History of Music Videos

1920s

In 1926, with the arrival of "talkies"(video with sound), many people started to take advantage of this new way to consume media such as Warner Bros. and Walt Disney. In 1929, Blues singer Bessie Smith released one of the first music videos, featuring a performance of the popular song "St. Louis Blues".

1960s

In 1965 Bob Dylan released a music video created by D. A. Pennebaker for "Subterranean Homesick Blues". This was considered one of the first modern music videos because it incorporated more than just a live performance by the artist.

1970s
The record industry discovers that TV shows are great opportunities to promote artists by creating short promo videos and airing them on TV channels.


Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was a ground breaking video released at the beginning of the "music video era". The video contained elements of live performance and performance in a studio combined with editing effects.

1990s
In the 1990s a number of technical codes became common:
. Most common form of editing in music promos were fast cut editing.
. Many images in the video making it difficult to take everything in the video on the first watch, making viewers want to watch it again.
. Non-representational techniques became more common which involved using imagery or things other than the artist or band themselves. 
. More experimental techniques became more common such as using steady-cam, long takes etc.