Section 1: Initial notes on music video

Music videos are a marketing device used by a record label, the aim of a music video is to increase sales of a product (artists featuring in the music video) by spreading awareness and increasing popularity amongst the consumer market.

Music videos have only become main stream since the 1980’s, before then an undeveloped and much simpler from of what we would now call a music video did exist but these were known as “Musical sequences”.

In 1964 the film “A Hard Days Night” contained songs along side footage of the Beatles with some form of narrative intended, this created a “musical sequence”. This was the first time something like this had been attempted and many would argue that “A Hard Days Nights” contributed to what we know now as “music videos”

In 1995 the Beatles began to produce “film inserts” as a promotional tool, other bands started to follow suit but the Beatles led the way with “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”, both songs were directed by Peter Goldman with the finished product being widely regarded as avangard as it used effects such as slow motion and was much more sophisticated than previous attempts.

In the 1980’s music videos became “main stream” mostly due to the launch of MTV (Music Television) in 1981 the first song “video killed the radio star” as aired. Since then the modern day music video has become common practise for bands and musical artists as they could be produced on a relatively low budget thanks to high tech equipment and special effects such as the chromakey.