History of Medium

 The earliest music videos and promos were produced in the mid 1950's, never the less in the 1920's animators such as Oskar Fischinger created scenes that accompanied musical scores labeled 'visual music'. Warner Brothers were one of the first early animation screens produced to this day, Walt Disney was known for being one of their best efforts. The Warner Brothers videos even in animation were conventionally what they are today, promotions of a variety of their products; they were designed and created to feature upcoming musicals from the company. This is essentially what the music business is based on today, a conglomerate encouraging the target audience through a range of different mediums to purchase their material.

A Scopitone machine, one of several visual jukeboxes that played an early form of music videos. (Credit: Joe Mabel/Wikimedia Commons)

History

The Kinetophone was made in 1895, a device developed by Thomas Edison's lab. The device was created to show moving imagery with a fitted photograph along side of it. One of the oldest films with music known was made for this device by William Dickson, the film plays music from a popular operetta on a violin as two men dance beside him. The soundtrack of the music played behind the imagery was recorded separately, this was done on a wax cylinder. The cylinder was found to have gone missing for several decades however it "turned up at the Edison National Historical Site in the early 1960s and was finally reunited with the picture in 1998." As people know the film to be called "Dickson Experimental Sound Film" it was a highlight of history however the clip was never released due to the Kinetophone never catching on with consumers.

George Thomas was known for being one of the earliest developers of music videos. They have been developed heavily since 1984. Thomas projected images on a screen whilst playing music, an example of a song he played was "The little Lost Child". Thomas also invented the first 'Illustrated song' well known in the history of music videos,
 Music videos have developed through a number of eras in order to get the standard they are at today. That is through the development of creative thinking alongside the revolution of electronics. The first era was the Phonoscene era between 1902 -1917, this was a short film of an actor lip syncing the words of their music and then later producing a recording of the music. The video was later synchronised by Leon Gaumont which was first shown in France.

Rivoli Theatre featured in the heart of New York City was the first place to present a motion picture with sound-on-film, this was in April 1923, a huge development from the Phonoscene era. The motion picture was a system that synchronised movies and their soundtracks. The first full-length talkie that was made in cinema history would be premiered in 1927, this also used the sane technology. "Many early sound-on-film productions featured vaudeville stars, opera singers, bands and other popular musicians." Musical shorts are what that the audience saw play before feature films in the 1940's. Later in the 1950's the style of musical shorts became popular again however they were used when television movies had slots in-between each other due to them not being edited to fit into time slots.

"1925: Audiences learn how to follow the bouncing ball
A year after their animated sound-on-film series entitled “Song-Car Tunes” debuted, brothers Max and David Fleischer released a cartoon featuring a bouncing ball, which hopped over lyrics to encourage in-theater singalongs. Musical cartoons with bouncing balls later became common elements of children’s television programs."

An example of one of Fleischer's screen sing alongs is featured here at 2:55 seconds.

In the 1940's Soundies became the next sensation throughout the United States of America; direct precursors to the music video. The mechanisms were jukebox like projection machines that played three minute films that featured elements like the conventional aspects we have today for example dancing and music performances. The machines were made to be shown in public spaces such as restaurants and bars. "Many of the era’s greatest talents, from jazz singers and swing dancers to chamber musicians and comedians, appeared in them." Similar to the United States, Europe was known for the creation and use of a different visual jukebox, this was known as the Scopitone that was originated in France in the late 50's. This juke box also made an appearance in the US.

The first claim to the phrase 'music video' was used in a 1959 interview with a British magazine by Jiles Perry Richardson. Richardson who also went by the name The Big Bopper, was a singer and songwriter that sung 'Chantilly Lace'. He also was credited with making some of the earliest rock videos in our history in 1958.

"1960s: The Beatles marry movies and music
Perhaps more than any other band before them, The Beatles harnessed the power of film to market their records and express themselves as artists. In addition to starring in full-length features such as “Help” and “A Hard Day’s Night,” the Fab Four recorded dozens of promotional clips—some with narratives and others composed largely of psychedelic images—that were broadcast in their native England and overseas. Many rock and roll bands of the late 1960s and 1970s followed their lead, releasing increasingly sophisticated promo films that shared the lineup with live performances on televised music variety shows."


"1974: Australia paves the way with “Countdown” and “Sounds”
Two weekly teen-oriented music programs premiered in Australia in 1974. Both prominently featured music videos, some of which were created especially for the shows. As “Countdown” and “Sounds” quickly earned a devoted following, the format spread to other countries around the world. In 1978, three years before MTV hit the airwaves, the American program “Video Concert Hall” began offering several hours of unhosted music videos every day on the USA Network."

The first video broadcast in 1981 was Video killed the radio star by the Buggles. Video directors seized the opportunity with the classic 80's excess due to it being all new territory. There are also so many videos in the 1980's that were forever remembered such as Michael Jacksons videos, Madonna - Like a Prayer and With or Without You by U2. The videos sparked a trend but what made the 80's different is the fact a story was always featured within them, The Beatles video set off a sensation of new media. It wasnt until the 1990's that the trend then changed again.


The music video industry further expanded with the creation and retail of easy to use, inexpensive video recording and editing equipment. The newly developed and widely available visual effects encouraged new techniques of filming and introduced a whole new era of music video. Artists made it their personal aim to expand the various forms and styles related to the genre increasing usage of effects and incorporating more prominent plots in their clips.
More recently due to the updates in technology the music industry is far more advanced than what it used to be as as that advancement grows bigger, the conglomerates have to work harder to produce better videos. Labrinth and Tinie Tempah are two pop genre sensations to the teenager years from 2009 onwards. The pair teamed up in October 2011 to create a music video together called Earthquake. The video went viral through social networking sites and other mediums as well as gaining over 53 million views on Youtube. The video is a representation of what technology has been able to create in the last few years.