Music videos before the 80's weren't as common as today's age. You may have seen Cher or The Vouges on a tiny TV playing music in the ''60s-70s, but those weren't music videos to today's standards, those were just videos of people playing music. However, the emergence of music videos in that age began with The Beatles. They revolutionized the visual consumption of music with their music video for "Paperback Writer", but this wasn't very common at the time.
The launch of MTV revolutionized this idea though. In 1981, musicians had a widely popular platform to showcase their visual artistry. Madonna's song, "Like a Virgin" blew up on this channel, and shaped the pop music era too. Artists began to embrace artistry and cinematic effects. This began to push the boundaries of what the idea of music video was.
As the 2000s unfolded, the decline of traditional music television channels gave rise to digital platforms. YouTube, in particular, became a game-changer, democratizing the creation and distribution of music videos. Artists no longer needed the backing of major labels to reach a global audience; a compelling video uploaded to YouTube could propel an unknown artist to stardom.
As we went into a new decade, the 2000s, music television like MTV stayed relevant but gave way to the rise of YouTube. You no longer needed connections or a major music label backing you to get your music on MTV, you could be your own label, just by posting your music video online. Justin Bieber, for instance, was discovered on YouTube by Usher, showing the variety of YouTube as not only a center for music but a promotional source of music.
In the 2010s we saw the rise of the app Musically, the popular social media monster for dance challenges and lip-syncing, which helped integrate audiences of younger ages into the music scene. Musically gave way to TikTok, where suddenly, a short snippet of a song could go viral and propel that song (whether written by a star or an unknown artist) into fame. The popularity of dance challenges and lip-syncing on these apps also show the connection between interesting visual content and good vocals in music.
Music videos continue to evolve as we move into 2024. The power dynamics have shifted, putting more control in the hands of artists big and small. Social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube offer visibility for both artists and audiences alike, making it an exciting era for listeners all over the world.
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