Music videos can date back as early as the late 1920's with the introduction of talkies, soundies and shorts. However these videos were basic and were called 'illustrated songs'. Recently music videos have become mainstream due to the introduction of a video friendly internet meaning a sudden increase in the quantity and quality. Several developments in technology has allowed the progression of music videos.
Between 1926 and 1959 talkie films and illustrated songs such as Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (shown to the right) and the musical film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" set the foundation for music videos later on. For example Madonna's music video for "Material Girl" was heavily inspired by "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend' whilst Michael Jackson's "Bad" was inspired by the 'fight' routines from "West Side Story"
Between 1974 and 1980 the first of many music channels and music shows were introduced. "Sound Unlimited" was an Australian show that is believed to be the first music show which featured music videos to both promote the music and establish the importance of music videos. Later on MTV was introduced as the first 24 hour music channel showing music videos from artists such as Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants and Madonna.
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In 2005 the internet became more video friendly with video platforms such as Youtube being introduced. Social media sites at the time such as MySpace and Facebook allowed for the sharing of videos meaning that there was an increase in popularity of music videos.
Music videos now can be anything from metaphoric pieces of art to lyric video. The lyric video was believed to be first introduced by George Michael for his song "Praying For Time". He refused to make the traditional music video so lyrics on a simple black screen was suggested as an alternative. A simple video is R.E.M's "Fall on Me" utilized the same method of having on screen lyrics but it incorporated video clips as well.
