Significant Moments in Music Video History

1/1/64
On the 1st of January 1964 the "iconic" top of the pops was created and with it, a way to find out which songs were number 1 in the charts. The artists who wanted their song to be premiered on the show, but couldn't perform in person had music videos made.


25/10/67
The Monkees were a band formed in the 1960's who were completely fabricated and loosely based on the Beatles. They had a Television Show, hence there presence in the list. Coincidentally, they are also a good example of convergence.


18/6/72
David Bowie created various alter egos such as Jean Genie and Ziggy Stardust as well as several others. These alter egos were used in his music videos and attracted many views as they gave his videos character. He also used a variety of special effects, something that was both expensive and difficult back in the 70's.


4/10/75
Queens Bohemian Rhapsody video broke records so far as special effects in music videos are concerned and went on to inspire many more directors to be more creative. The video also broke conventions in regards to the length of the video, and bands also focused more on creating music video's for their songs. Effectively, it made music videos popular.


10/11/81
MTV was launched and was known as the first television channel to play only music videos. This pointed out the importance of the music videos to artists and also helped artists gain attention through their music videos.


10/10/83
The music video for Thriller by Michael Jackson is "iconic" in many ways. Firstly it's length: over 14 minutes long and broke conventions much like Queen with regards to music videos. It also tells a narrative with the video, to keep fans intrigued. On top of this, the video was screened after the water shed as it was deemed to be that scary - creating a hype.


1/1/14
On the 1st of January 2014, Beyoncé released her self titled album to an outburst of surprise and excitement, without any previous marketing or promotion. As well as this, Beyoncé released music videos simultaneously to go with the tracks, to highlight the importance of music videos to shape meaning, inevitably increasing her views and subsequent profits.