A history of music videos

In 1894, the first example of an illustrated song called "Little Lost Child" was created; using a 'Magic Lantern' (an early type of image projector) a series of still images were projected onto a screen to live audiences. Illustrated songs were a type of performance art and a popular form of entertainment in the US in the early 20th century.

In 1926, many musical short films were produced by the arrival of "talkies" (sound films).

1956 saw the rise of the television and also the rise of new popular music as TV introduced the stars.

In 1964, shot in black-and-white, The Beatles starred in their first feature film (A Hard Day's Night), and in 1965 they film another 10 films which are then used to promote their album releases; this is the start of video promotion.

In the 1960's-70's, many more artists began using promotional clips, and "filmed inserts" were used by UK artists on TV if the artists couldn't play live; these include The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Moody Blues and The Doors, who were early artists who produced music videos.

In the 1970's, British TV show "Top of the Pops" began playing music videos, and in 1981 MTV was launched in the U.S, beginning by airing 'Video killed the radio star' and created 24-hour-a-day music channels.

In 1983, Michael Jackson's 14 minute video for 'Thriller' was released; it is often referred to as the greatest music video ever created, selling over 9 million units, and is the most influential pop music video of all time.

In 1986, 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel used animation and special effects, and would go on to be a huge success, winning 9 MTV Video Music Awards.

 The 1990's-2000's saw the rise of the directors when their names began to appear in the credits of the music videos, such as Michel Gondry and Hype Williams.

In 2005, YouTube was created making the viewing and sharing of music videos easier than ever before, and the launch of various social networking sites, such as Myspace and  Facebook, had similar results.

Here are some of the most famous and most viewed YouTube music videos:

 

Lady Gaga's music video "Bad Romance" made headlines in 2010 by becoming the most-viewed video on YouTube with 130 million views and then over 350 million views by early 2011. 

It was beaten by the video for Justin Bieber's song "Baby", which had over 500 million views by early 2011.

  

'Pork and beans' by Weezer (2008) shows how people can now become famous through YouTube, and in the video shows numerous examples of this by starring online celebrities.

  

Rebecca Black's 'Friday' is another example of an artist becoming famous for their music videos via the use of the internet and sites such as YouTube.