History of a music video: Miss Georgiou

Overtime, the way that people have accessed music videos have changed due to the change in technology. Roughly twenty years ago, consumers relied on purchasing their own records themselves such as CD's and tapes because there was no technology for them to access it on digital technology therefore resulting less people buying the records because it would cause aggravation. In 1979, the first CD recording began. The first commercial compact disc was produced 17th August 1982. The first popular CD was produced at the new factory was 'The Visitors' in 1981 by ABBA. The advancements in technology meant that the music copies that were harder to access were no longer necessity; the introduction of the digital mp3 pushed out the requirement to own the CD's individually. Similar to mix tapes, consumers would have to borrow a friends CD then copy the music to their computer and have an electronic version on their which meant they could only listen to the music when they was with their computer instead of the music being portable. The internet became introduced in 1969-present which made it slightly easier for consumers to access their music better. Overtime, the internet has gradually improved as it shook things up further, as connection speeds increased and file sharing became more common. At this time, consumers generally illegally started using programmes such as Napster and Limewire to pirate music, waiting for many hours to download a single track which caused a lot of inconvenience to many users. The use of social networking also brought a whole new element to the music industry, with twitter providing a platform for users to follow musicians and discover new bands. YouTube has meant that consumers no longer have to rely on MTV or purchase a bands video or DVD to watch their music videos. Streaming services like Spotify give consumers access to listen to any music from any location with an internet connection. Technology and the internet have changed the way we source and listen to music but also changed the way the actual music has been produced. Roughly twenty years ago, artist would rely on the corporate producers to listen to their demo disc and convince them to give a record deal however due to the success of the internet, any potential artist can upload a video of one of their own songs or cover on to useful video sites such as YouTube and with the rising popularity hoping a record producer may hear the song. They are able to produce their own track, upload it to the internet and promote it accordingly. This not only helps the listeners discover them but also producers, helping them to get signed and make a success. With internet connectivity continuing to  improve and the penetration of smartphones only set to increase, technology and the internet are predicted to maintain a firm hold on how music is consumed, shared and produced. These advancements are welcome by most as it gives both the listener and artist both more choice and power.


YouTube is a popular site for uploading and watching different types of videos and was founded in 2005 on February 14th. To this day, YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google which is first. During the summer of 2006, YouTube was the fastest growing site on the web uploading more than 65,000 new videos and delivering 100 million video views per day in July. YouTube has more than 1 billion users and everyday, people watch hundreds of millions of hours on YouTube and generate billions of views including views for music videos. The number of hours people are watching on YouTube each year 50% year on year in which mostly are spent watching new releases. 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute meaning that the material on the site is always fresh and up to date meaning that listeners of music can instantly access new releases of their favourite artist music videos. YouTube is localised in 75 countries and available in 61 different languages meaning that anyone in the world can access these videos and can globally experience the same as someone from the country of origin. Half the views that YouTube receives on a daily basis are from a mobile phone as it the most convenient way to access to watch a music video as people can view the music on the go and watch it whenever it suits them. Additionally, YouTube contains the ability for videos to be shared instantly straight to social media which promotes the music videos even further resulting in a gain in popularity and word of mouth as more people will hear about the video as social media sites contain more fans.


This is a list of the top 20 most viewed music videos on YouTube:

From this official chart we can easily state that the most watched music video was 'Gangnam Style by PSY' in which it received an astonishing 2,352, 631,105 views. The song was released in July 2012 and was produced by Park Jae Sung. I find that this music video is a performance style music video as it involves more entertainment and dance performance styles. The video was accessible on YouTube therefore gave free access to everyone globally. I believe that this was the most viewed music video on YouTube as it brings its own uniqueness towards music entertainment as it uses its own choreographed dance which became a hit across the world. Furthermore, the fact that the music is coming from another country makes it more amusing for the audience as they are more intrigued to know the concept of the video as they are required to put more focus and attention in the video. The music being used within the video was catchy as the rhythm is simple and repetitive therefore resulted in more audience becoming more interested. There was also synergy between the music and visuals as the visuals were cut to fit the rhythm really well, making the most of the interaction between the two. The video was also silly comedy and wasn't serious unlike other music videos therefore brought more amusement to the audience. Several of the scenes are ambiguous and make the audience wonder what is going on therefore leads to the audience becoming more eager to focus more on the music video if not repeat the music video. PSY is making fun of himself while making fun of every pop cliche the audience would of seen therefore results in more entertainment being created for the audience. The South Korean style made it more appealing for audiences as if it came from the UK or US it would be less entertaining as it is more typical therefore lend it a certain charm for people elsewhere in the world. The dance performance being included is easy to learn and extends the engagement from the digital to the physical world. The fact that Gangnam is a district in Seoul, originally somewhat seedy but now the haunt of the nouveau riche lends extra depth to the videos success. Due to the video being seen by so many people, peer pressure can also cause more people to watch the video as it could look less 'cool' if one person hasn't seen the video therefore they would be more eager to see the film as soon as possible.




