Back in the 1940s, an experimental collaboration between musicians and filmmakers resulted in movie shorts known as Soundies. These films generally depicted jazz or pop performers singing popular tunes of the day, most likely in a studio or nightclub setting. While few people may remember Soundies today, they did help pave the way for future musical visualizations known as music videos. Music videos primarily began as promotional films created by a music label's publicity department or an artist's management team. When in-studio appearances became virtually impossible for groups such as the Beatles, their label would often send these promotional tapes in the group's place. Early music videos were not always creative, but they did showcase the artist performing an upcoming single from an unreleased album or a live performance of a current hit.
Not every musical artist from the 1960s or 1970s had a collection of promotional films or taped performances, however. Highly successful solo artists such as Rod Stewart and Elton John did have a number of promotional music videos, but many other groups relied on videotaped television appearances or documentaries to provide such material to their fan base. The idea of actually producing stylized music videos was largely foreign during the 1970s.
In 1981, a new cable channel called MTV, short for "Musical Television," made its debut, choosing a music video by The Buggles, "Video Killed the Radio Star", as its first song. Because there were so few professional music videos available, MTV hosts relied heavily on promotional videos provided by a handful of labels. As demand for professional-grade music videos increased, a number of aspiring filmmakers began to collaborate with popular bands in order to create artistic visual interpretations of their songs. Instead of simply performing the tracks in a standard linear progression, bands could incorporate all sorts of images and visual effects to enhance their music. Music video directors could also employ a number of experimental film techniques rarely seen outside of commercials or short films.
Music videos are designed to capture the essence of an audio performance and interpret it visually. Some videos, particular those created during the 1980s, do follow a relatively linear path, combining staged shots of the band in performance with a subplot based on the song's lyrics. Others use the band members as actors in a short film, or leave the band out of the video entirely. Animation is also a popular visual device in music videos.
What was once considered a throw-away element with little commercial value has now become a recognized film genre of its own. Mainstream directors such as Spike Jonze began their careers by producing high caliber music videos, and many of the editing and visual effects used in many motion pictures and commercials today can be traced back to experimental music videos. Although both MTV and its competitor VH1 have largely abandoned the music video genre for other types of programming, many bands still produce cutting edge videos as a way to promote their work and create iconic images for their fans. In fact, many modern music fans consider the visual impact of a song's video to be just as important as the song itself.
