Research Into The Music Industry

Music Videos History

Music videos began becoming incredibly popular in the early 1980s, the reason for this was because of the television channel MTV (Music Television) became very popular and from a global audience where able to watch it and see all the latest music videos which were being released alongside their songs. The first music video shown on the channel was ‘Video killed the radio star’. MTV was such a popular thing as it allowed artists to create and show the world their own ideas and images through their videos.

As a result of MTV coming out in 1981 it only took 2 years later for the most successful music video of all time to be broadcasted and this was ‘Thriller by Michael Jackson’. This 14 minute long video is the most successful ever and still gets recognised 3 decades later.

As a result of music becoming so popular around the world due to the broadcasting of it on the TV as well as many more genres where introduced since the 80’s such as new forms or rock music, R&B, hip hop and rap became more mainstream and started being shown more often due to their wacky and unique music videos which were catching people eyes and making everyone talk about them.

Many years on after Michael Jackson success with Thriller he crated more headlines in the music industry when he paired up with his sister with the song scream. The reason this still get talks about today is that it is still the most expensive music video ever made costing a massive 7 million dollars.

On the 1^st October 2003 YouTube allowed people all around the world to watch music videos online and gave people the opportunity to upload their videos.

In 2010 ‘The Johnny Cash project’ allowed anyone to produce their own music video. His website gives you options and different ways of creating music videos this is a form of web 2.0.

What is the purpose of music videos for the companies/artists that make them?

Music videos have a variety of purposes for the company who produce them and the artist who sings the song to it. The main strategy for music videos it part of a marketing tool which fits in perfectly when trying to promote and artist and their music to increase their sales of their music and merchandise.  Many artist are in control of their music videos as this is a way they feel they can express themselves to the fans and the rest of the world. Some music videos are there as an additional advice for the listeners to understand the story line if the song is based on a narrative style.

Famous music video directors and why are they successful?

David Fincher- is a very famous American music video director born in the USA. As a music video director David has won two Grammy awards for the best music videos, for his directing in “Love Is Strong” by The Rolling Stones and also “Suit & Tie” by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z. David is also well known in the music video industry for his work in “Express yourself” by Madonna and also “Vogue” by Madonna. His videos are so well known and successful for a variety of reasons such as the versatility of his music videos as the mood can be so compatible in different videos. This skills have allowed him to not just work in music videos but make a successful career in directing as a whole in film and television industry.

How much money is usually spent on the average music video? Have any been made very cheaply or are there any that have had huge budgets?

The amount of money spent on music videos depends on the song, artist, record label, and budget these all are massive factors which can affect the cost of the music video. One music video which created headlines for being made very cheaply was by David Bowie who spent as little as $12.99 on his video “Love Is Lost” mad in 2013. As a result of this it shows that to create as successful music video it always about spending the most money. On the other hand the most expensive music video ever made was directed by Mark Romanek for the song “Scream” by Michael and Janet Jackson which cost a massive $10,546,626. The reason for this was because Michael Jackson had a huge budget for his music video as he was known as the king of pop.

How do audiences access music videos? Where can they be seen?

Television is still one of the most popular ways for audiences to watch music videos. There are TV channels dedicated to broadcasting music videos to promote artists and bands, the most popular music channel is MTV.


YouTube is one of the leading sources of viewing music videos. As a result of music videos being uploaded onto YouTube artists have become more popular as more people are able to see their videos as YouTube is a social media app and available in over 79 countries in the world which presents a global audience.


ITunes is a segment of the apple store which sells music and other entertainment, they sell singles, albums, TV shows and movies. On ITunes they also sell music videos as a promotion tool for the artist. The only problem with iTunes is that in recent years the volume of sales has decreased as music videos are available for free on YouTube.