Music videos started being produced around the mid 70's. Before then the only video that would be seen with a song would be a recorded performance of it. The first music video was aired in 1979 on Top of the Pops – it was the first to replace a live performance. The song is called Video Killed the Radio Star by Buggles.
From this video you can see how much has changed in music videos over the years. They have become more sophisticated to enage the audience more as well as selling themselves as a product.
Music videos differ hugely from other things seen on TV such as soaps and other TV dramas. The main reason for this is because it is much shorter. They also have many different shot types which makes it clear to you that you are not watching an ordinary TV programme. Also the pace of the shots is quicker or slower depending on the tempo and the beat of the song. This is to make it flow better. In a way, they could be compared to movie trailers as they do the same job. Just like the trailer would entice you to watch the whole movie, the music video does the same by showing you a sample of the artist’s work in hopes that you would be interested in more.
The main purpose of a music video is to promote the single, the album as well as the artist. To do this to the best of its ability, the video should sell the song in a way that it is memorable to the audience so it stands out, to give the viewer with a better understanding of the song so they can engage with it, and also by entertaining the viewer by highlighting the artist’s talents.
A great example of an artist do this is Michael Jackson in Thriller. Though
it is slightly unconventional being almost 14 minutes long it is a great way of
selling the single aswell as the album. In the video you see them come out of
the theatre with the word ‘THRILLER’ across the top. This reminds you of the
name of the single and the album. Also because it has a long narrative at the
beginning it gets you hooked on to it to see what is going to happen once the
song starts. The video also features a lot of dance moves which causes it to be
memorable to the audience as they are very different and unique, whenever you
see those moves you would automatically associate it to the song. This song was
so popular that it was played 4 times an hour on mtv and is still known worldwide
to this day. 
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