Timeline: Music Video History

C1900 Edison invents the gramophone in the USA: First shift from music as a solely live and audiovisual experience to recorded audio on various forms of disc

1920s Fischinger experiments with sound/vision synchronisation on film - abstracts and visual interpretations

1927 First sound film, the Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, USA)

1930s Creation of first ‘Soundies’

1939 Introduction of the Panarom

1940s Peak period of MGM Hollywood musical

1954 Elvis Presley records ‘That’s Alright (Mama)’

1960 Scopitone introduced in France

1963 UK’s first music TV programme, Ready Steady Go (ITV)

1963 Top of the Pops TV programme begins (BBC) and The Beatles release the film and album ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (Richard Lester, UK)

1966 The Monkees’ TV Show start on NBC in the USA - used many devices like surrealism, wacky comedy, lots of action, mixed with musical performance and all typical of music video form today Band members chosen for how they would look on TV but like boy bands like The Beatles from the 1990's onwards.

1967 The Beatles release TV promos for ‘Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever’

1975 Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody (Bruce Gowers)

1977 Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, USA)

1979 Buggles: Video Killed the Radio Star (Russell Malcahy)

1980 David Bowe: Ashes to Ashes (David Mallet and David Bowie)

1981 Pop Clips on Nickelodeon and MTV starts and Duran Duran: Girls on Film (Kevin Godley and LOL Crème)

1983 Michael Jackson: Thriller (John Landis) and Beginning of Country Music Television

1984 Music Box start in Europe and MTV Video Music Awards launched

1985 VH1 begins and MTV taken over by Viacom and Live Aid

1986 Dire Straits: Money for Nothing (Steve Barron) is top video

1987 MTV-Europe (MTV-E) lauched, broadcasting to 1.6m homes and Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer (Stephan Johnson), wins best director award

1988 MTV-Europe achieves 3.5 subscribers

1989 MTV-Europe reaches 6.7 homes and Live Broadcast from Moscow Peace Festival and Madonna: Express Yourself (David Fincher), wins best director award

1900 Madonna: Vogue (David Fincher), wins best director award and Launch of MTV-Unplugged

1991 Madonna: ‘Justify My Love’ (Jean-Baptiste Mondino)

1992 MTV launches ‘The Real World’, a fly on the wall documentary following the lives of seven people sharing a New York loft.

1993 MTV launches TV Series Beavis and Butthead

1994 REM: ‘Everybody Hurts’ (Jake Scott), wins best director award and Launch of VH1 in UK and Launch of MTV- Europe Music Awards

1997 MTV UK and Ireland launches as stand-alone channel

1998 Launch of ‘Celebrity Deathmatch’

1999 Fatboy Slim: ‘Praise You’ (Spike Jonze), wins best director award

2000 Launch of ‘Jackass’

2001 Launch of MTV Dance

Music Television History

MTV is the most oldest and influential American cable network, launched in August 1981, it’s introduction started off with John Lack (one of the creators of MTV) spoken on camera saying “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll”. The first ever music video that was played on music television was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ Featured by the band called the Buggles. By 1984 established as central to the music business and started their own Oscars - The Video Music awards, categories like Best Director, Best Video, Most Experimental, Best Choreography, Best SFX. 

Later one MTV was established by WASEC (Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Company. Being established made MTV available to have low cost programming in the form of music videos and at times was given free by recording companies as MTV was also used for records and performers to advertise them. It was a ‘flow’ of music videos other than other channels that had programmes; MTV constantly played music and had a schedule for when songs could be played and if they were played again, depending on the people’s favourite song.

At the earliest of MTV, music videos mostly came from Britain as they were fairly well developed. Duran Duran was one of the first British bands that became famous through the American Market, as they had a great appeal to their fans and also created interesting music videos, and from then on the band immediately became popular. It started also become important to many more artists like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and U2, which MTV helped them to become famous.

MTV throughout the years started to grow and developed through stages, and started showing quizzes shows, reality programmes like 'Unplugged' which featured live performances from artists of acoustics and satirical cartoon characters like 'Beavis and Butthead'  which attracted a younger male audience. MTV also started to become available in different places such as Asia and Europe. Different types of music were introduced like rock, pop, hip hop, grime, opera, indie and heavy metal.


Each category has a different MTV channel so it suits the target audience, MTV is still successful till now and is continuingly becoming an influence world wide. However, not only the music has changed through out the years, but also the image of MTV creating a new and modern look each year that went by, keeping the audience entertained.  MTV is now owned by Viacom, a major media conglomerate but one without significant interests in the record company, they are responsible for the shift instead of the narrow rock market, making the interest at a wider range for music genres. and diversified to establish VH1 a more album orientated channel for the older audience. MTV Europe started up with a great success.