Music videos have always played an important role in modern culture. For artists, music videos have enabled them to promote themselves and reach a larger audience.  Music videos weren’t always a main priority for musical artists. However, due to the changing nature of the music industry and the accessibility of resources, music videos have become a must for every musical artist that wants to be taken seriously.

THE APPEARANCE OF THE CONCEPT OF "MUSIC VIDEO"

Giles Perry Richardson, better known as Big Bopper, is the first to call his own performance in 1958 a "Music Video." The performance of the song "Chantilly Lace" contains a sweet conversation on the phone with a girl.

The video for Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock", which was released a year earlier, had more dynamism, and there was a dancer. But the case of Giles Perry Richardson is noticeable as the emergence of a new concept at that time, which everyone uses to this day.

“PROMOTIONAL MUSIC VIDEO”

In 1965, the clips were still called "promo videos.” However, the music videos were beginning to experiment with new ideas.

The video for the song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" was conceived as an intro to a documentary about Bob Dylan's trip to the United Kingdom, but soon took on a life of its own.

Bob Dylan stands in front of the camera and goes through 65 cue cards with keywords from the lyrics. Subterranean Homesick Blues is notable for being the first modern" promotional film clips, the forerunner of what was later known as the music video.

The Beatles were also known to have been the first musical groups to experiment with music videos. A taped performance of the group singing "We Can Work It Out" was one of their early ones.

A few months later, in the spring of '66, The Beatles released "Paperback Writer" and "Rain." For this round of music videos, the group hired director Michael Lindsay-Hogg to film their next two videos which included new ideas that were never before seen.

A MUSICAL VIDEO PREMIERE

In 1983, the music video for "Thriller", one of the most successful, influential and iconic music videos of all time was released: the nearly 14-minute-long video. Michael Jackson worked with director John Landis to create what many consider a music video that changed society.

“Thriller” along with other musical videos by Michael Jackson were instrumental in breaking down the barriers that many black artists faced with MTV. Prior to Michael Jackson, MTV rarely showed any content made by black artists.

The music video - one of a kind - has entered the Library of Congress. The clip has also won many awards, and is considered one of the most famous music videos  in history. At one time it was considered not only the longest but also the most expensive.

FIRST LYRIC VIDEO

Nowadays, video with the words of the composition is commonplace, but in the eighties, this format was an important creative statement. The REM group was the first to take this step.

The clip was shot by the band's frontman Michael Stipe in 1986. For the artist, the combination of words with shots from the quarry was of great importance (the composition raises the topic of oppression). The metaphor of the video emphasizes the lyrics. However, lyric video flourished only a quarter of a century later.

FIRST MUSICAL VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

With the advent of YouTube video hosting, the approach to creating clips has changed. The first music video on the site was a video by Japanese singer Coppé. That same year in 2005, the world saw the first music video to be considered viral. It was the video for the song "A Million Ways" by OK Go. They already had experience with dancing in the low-budget video for the song "CCC-Cinnamon Lips".

“A Million Ways” didn’t require a budget at all. The dancing was staged by the sister of frontman Damien Kulash. The video was filmed in his backyard. Initially, the clip was distributed among friends. The group had no hope of success. After uploading to YouTube, everything changed. Their next videos were no less popular and experiments continued.

FIRST 3D CLIP

Following the success of “Avatar” by James Cameron, 3D imaging technology had proven to be the most popular phenomenon in popular culture in 2010. Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas didn't miss the chance to make the first-ever 3D video.

Will.i.am’s digital media company, announced an app BEP360, which allowed the user to experience Black Eyed Peas music video The Time in 3D.

FIRST SPACE MUSIC VIDEO

David Bowie's legendary composition "Space Oddity" was performed in 2013 by astronaut Chris Hadfield at the International Space Orbital Station. So far, this cover is the only music video that has been filmed in orbit.

After the video was published, a dispute arose about where the legislation of the planet Earth ceases to work. For example, shortly before that, the song "Happy Birthday" was allowed to be performed in public, and the Curiosity rover successfully coped with this. Hadfield's video was blocked, but then returned to YouTube. The lawyers even held discussions about concessions to astronauts.

FIRST 24-HOUR MUSIC VIDEO

Michael Jackson was famous for the longest music videos until 2014. His record was broken by Farrell Williams with the video for one of the most popular hits of the past decade, "Happy". We Are From LA is a duo of music video makers from France. Having offered the musician to create a video that lasts a day, they immediately received consent. It took 11 days to shoot 4 hundred people who are attracted to dancing. Many of them are casual passers-by.

A special site was created, on which the clip was posted. These are 360 ​​fragments that are synchronized with a real clock. Among the heroes are naughty schoolchildren, Odd Future members led by Tyler The Creator, who imitated actors from Broadway, a dancer dressed as a huge chicken, and the directors themselves. For a whole day, you can see everything.

MUSIC VIDEOS APPEARANCE IN 360º ON YOUTUBE

Clarification "on YouTube" is here for a reason. Such clips already existed until 2015, but only five years ago the mass distribution of this format began due to the emergence of the opportunity to publish them on YouTube. The first 360º music video on video hosting is the video for the song "Waiting for Love" by the Swedish producer Avicii. As is the case with many technically innovative works, its visualization is quite simple to perform. The video contains only doors and dancers running out of them.

In the future, the format was improved by other musicians, who set new standards over and over again. For example, Foals' video for the song "Mountain At My Gates" was shot from above, and the singer Björk created a music video for the song "Stonemilker", which literally immersed her in her metaphorical world.

MOST WATCHED VIDEO

The success of the new music video for the song “Despacito” by Puerto Rican artists Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in 2017 demonstrates how much YouTube video hosting has grown. It was impossible to believe that South Korean rapper PSY's record with a video for "Gangnam Style" would be broken within 5 years. The global nature of the platform is evidenced by the fact that the most popular video on it is a Spanish-language clip.

In the video, two artists sing in a small local bar in Puerto Rico. The song was at the top of the charts in 47 countries. There were even remixes of this hit from other musicians with English-language verses, but no one was lucky enough to repeat the success of the original source. At the moment, the clip has almost 6.8 million views.

Elon Productions - Music Videos

In the area of music videos, Elon Productions is well versed in helping the artists of today and tomorrow achieve their vision. We have a talented group of directors, cinematographers, and writers that are experienced in working with artists through the video making and marketing process. No matter where you are in your musical career, we deliver music videos with tight budgets and fast turnarounds.

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