Music videos became a way in which artists were able to promote their song in a different way compared to traditional billboards and posters and be able to bring their music to life in the perspective that they believed that fits each music video made. 

This has been used to represent a song before MTV further popularised it and made it a more official way in which artists would seek out to promote on their channel. Before, Music videos were being produced but an example is Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was performed on a live broadcast that included analog visual effects to show off futuristic features.

The earliest signifiers of the aesthetic found in music videos was seen through Michael Jackson’s song ‘Thriller’ which showcased the brilliance between a song joined with visuals. Thriller is regularly seen as one of the greatest music videos till this day despite being created nearly 40 years ago introducing storytelling within the actual music video and choreography that aligns with the song’s aesthetic. Michael was one of the first to introduce this type of aesthetic to his music videos before the times of the highs of the MTV era that in an interview for ‘Thriller’ described the music video as a ‘short film’ instead realised the outcome that a music video is it another way in which the artist is able to express themselves and their creativity.

Music videos have seen a new aesthetic rise from the  era of MTV where we see the rise of technology introduce us to platforms like Youtube and Facebook being ways in which artists are able to reach a more global audience. Pioneering a change in the music video aesthetic of them being rather for promotion to adding more value to it and helps their audience understand them better.

By Mirza Zafar Tariq

References

Vernallis, C. (2013) ‘Unruly media: YouTube, music video, and the new digital cinema,’ Choice Reviews Online, 51(08), pp. 51–4342.

Vue.Ai (2024) Evolution of music videos: How has the storytelling changed? https://vue.ai/blog/retail-trends/evolution-of-music-videos-how-has-the-storytelling-changed/.

Brief history of music video (2016). https://matheussiqueira.com/a-brief-history-of-music-video/.