All about music

After relocating to the UK in the mid-1970s, Mulcahy made successful music videos for several noted British pop acts his early UK credits included XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" 1979 and his landmark video for The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" 1979, which became the first music video played on MTV in 1981

1926–1959: Talkies, soundies, and shorts

1926 was when 'talkies' were introduced and many musical short films were produced. Vita-phone shorts featured many bands, vocalists and dancers. Early 30s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on camera in live action segments during the cartoon.
Musical films were another important precursor to music video, ands several well known music videos have imitated the style of classic Hollywood musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s. A good example is Madonna's 1985 video for 'Material Girl' which was closely modelled on Jack Coles staging of 'Diamonds are a girls best friend'. 

1960–1973: Promotional clips and others

In 1964, The Moody Blues producer, Alex Murray, wanted to promote his version of 'Go Now'. The short film clip he produced and directed to promote the single has a striking visual style that predates Queens similar 'Bohemian Rhapsody' video by a full decade. 

It was the direct model for the successful US TV series The Monkees, from 1966 to 68 which similarly consisted of film segments that were created to accompany variousMonkees songs. The Beatles' second feature, 'Help!' in 1965, filmed in colour in London and on international locations. The title track sequence, filmed in black-and-white, is arguably one of the prime archetypes of the modern performance-style music video, employing rhythmic cross-cutting, contrasting long shots and close-ups, and unusual shots and camera angles, such as the shot 50 seconds into the song, in which George Harrison's left hand and the neck of his guitar are seen in sharp focus in the foreground while the completely out-of-focus figure of John Lennon sings in the background.

During late 1972–73 David Bowie featured in a series of promotional films directed by pop photographer Mick Rock, who worked extensively with Bowie in this period. Rock directed and edited four clips to promote four consecutive David Bowie singles"John, I'm Only Dancing" (May 1972), "The Jean Genie" Nov. 1972, the December 1972 US re-release of "Space Oddity" and the 1973 release of the single "Life on Mars?". The clip for "John, I'm Only Dancing" was made with a budget of just US$200 and filmed at the afternoon rehearsal for Bowie's Rainbow Theatre concert on August 19, 1972. It shows Bowie and band miming to the record intercut with footage of Bowie's dancers The Astronettes dancing on stage and behind a back-lit screen. 

Country music also picked up on the trend of promotional clips to go along with songs. Sam Lovullo, the producer of the television series Hee Haw, said his show presented "what were, in reality, the first musical videos,"while JMI Records made the same claim with Don Williams' 1973 song "The Shelter of Your Eyes." Country music historian Bob Millard wrote that JMI had pioneered the country music video concept by "producing a 3-minute film" to go along with Williams' song. Lovullo said his videos were conceptualized by having the show's staff go to nearby rural areas and film animals and farmers, before editing the footage to fit the storyline of a particular song. 

1974–1980: Beginnings of music television

The Australian tv show 'Countdown' and 'Sounds' both of which premiered in 1974, were significant in developing and popularising the music video genre in Australia and other countries, and in establishing the importance of music video clips as a means of promoting both emerging acts and new releases by established acts. In early 1974, former radio DJ Graham Webb launched a weekly teen-oriented TV music show which screened on Sydney's ATN-7 on Saturday mornings; this was renamed Sounds Unlimited in 1975 and later shortened simply to Sounds. After relocating to the UK in the mid-1970s, Mulcahy made successful music videos for several noted British pop acts—his early UK credits included XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" (1979) and his landmark video for The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" 1979, which became the first music video played on MTV in1981.


In 1975, the British rock band Queen employed Bruce Gowers to make a promotional video to show their new single "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the BBC music series Top of the Pops. According to rock historian Paul Fowles, the song is "widely credited as the first global hit single for which an accompanying video was central to the marketing strategy". Rolling Stone has said of "Bohemian Rhapsody": "Its influence cannot be overstated, practically inventing the music video seven years before MTV went on the air."

In 1980, the music video to David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" became the most expensive ever made, having a production cost of $582,000 ($1,671,487 in 2016), the first music video to have a production cost of over $500,000. The video was made in solarisedcolor with stark black-and-white scenes and was filmed in multiple locations, including a padded room and a rocky shore. The video became one of the most iconic ever made at the time, and its complex nature is seen as significant in the evolution of the music video.

1981–1991: Music videos go mainstream

In 1981, MTV launched, "video killed the radio star" and beginning an era of 24hrs a day of music on television. Due to this by the mid 1980s, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing. 

In the early 1980s, music videos also began to explore political and social themes. Examples include the music video for David Bowies "china girl" and "lets dance" in 1983 which both explores race issues. In 1983, a 14 minute long video for Michael Jackson's song "thriller" directed by John Landis. Costing US$800,000 to film. Another important development in music videos was the launch of The Chart Show on the UK's Channel 4 in 1986. This was a programme which consisted entirely of music videos. This show then moved to ITV in 1989.

1992–2004: Rise of the directors

Two of the music videos directed by Romance in 1995 are notable for being two of the three most expensive music videos of all time, Michael and Janet Jackson's "scream", which allegedly cost $7 million to produce, and Madonna's "Bedtime Story" which costed $5 million. During this time period, MTV launched channels around the world to show music videos produced in each local market. MTV Latin America in 1993, MTV India in 1996, and MTV Mandarin in 1997, among others. 

2005–present: The Internet becomes video-friendly

2005 saw the launch of the website YouTube, which made the viewing of online video much faster and easier, Google Videos, Facebook and myspace's video functionality use similar technology. Such websites had such a big impact on the viewing of music videos, some artists began to see success as a result of videos seen mostly or entirely online. 

The 2008, video for Weezer's "Pork and Beans" also captured this trend, by including at least 20 YouTube celebrities. 

In 2009 , Thirty Seconds to Mars' music video "Kings and Queens" was uploaded to YouTube on the same day of its release, where it has got over one hundred million views. It also received over forty million plays on MySpace. "Kings and Queens" was featured as iTunes Store video of the week and was one of the most downloaded videos ever to be featured. MTV officially dropped the Music Television tagline on February 8, 2010 from their logo in response to their increased commitment to non-scripted reality programming and other youth-oriented entertainment rising in prominence on their live broadcast. Vevo is a music video website launched by several major music publishers in December 2009. The videos on VEVO are syndicated to YouTube, with Google and VEVO sharing the advertising revenue