MTV had more limitations on music videos and the music the artists produced compared to YouTube which gives more freedom to artists today. Music videos starting out did not have the budgets compared to today’s time period. The money given to artists enables them to bring out their creative side along with not having as many regulations on outfits, lyrics in songs, and the culture being more accepting in today’s time. Music videos have been able to evolve due to increase in technology. Music videos have more power to sway audience to believe in more ideas or increase popularity in today’s society compared to the 1980s and 1990s. YouTube changed the way we are able to view music videos. However, MTV gave music videos their big start in society and help gain their popularity. YouTube and other social media platforms have enabled artists to show their creative and artistic abilities through music and the music video.
Music videos all got their start from early films. “Talkies” come into existence during the 1920s paving a path for the future of all production. Before music videos started getting produce bands and artists would just go around and perform live. Also, bands would get the chance to sing their music on television such as Saturday Night Live. Lovers of music unless they could travel easily may not have had the chance to go a witness a concert and witness their favorite music. This would all change when the first music video was produced. Music videos gave people a chance to hear the music and actually see a performance. The video enabled listeners to finally see how the artists wanted the message portrayed through clothing, body motions, and facial gestures. Music videos have only been around for the last few decades but have a big impact on music and society. Music videos give more freedom to the artist to get points across to listeners or even a way just to channel popularity. Without music videos we would lose a whole side of the music industry which gives us opportunities to see and witness what it is like to be a singer and dancer. Music videos show us the creative sides of music never seen before. MTV was the start to all of this.
Before MTV music videos were becoming popular. Bands such as The Beatles and Queen used music videos to boost the popularity. The Beatles grew to global popularity in 1962. The band launched its’ first music video in 1968 with the song “Revolution”. This song was very controversial because it wanted to change the path of which society was going down. Considering, this was one of the first music videos created it gave people a way to see how the Beatles wanted people to view the song. Queen launched the music video for “Bohemian Rhapsody” which gave the band a name for itself. Music lovers were able to witness editing throughout the video. People could see changes starting to occur in the music world. Queen and The Beatles enabled people the ability to see them singing their music without have to be there live. The creativity artists could use during live performances was limited to where the venue was, the money they were willing to spend and regulations on what could happen. The start and rise of MTV would break through what had already been set for music and performances.
“At 12:01am on August 1, 1981, history was made when MTV, the first 24-hour video music channel.” (Guerrasio) MTV would change the way we listened to music forever. MTV enabled people to sit on their living room couch and watch a music performance. MTV was truly the first program giving all business towards music and the artists who created it. This rise gave artists more of a voice, in turn, giving artists way more creativity and say in society. Watching music videos people could see how the message of the song was meant. MTV did have its problems though, because of set recording times. Certain people may not have seen artists or songs they wanted to hear because of the times MTV would run during the day. Another thing, MTV played only popular music. Certain artists and possibly genres would not be played or played rarely. However, MTV did give rise to music becoming widely popular. MTV gave artists more freedom throughout all genres and gave rose to what we see in the music world today. MTV focused typically on what was popular rather than showing all types of music and all types of artists, they focused on what would bring in ratings and views. The producers of MTV were smart in doing this, but it did not help those needing that breakthrough or give people a variety of different things to listen and expose themselves with. MTV showing only popular genres and artists of music kept what was popular, popular. They kept the singers and videos that were already high in views and ratings, at the top. They did not enable all variations of differences of music on television. During this time period music that was popular was partially caused by what people could watch on MTV. Watchers had their views swayed just because of the genre or artist that was being played.
Music videos appeal to a variety of people for many reasons. People can relate to what the video is trying to portray and get across to the audience. Some people just like to dream of what it would be like to be one of these artists with the amount of money and fame they have. Others use music videos as a way to see the message behind the song and understand what it is somewhat like to be that artist or understand what that person may be going through. Music videos have a way to let people escape reality for however long the song may last. Those moments when whoever is watching the video can just pretend to imagine themselves being there. They can truly get a perspective on the lives of these artists. Music videos give a platform for artists to perform on, they do not have to stick to a certain way or style of those done before them. Artists and the producers work together to put together a video that can match exactly with what the song is being sung about or have no reason to be in with the music other than the artist wanted to make a video. Music videos appeal to a variety of people because of the variety of videos at their fingertips. Also, music videos are no longer a band or one single artist singing into a microphone. Although, some people may choose this is what is best for their song, most truly involve a good amount of acting into the video itself. They focus on timing, when objects not only people will appear in the video. Dancers are thrown into the background to make go along with what the video is showing. Music videos are somewhat like a mini movie long enough to draw people away but shorten to get a quick message across. Music videos appeal to the world because of the way they can get our attention in such little amounts of time.
