use music videos as a platform for showing their talent before moving on to other platforms like films or TV shows.

Eventually, if you wanted your music to be 'heard' it was almost necessary to create a music video. Music videos had become an art form where the music is presented to its audience in a more engaging and visual way. Music videos had become so important that videos from the most famous artists were made at a cost of up to $7,000,000 dollars (Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's 'Scream' in 1995).

Music videos allow artists to impress their audience with not only their music but also with their looks, moves and acting. People can become instant fans after watching just 1 music video on a music channel. Music videos are considered as almost as important as the song itself and can often be the reason why a song is particularly liked.

But what is a music video? 

A music video is described by yourdictionary.com as "a performance on film or videotape of a musical recording accompanied by synchronized actions, such as a dramatic interpretation of the lyrics or a series of, sometimes surreal, images". There are 3 ways in which to conduct a music video, performance style, narrative style, or a combination of the two. Below is a table showing the differences between the two.

Narrative	Performance
Band members are actors in a story	Band members are shown playing the song
Key points in the song create room for important moments in the story	Individual members get privileged shots when their instrument/voice is heard
Can be set anywhere and can have a variety of locations	Usually set during a live concert or in a studio or rehearsal room although can be set anywhere if done well
The music dictates how the visuals are presented	The music and visuals share the onus and both have to be in sync with each other