MTV debuted on the 1st August 1981 and was instantly a popular emanation of the entertainment industry. From the start, it represented the new lifestyles of youth of the time and today it continues to be a trend setter, by influencing young people's understanding of the meaning of 'cool'. MTV's success has been achieved because of its ability to adapt to and reflect the desires of each new generation. MTV was once known as Music Television for good reason. Before the debut of MTV, music videos were practically unheard of. The new channel featured a way of presenting music. It introduced the innovative idea of presenting, in effect, a short film too accompany each song. In fact, for the first six years, MTV played music videos only. However, 1987, MTV revealed its first mainstream television shows, such as "Club MTV", repeats of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and a game show called "Remote Control". The impressive ratings received by such shows prompted MTV to try other non-music shows, such as "House of Style" in 1989, "The Real World" in 1992 and "Singled Out" and "Road Rules" in 1995. Today, MTV shows music videos only a few hours a day, the few hours when most people are asleep. During the 1980's, MTV viewers were more enthusiastic about music than they are today, and that was enough to keep MTV a thriving success for several years. As the years passed, however, the taste and interest of the youth changed aswell. Today's generation is now more interested in shows about celebrities and non music television shows. Over the past few decades, the genres of popular music have also changed dramatically, and MTV has needed to adapt to the unpredictable interest of each generation's youth. During MTV's first seven years, the genres of rock and pop compromised the majority of the music played on the channel. In 1988, however, the show " Yo! MTV Raps" debuted, and the debut was considered by some to be the official start of the hip-hip craze. After the debut, MTV gradually began playing more and more hip-hop. The rock and pop generation of the 1980's had changed into a new era of hip-hop. Although MTV has been the most popular reflection of pop culture, it has also been a venue for positive social change. In the 1980's, for example, openly displayed homosexuality was rarely considered acceptable. Controversial topics such as diversity, AIDS, sexual orientation, famine, and poverty were rarely matters of discussion among the youth of the time. In 1998, however a homosexual student was beaten to death at his college and MTV took a strong anti violence position of this topic. Over the past 20 years, MTV has developed into a leading voice for young generations and modifies itself to remain as relevant to today's youth as it was the youth of the past.

In terms of budgets for music videos, they all vary depending on what style and genre the music video is. For instance, a performance style video would require more technology cost due to special effects. Furthermore, budgets is important for hiring out different locations for the music video to be set and also the costumes to be used within the video. Over time, the music video budgets have become more demanding as the technology is developing and the price requirement is becoming higher. Also, the music video industry is becoming more competitive therefore artists and producers need to add more within their video's such as different special effect in order to keep the audience's attention and not fall down. They have to be more creative and innovative with what they do for the small budgets they work with. Over the last 30 years, music videos have helped cement the emotional connection between visuals and music, and have been used as a tool for communicating the message of the artist who is performing. Music videos have become a genre of video production in their own right, peaking with budgets to rival small independent movie productions in the 1990's. The 1990's was truly the decade of high budget, high impact music video for many artist looking to ramp up their marketing efforts. Downloading and purchase of single-only tracks was not even on the horizon, and the record company budgets were incredible. Iconic videos for Madonna, Michael Jackson and other big names in the industry heralded in an era where music video broke records for their production cost.

