It was 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981. A new media format was born as MTV debuted the first music video for the song “Video Killed The Radio Star” by the Buggles. (https://youtu.be/W8r-tXRLazs) This forever changed the scope of the music industry, which continues to evolve with the advent of social media and the digital revolution. Not only was video used to communicate the music of artists who chose this new platform, but it was also used to market it.
In the impending years as MTV gained more traction, music video shows on other networks began to appear, including Video Music Box and BET’s Video Soul. The hosts of these shows were given the title VJ or Video Jockey, a play on the radio term Disc Jockey (DJ). Music videos became the go-to means for advertising new music and the more creative the video, the more potential plays the video received.
As the ratings on these shows went up, advertisers began to take notice, using music videos for product placement, using musicians to endorse their products in commercials, and paying for advertisement space on networks like MTV. Examples of this include the attention given to Converse sneakers in Nirvana’s video “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Flo Rida literally pointing at his can of Celcius energy drink in the video for “My House”, and perhaps the most obvious of them all in Run DMC’S video for “My ADIDAS”.
These days, YouTube has possibly become the greatest platform for using music in videos. Average people can now record their own music, record and edit a video using their iPhone, and upload for potentially millions to see. YouTube has also made monetization popular, through the implementation of advertisements within videos, and many musicians take advantage of it getting paid per watch. According to the Business of Apps website, advertising revenue on YouTube has gone from $70 million in 2001 to $116.32 billion dollars in 2018. (https://www.businessofapps.com/data/youtube-statistics/ )
Other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have taken advantage of short videos clips in the form of cinemagraphs to promote their music. Cinemagraphs, unlike videos, are photographs that have a repeated movement involved, much like the animated gifs of old but normally of a higher resolution. They can communicate a powerful message in a short period of time and are often effective for already established musicians advertising new music.
Though video did not kill the radio star, it certainly created a new dynamic for the pop musician, and continues to be a format utilized by indie artists and corporate music labels alike. Looking back at the progression of using videos in music, as they went from being solely played by VJ’s on specific television shows to being on demand through smartphones, wherever and whenever one desires, it will be interesting to see what the future holds.