Guns N’ Roses is arguably one of the most iconic bands of late 1980s. Their music is listened to in today’s time as well. One of Guns N’ Roses most notable songs is “Welcome to the Jungle” released in 1987. The music video was a perfect match for the song. The band is dressed somewhat crazy and insane. “The “Welcome to the Jungle” music video made Guns N’ Roses overnight stars.” (Draper) The music video spoke about the problems in society as being almost like a “jungle”. It was wild and chaotic in our society and not only did the lyrics, but the video showed that. Guns N’ Roses did not try and change their style but embraced it. The music video gave them the capability to use their talents to their advantage. Guns N’ Roses pushed the limits way before artists were given the freedom to do so. It is clearly illustrated in their music video, they did not care what people thought about how they acted, dressed, or spoke. They succeeded because they gave rise to focusing on what they are good at and not changing themselves for a culture. “This song is about Los Angeles.” (Janssen) Guns N’ Roses in the song talk about how crazy life was in Los Angeles. They use the word ‘jungle’ to focus on the amount of insanity that was going on around them during this time period. The band would be constantly around drugs, alcohol, facing many poor choices but they used their song to describe it. This song illustrates how for them life was crazy, wild, and on a path for the destruction. The album is titled, “Appetite for Destruction”. The band was in the fast lane and did not mind the insanity. This song along with the video gives the outside world a glimpse of what is was like to be them and understand how they lived.
Music videos have evolved a great amount over the last decade, from recording equipment, to the artists, and genres themselves. Music videos because of the increase in technology have become a lot easier to record the taking of video. A high-quality camera on a phone can produce amazing footage of music videos if one would like. Artists have more freedom to do and choose as they please therefore, this has created more diversity among the type of videos seen today. The song, “This is it” by Scotty McCreery shows a video of his own wedding. This video compared to “God’s Plan” by Drake focuses on Drake’s own personal wealth and what he likes to do with his wealth. Taking a look at just these two videos shows the vast differences at the hands of these artists. The artist can pick and choose exactly what they would like in their videos, the amount of other people, the outfits, where the video takes place, the mood of the video. In today’s time, music videos can easily show the moods of the music more effectively than a few decades ago. This has mainly to do with the fact of editing and lighting during videos is higher quality. Producers can adjust how the singer is supposed to sit, the facial expression they are meant to have, and the amount of makeup on the artist. All of these things have given way to the drastic changes and evolution of the music video.
Labrinth is a singer whose real name is Timothy McKenzie. He sings “Jealous”, this song speaks about how a man, Labrinth, is jealous of how he is jealous of the way the person is better without him. This music video is an amazing work of art. It shows the drastic change in videography and how one video can make you feel and understand what someone is going through. Labrinth sits in a dark room, very emotional, and lost. The video is just him, enabling for acting and lighting to be the main part of the video and what draws our attention. Labrinth focuses on the fact that he believes people all around, have gone through a time when they were jealous and lost. When someone has lost the person who they never thought would, yet the other person is much happier. Labrinth, “singing each lyric as if he’s still searching for the right words.” (Lee) He focuses on how we all feel when we are upset and lost without hope, without the ability to have the courage to fight what is happening. You can see the heartbreak in his eyes while he is singing without this video the message would not have the same impact compared to when people can see the pain and suffering he is going through. Music videos like this focus strictly on the mood and setting of the video rather than dancing or objects in the background. It focuses on the artist amazing voice and ability to draw attention with his acting ability and emotion throughout the video.
YouTube changed the music video. It changed the way we are able to watch music videos forever. YouTube is a free video streaming website that can be watched from anywhere at any time. The major difference between YouTube and MTV is that, YouTube can be watch at any moment and includes videos for anything not only music. The number of videos on YouTube does take away from part of the music. However, because you are able to watch videos any time you would like, allows for more views and not so popular artists to be heard. YouTube has a popular section for all genres of music not just one selective type. This gives listeners more freedom and more opportunity for up and coming artists to get their name out there. YouTube allows more freedom particularly due to the fact that artists in general have more freedom to do as they please. There is more cuss words, sexual content, and disturbing occurrences in music videos in today’s time. Therefore, this gives endless opportunities to artists to compose videos of anything they like. They can almost ask for anything in their videos and will receive this. “YouTube videos were reported qualitatively to contain extensive and easily accessible tobacco imagery.” (Cranwell) Due to the lack of regulations and the ease of which anyone can view YouTube younger kids can access videos meant for more mature audiences. That would be the downfall to YouTube kids today are easily more likely to see drug use, sexual encounters, and violence in videos today. MTV did have some videos including such things, but they did not happen to this magnitude. YouTube helps balance out the popularity among genres and artists because of all of the different types of videos you are able to find. MTV helped keep popular music at the top while YouTube continually spreads around the balance of what is popular.
Music videos are more relevant in today’s time especially due to what is going on around the world in the last few years. Music videos are a way to express how people feel and see how others feel towards certain things happening in society. Music videos can express the problems going on around people but instead of clearly stating it by protesting, people can just put into a video. YouTube is widely popular enabling many people to see how artists view certain situations around them, but because the rise in younger children having access to computers and phones gives them a point of view they may not have seen at such an early age otherwise. Videos even though can be accessed easier and people have more music videos to choose from the views these videos get is insane and proves they are still relevant and more relevant. Some videos on YouTube have billions of views, a good amount being in the millions and hundreds of millions. Also, this goes to show how spread out the popularity is in music and the genres of music.
Music videos and how we listen to music has changed drastically over time. Videos are getting more time than ever to create masterpieces to go along with the song.