What was the first music video ever? A brief history

What was the first music video ever? A brief history

History of music videos: What was the first ever video?

One of the earliest examples of music and imagery together – yeah, we count that – was a recording in 1894 of a song called The Little Lost Child with a slide show of images. It’s also known as an ‘illustrated song’ as it’s not really ‘video’ how we understand the term now and they could include either music with some live action, or images on glass slides projected onto a wall using a Magic Lantern, with movement added via levers and knobs!

History of music videos: The first ever music video

As we’ve seen, the concept of moving images wasn’t a new idea, but inventors were looking for a better way to make those happen. Between 1889 and 1892, Thomas Edison and his employees at the Edison lab were working on what would become the Kinetograph. This was an early ‘moving pictures’ device named for the Greek, ‘keneto’ or movement and ‘scopos,’ to watch.

A short time later, around 1894-5, Edison was able to add sound to his Kinetoscope (now known as a Kinetophone-Kinetoscope) and a short film of a man playing a violin was created. The viewer could see the moving images by looking through a peephole, and hear audio via rubber ear tubes, though the two weren’t in synch. This was one of the earliest instances of music video! In 1913, they made a new version of the Kinetophone, one that could synchronise sound with the images! 

‘Synchronisation was achieved by connecting the projector at one end of the theatre and the phonograph at the other end with a long pulley.’ – Library of Congress

History of music videos: The talkies and musicals

We can’t really talk about music videos without the development of film. ‘Talkies’ revolutionised the entertainment industry and transformed the way music was incorporated into films. Before this, silent films relied heavily on live musical accompaniment, usually provided by orchestras or pianists, in theatres. The transition to sound in film meant dialogue and music could be synchronised with visuals. This laid the groundwork for musicals, and later, music videos.

The influence of musicals

Musicals featured songs and dances running through the main storyline. The Jazz Singer (1927), was the first feature-length film with synchronised music (recorded and lip-synched) and showed the role that music could play in cinematic storytelling. The success of musicals in the early talkies era, set a precedent for the inclusion of music in film.

What was the First music video? When did music videos start?

We know musical films and music videos are different things, but we wouldn’t have had the popularity of one without the evolution of the other. They share common threads, too, like their reliance on music and imagery to help tell a story or convey emotion.

Fast forward to the 1960s, and artists were starting to experiment with visuals alongside their music. Promotional films, like The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night (1964) were precursors to the modern music video.

The 1970s though is where we really started to see the emergence of what we now consider to be the first true music videos.

Maybe the most iconic and frequently talked about example is Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody (1975), which featured Queen performing the song with elaborate visual effects. You can see the remastered version, above. This new approach paved the way for future music videos to move away from visuals of an artist performing, to a music video as a device that mixes artistry with storytelling.

What was the first music video on MTV?

While music videos were making their mark in the 1970s, it was the launch of MTV (Music Television) in 1981 that truly revolutionised the industry. MTV was the first 24-hour music video channel, broadcasting to a global audience, and suddenly, artists had a new and powerful way to promote their work. Not only that, it was required to get on MTV… as we’ve mentioned already, it wasn’t enough to simply have a video of an artist performing, it needed to be something more, and music videos quickly became an essential part of popular culture.

The first music video ever played on MTV was, not without deliberate irony, Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. The song’s title of course, tipping a wink to music videos being about to replace traditional audio-only radio.

What was the first music video on MTV: Evolution of music videos on MTV

Music videos featured various genres, styles, and budgets, ranging from simple performance videos to elaborate narrative-driven stories. Some iconic music videos from the early years of MTV include:

Michael Jackson – Thriller (1983)

This elevated music video to an art form. Thriller featured elaborate choreography, special effects, and a memorable transformation scene that solidified its place in music video history.

‘I wanted something that would glue you to the set, something you’d want to watch over and over,’ Michael Jackson.

Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer (1986)

This stop-motion animation video is unusual but doubtless, ground-breaking in its visual effects. It won numerous awards, showcasing the potential that music videos had as their own form of expression.

Madonna – Like a Prayer (1989)

Madonna’s videos were known for pushing boundaries. Like a Prayer combines religious imagery, race relations, and sensuality, which very much made it a topic of conversations and brought controversy.

Guns N’ Roses – November Rain (1992)

At a tad over 9 minutes, November Rain is an epic length for a music video. It features both a wedding and funeral and was based on a short story called Without You, where a woman has taken her own life after her boyfriend repeatedly cheats on her.