The most expensive video to ever be produced was "Michael Jackson-Scream" in which it was released in 1995 and involved $7 million to be produced. Michael Jacksons's videos have always been ridiculously expensive. In 1983, $800,000 on "Thriller" which would be about $1.4 million today. Before "Thriller" no one even came close to spending that kind of money, and he had to do it with limited technological capabilities. As technology improved, his videos became more expensive , spending over $1.2 million on "Black or White" in 1992, and even more on "Remember The Time". "Screams" $7,000,000 price tag is more than twice as the next most expensive video at $2.7 million and it's easy to say why; he spent $5 million alone on 11 sets. Yet while watching the video, it all seems incredibly wasteful, not coming close to the film quality of "Thriller", "November Rain" or "Victory". Computer generated spaceship was $65,000, breaking guitars $53,000, Morphing artworks $50,000, Michael's make-up $3,000, Janet's make-up $8,000 a day, Choreography $40,000, giant video screen $80,000, lighting, $175,000, Cost per day, $636,00 (about 11 days) which means the total cost of 11 sets $5,000,000. Although the music video was extremely costly, this didn't impact the video in the sense making it the most viewed. This shows that the audience are more about the music and format that is being produced rather than how much money is going in to the video. Based as the name of the song links with bad press that Michael Jackson was getting in media at the time. They are dressed in black and swearing at the camera to project their towards the media.

Technology,special effects and the development have changed over time as producers and artist have more money in which they could spend it on. This gives them the opportunity to spend it on lavish technologies which could increase the the way the music video appeals to an audience. Technologies such as hd cameras can be used within music videos to make the video more appealing as it provides a better view and format for the audience. Also, due to the better view for the audience, they instantly become more engaged with what's happening as it would feel more real for them. Furthermore, it also provides a better focus for them as they can see the composition in s better view. Colour for video cameras wasn't released until 1935 so before this, all video formats had no clue and where viewed in black and white. The evolution of the camera mean that audience can now view their video in colour and also at a high definition quality meaning that they can become more engaged and build better
relationship.

Another technology that has evolved is the green screen. A green screen or some people call it a blue screen is a background in front of which moving subjects are filmed and which allows a separately filmed background to be added to the final image. The green screen first became introduced in the 1970's. It allows the production to be created faster and more money is saved rather than travelling round the world searching for ideal locations coming to a costly amount which additionally also waste time. Also once an image is captured with consistent lighting and sound, you can easily cut and edit footage to create the sequence needed. Furthermore, it also benefits the production team as it is a more controlled environment as there are no distractions or potential inconsistencies . The first music video to include a green screen was Michael Jacksons "Don't stop till you get enough" which was released in 1979.  Within, their video there are consistent moving backgrounds and they are all  different so that there is a variety. This bring more excitement to the audience as this is a setting that they have never seen before as it is only just being introduced to them. Furthermore, they are all moving background therefore encourage the audience to become more engaged as it appeals more to them as the moving background capture the attention more and keep them more focus as it is more entertaining for them.

The target audience and number of views a music video/channel receives has changed over the years through the development of smart phones. Now days the evolution and development of smart phones means that apps that can provide music videos such as YouTube are now accessible on mobile phones meaning that audiences can listen or watch their favourite music videos on the go with just needing a network connection in which people tend to have all the time. Furthermore, smart phones have also developed apps within the social media such as Facebook and Twitter which means that audiences can keep up to date with their favourite artist where ever they are. For example, if an artist has just released a music video, then the social media can provide links or even the music video which means that audience's can watch it almost instantly. Apps such as YouTube also provide a link that allows users to instantly share a music video they like on to the social media they desire so that people that are friends and follow them can also watch the music video and spread the word creating a word of mouth. Furthermore, if a music video or channel has a lot of views and followers, this may influence other audience to join in and watch the videos as they want to see what the 'hype' is about even if they are not a fan as it may look that person look less 'cool' if they haven't seen it. If there are a lot of followers this shows that there is popular interest within what is being produced so audience automatically join in so that they are with the popularity.

Music genres have also developed a lot over the years as the technology is becoming more and more developed through the generations meaning that different genres can develop their genre conventions and portray them in a more efficient way. For instance, a dance genre can be seen different to what it was 10 years ago in comparison to today's dance genre as now days technology gives us the ability to include more lighting technology and also special effects that could help the video to appeal to the audience better as they would feel more engaged as the video is more developed. Furthermore, the technology within the sound equipment means that artist can produce more sound efficient and better quality vocals which would make the audience appeal to them better as they would sound more attractive therefore resulting in a higher popularity and successful music video. The technology of green screen has meant that music genres can develop because they can create more real background, for instance instead of filming in space, the producers can use a realistic space background as the green screen to cause less aggravation as the music genres can develop more.

My research will assist me within my own music video as I have learned all the different ways technology and development of conventions can help appeal to the audience more. Furthermore, I now know different ways that audience can access music videos to make it more popular therefore I can use the research to help my music video appeal to an audience more. Furthermore, I also researched other music videos from different generations which I learned the different ways that they used to appeal to an audience and how they have developed over time.