Music Videos - More Info...

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/music_video.aspx :


Impact
The music video, in which short performances accompany and illustrate songs, appeared out of nowhere in the early 1980s to become the most influential—and the only new—art form of the decade.
As advertisements for new recordings and as self-promotion for the artist, music videos captured the capitalist spirit of 1980s art. Artistically these videos were a mixed lot, ranging from electrifying to turgid (dull). Most fell somewhere between these extremes—a typical video was a quirky, dreamlike montage of images (a "minimovie") designed to illustrate fantasies or approximate the live performances of the artist or band.
In their cultural impact videos accomplished much more than advertising, making arguments about their overt commercialism of small consequence. The music video single-handedly revitalized the slumping recording industry, revolutionized television, expanded radio formatting, ignited the careers of dozens of unknown music performers, breathed new life into dance and choreography, and opened avenues of potential in the movie industry.
It also changed marketing and audience demographics by creating a new inter-connection and interdependence among television, movies, and music.


Pioneers
The earliest videos were primitive but often vital exercises for their creators and, in the long run, for the entire industry. Many pioneering videos were simply concert clips, but several artists, particularly in Europe, were experimenting with surrealistic and narrative forms by the late 1970s. In Europe the shortage of radio stations motivated many young musicians to seek alternative types of exposure. Their promotional videotapes were played at discos and on television. In England David Bowie became a forerunner in the new form with his energetic promo video for his song "DJ" (1979) and his Fellini-esque fantasy "Ashes to Ashes" (1980), in which a stone-faced Bowie, dressed as a harlequin, walks along a postapocalyptic beach while being lectured by an old woman. New-wave bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s embraced the video form, even on nonexistent budgets. Devo and The Residents mixed camp with alienation in their clips, while The Pretenders contributed cinematic style with "Brass in Pocket" (1980). By late 1980 videos were appearing frequently on late-night music programs and in urban dance clubs, which began alternating the promos with avant-garde movie clips and old television footage. Viewers were soon flocking around video screens at clubs such as Hurrah and Danceteria in New York and Lucky Number and Neo in Chicago, The music industry began to take notice.


MTV
The true catalyst of the 1980s video explosion was Music Television (MTV), which began broadcasting in August 1981. MTV was the brainchild of former radio-program director Robert Pittman. With the financial backing of Warner Communications and American Express, Pittman created the cable network to reach what he called "the TV babies," post-baby-boom teenagers and young adults who had grown up with television and rock music. "The set is part of our lives," he said. "We want it to respond to our every need and desire." MTV showed twenty-four hours of nonstop music videos every day, with breaks for rock news, "veejay" chitchat, commercials, and occasional special programming. Record companies supplied their artists' videos for free in return for free airplay. Pittman's market surveying produced demographics that were extremely appealing to advertisers: 85 percent of the viewers were between ages twelve and thirty-four, and 63 percent were under twenty-five. The MTV network vice president in charge of advertising sales noted, "MTV was the most researched channel in television history." After starting with a relatively small playlist—a few hundred clips, mostly rock—and an equally small operating budget, MTV grew rapidly, from 18 advertisers in 1981 to more than 125 by early 1983. By 1983 the company had not yet turned a profit, but its reach was impressive: from 300 cable outlets capable of reaching 2.5 million homes in 1981, it had grown to include 2,000 affiliates received by 17.5 million homes in 1983. John Lack, executive vice president at Warner Amex, summed up the market position of MTV: "We are a company that believes in specialized entertainment, and if you are Budweiser or Kawasaki or Pepsi-Cola, you want our audience." Their audience wanted video; Pittman's new slogan for the burgeoning network was "I want my MTV."


Clout
The success of Jackson's innovative, cinematic videos heralded the true arrival of video as an art form. His flashy choreography created a new demand for dance in videos, which was heightened by the huge success of Madonna as a video artist in 1984. Several video directors earned reputations for quality work. One of these was Bob Giraldi, who directed "Beat It" (1983) and "Say Say Say" (1984) for Michael Jackson, "Love Is a Battlefield" (1984) for Pat Benatar, and "Running with the Night" (1984) and "Hello" (1984) for Lionel Richie. The new prestige of video directors caught the attention of respected movie directors, such as John Landis and Bob Rafelson, who suddenly wanted to make music videos. In 1984 Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" was directed by Brian De Palma, and the following year John Sayles filmed Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" and "Glory Days." Later in the decade Martin Scorsese gave video a try with Michael Jackson's "Bad" (1987). In turn, successful video directors began graduating to big-budget feature films. Adrian Lyne, who started as a video director, broke through in Hollywood with Flashdance (1983), a $100 million smash. The visual style of Flashdance evoked rock video, and Jennifer Beak's Danskins, torn jeans, and ripped sweatshirts touched off a fashion craze. The huge success of the soundtrack ($47 million in sales) and its hit singles released a flood of slick, video-inspired, music-oriented movies in 1984, including Purple Rain, Footloose, Streets of Fire, and Reckless. Other blockbuster films, including the 1984 hits Beverly Hills Cop and Ghostbusters, were peddled via high-profile videos featuring songs from their soundtrack albums. Video had become the marketing tool of the decade.