A music video is a short video/film used to promote music or songs. By using a music video it allows the audience to view the star or artist, giving them voyeuristic pleasure and the artist to promote their new song. Voyeuristic pleasure means that the audience gets pleasure from watching their favourite artists on screen, without having to see them in person. This is also known as audience gratification; a need in the audience in that they want to see their favourite singers on screen as this gives them voyeuristic pleasure.
According to the Encarta Encyclopaedia, “Music is the organized movement of sounds through a continuum of time. Music plays a role in all societies and it exists in a large number of styles, each characteristic of a geographical region or a historical era.
In 1964, The Beatles cemented their newfound international fame by starring in their first feature film A Hard Days Night, directed by Richard Lester. The feature film was shot in black and white and included some songs of the Beatles. During the songs the Beatles would be on screen ‘joking’ around, allowing the audience to view them and listen to them at the same time, introducing the voyeuristic pleasure.
The Beatles at this time were highly famous and well known for their music and writing their own songs and in order to promote their career even more they made a feature film.
Film critic Robert Ebert credits Lester with constructing "a new grammar":
“... he influenced many other films. Today when we watch TV and see quick cutting, hand-held cameras, interviews conducted on the run with moving targets, quickly intercut snatches of dialogue, music under documentary action and all the other trademarks of the modern style, we are looking at the children of A Hard Day's Night".
The Beatles' second feature Help! (1965) was shot in colour and had more direct audience address. They used miming (Mickey mousing) in the songs and related what the were doing to the purpose or meaning of the song, rather then doing nothing related to the song as in A Hard Day’s Night.
Feature films became very famous after being introduced by the Beatles.
Bob Dylan another well known artist who also wrote his own songs starred in a documentary of his Don’t Look Back Tour in 1965. His song Subterranean Homesick Blues featured him on screen with words in his song written on paper boards. This was very different to the Beatles feature film as Bob Dylan’s documentary focused more on the words in his song. He did this because of social protest at the time and his songs expressed objection to the condition of the American society.
On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m., MTV: Music Television launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," spoken by John Lack. Those words were immediately followed by the original MTV theme song, a crunching guitar riff written by Jonathan Elias and John Petersen, playing over a montage of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
The first song to be aired was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles, and in 1982 Michael Jackson released Thriller, which sold more than 25 million copies, becoming the biggest-selling album in history.
In 1996 Janet Jackson becomes the highest-paid musician in history when she signs an $80-million deal with Virgin Records.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video
http://ezinearticles.com/?Some-History-Facts-on-Music-Videos&id=85854
http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0151192.html
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