Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry. Artists owe their careers to music videos as they get a chance to impress audiences not only with their vocal talents but also with their looks or moves.
Thirty years ago, music videos used to be less important than they are today. MTV (Music Television) was the phenomenon that gave music video so much power and importance. MTV began broadcasting in 1981 in the US and ushered in the dominance of music videos over the music industry. The first video to play on MTV was The Buggles’ ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’. Since MTV broadcast music 24 hours a day, it was necessary to produce music videos. Consequently, the music video began to play an important role in the careers of the artists. It is considered that even Madonna’s career has been greatly influenced by her videos that featured a sexy and attractive look of the artist. Some experts say that Madonna has been inspired by the image that actress Greta Garbo has used in her silent films. MTV has been very controversial – some saw it as the beginning of an amazing, fresh, new era in music, others saw it as the end of true musical talent, as artists have become more appreciated for their looks than their looks. vocal skills.
Today, the music video is just as important as the song itself, sometimes even determining the success of a song or artist. Music video collections are sold on tape or DVD. The biggest fans of music videos apparently watch them mutated just to enjoy their artistic value as they consider it a new art form. They believe that a music video should be judged on its visual qualities and not on the quality of the song. It seems that the music ‘gurus’, the corporate managers, have realized the potential of using female sex appeal in music videos, therefore this feature is being overused as it is more popular for the public.
The birth of the video clip has created a new type of director: video directors. MTV even started listing directors with video credits and this profession has become more and more popular. But it seems that most video directors don’t specialize in this particular art form, they see it as one more step on the way to directing a movie. Many start directing videos or commercials, hoping to get the recognition to make a name for themselves and direct a movie. It seems that even video directors admit to the fact that a music video is secondary to the song itself.
In conclusion, although fans of music videos have tried to elevate this form of entertainment to the title of an art form, the music video is ultimately just a job of commerce, meant to sell a product: the song.