The History of Music Videos

Rachel Gunter

1895

• The first music video is filmed at Thomas Edison’s studio

• The oldest known film with music was made for the Kinetophone

• In the film, its inventor, William Dickson, plays music from a popular operetta on a violin as two men dance beside him

• The soundtrack was recorded separately on a wax cylinder

Early 20th Century

• Illustrated songs consisted of photographic images painted in color and then projected from glass slides.

• They were sometimes interspersed with silent moving picture clips.

• Audiences would watch these as a pianist/vocalist would perform, corresponding with the song.

• They were usually played before silent movies.

1920s

• April 1923, the Rivoli Theatre in New York presented the first motion pictures with sound-on-film, a system that synchronized movies and their soundtracks.

• Early sound-on-film productions featured opera singers and bands.• They became known as musical short clips.

1925

• Brothers Max and David Fleischer produced a cartoon featuring a bouncing ball that followed the lyrics on screen so that the audience could sing a long.

• This is still commonly used today on children’s television.

1940-46

• Soundies were displayed in jukebox like projection machines across the bars and restaurants in the U.S. and were around three minutes long.

• Jazz singers and swing dancers were common in these videos.

1959

• Singer and songwriter Jiles Perry Richardson, became the first person to use the phrase “music video” in a 1959 interview with a British magazine.

1960s

• The Beatles were one of the first to use film to market their records.

• Along with starring in full-length features such as “Help” and “A Hard Day’s Night,” they recorded dozens of promotional clips that were viewed globally.

• Many rock and roll bands followed this in the 1960s and 70s.

1974

• ‘Countdown’ and ‘Sounds’ premiere in Australia showing music videos.

1978

• ‘Video Concert Hall’ premieres, offering several hours of un-hosted music videos every day.

1981

• MTV launches.• ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ is the first video

to be shown on the channel.

1983

• Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is 14 minutes long and becomes one of the most influential and successful videos of all time.

1995

• Michael and Janet Jackson’s ‘Scream’ video becomes (and still is) the most expensive music video, costing $7 million.

2003

• Youtube launches, allowing users to view music videos whenever they want and upload videos themselves.

2010

• The Johnny Cash Project allows anyone to contribute to a music video.

• It allows you to take screen grabs from the video and recreate and add to them.

2011

• Professor Green uses 360 degree cameras for his video that allows the viewer to interact, manipulate and direct the video.