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)

This music video really captured the grunge spirit of the early 90s and became an anthem for a generation. Its raw and gritty style contrasted with the glossy pop videos that dominated at the time.

The impact of MTV on music videos

MTV’s focus on music videos turned them into an art form and a marketing tool. Music videos became an essential part of an artist’s branding and promotion. The channel included shows like Total Request Live (TRL) which started in the late 1990s and encouraged fans to vote for their favourite videos. This created engagement and a sense of control over the music videos that were seen.

MTV was popular around the world, not just the United States; which meant artists could find new audiences and get wider recognition.

The decline of MTV and the rise of online platforms

As the noughties came around, interest in MTV started to decline and it moved towards reality TV, with far less focus on music videos. The decline was in part because of the increased reach and accessibility of the internet. Online platforms like YouTube (2005) started to pop up and proved to be a powerful force in the music industry. Musicians could now upload their music videos and reach a global audience without the need for a major record label. This shift in the industry’s landscape had an effect on how artists approached music videos and their marketing strategies generally.

When did music videos start on YouTube? The first YouTube music videos

YouTube was a game-changer for music videos, sort of mirroring the success of MTV in its early days. It provided a platform for artists, established and up-and-coming, to share their music with an online audience. The big difference was that fans could directly engage with music videos in ways that they hadn’t been able to with traditional television programming.

If we skip over fan-made videos and pre-existing music videos that were then uploaded to YouTube, then the video that tends to gets credited as the ‘first official YouTube music video’ is Lazy Sunday, which is a comedic rap video that originally aired on Saturday Night Live but that gained huge popularity after being uploaded to YouTube in December of 2005. It really demonstrated the platform’s potential for promoting creative content and the ability to reach a massive audience.

As YouTube grew, artists started to see its potential and for the first time, music videos were being released on YouTube simultaneously with, or sometimes even before, traditional television networks.

Social commentary in music videos

As music videos got more popular, first through TV platforms like MTV and later through online platforms like YouTube, artists started to see their potential for shaping cultural trends and sparking societal conversations. Some used their music videos to tackle subjects like racism, inequality, and political unrest.

Childish Gambino – This Is America (2018)

A thought-provoking exploration of gun violence, racial inequality, and the American experience, This is America uses powerful imagery and symbolism to ignite discussions about race and violence in the US.

Beyoncé – Formation (2016)

This video includes visuals that address police brutality, Hurricane Katrina, and Black culture. It helped to bring the Black Lives Matter movement to the wider public’s attention.

Global impact and diverse representation

Music videos have also allowed for borders, languages, and cultures to transcend, meaning a more diverse representation and sometimes even international collaborations. K-pop (Korean Pop) is a great example of how artists can use social media, and music video platforms in particular, to break through to markets that traditionally exported their culture and were reluctant to import, like the United States.

K-pop uses visually captivating music videos and choreography, which has helped the phenomenon become even more popular on sites like Instagram and TikTok, where fans can use music, copy dance routines, and generally help to increase their popularity via their own videos. BTS are one of the most popular K-pop bands around at the moment, and their video for Dynamite has racked up almost 2 billion views in just 3 years.

There’s also a choreography version of the video, further tapping into that fan-engagement culture we mentioned.

‘K-pop is the British Invasion for Gen Z but dialled up past 11. Not only are K-pop Idols covering magazines and selling merch, but they are extraordinarily talented, perfectly styled, socially conscious, and capable of generating enormous engagement on social media. The allure of pop music and boy/girl bands has been irresistible for decades. Every generation gets a coterie of pop stars to fawn over, but for the first time in America, they are not white, they are Korean.’ – LA Film

What was the first music video: Wrapping Up

Music videos have come a long way! From the early pairing of sound and moving images, to the exciting development of Talkies, through to musicals, lyric videos, early music videos, and finally to being one of the driving forces behind YouTube. They’re not just promotional tools, music videos are powerful vehicles for artistic expression, social commentary, and cultural influence. Sometimes it feels like things have evolved as much as they’re going to, but with the growing popularity of Instagram and TikTok, it’s going to be interesting to see where music videos go next!

About this page

This page was written by Marie Gardiner. Marie is a writer, author, and photographer. It was edited by Gonzalo Angulo. Gonzalo is an editor, writer and illustrator.