History of Music Videos (1910-present)

1900 : Edison invents the gramophone in the USA: first shift from music as a solely live and audiovisual experience to record on various forms of disc.
1920 : Fischinger experiments with sound/vision synchronisation on film
1927 : First sound film, The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, USA)
1930 : Creation of first 'soundies'
1939 : Introduction of the Panarom
1940 : Peak period of MGM Hollywood musical
1954 : Elvis Presley records Thats all Right (Mama)
1960 : Scopitone introduced in France
1963 : UK's first music TV programme, Ready Steady Go (ITV)
1964 : Top of the Pops TV programme begins (BBC)
The Beatles release the film and album, A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester, UK)
1966 : The Monkees' TV show starts on NBC in USA
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 Mulcahy)
1980: David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes (David Mallet and David Bowie)
1981 : Pop Clicks on Nickelodeon
           MTV starts
           Duran Duran : Girls on Film (Kevin Godley and Lol Creme)
1983: Michael Jackson: Thriller (John Landis)
          Begining of country music Television (CMT)
1984 : Music Box starts in Europe
           MTV Video Music Awards launched
1985 : VH1 begins
           MTV taken over by Viacom
           Live Aid
1986 : Dire Straits: Money for Nothing (Steve Barron) is top video
1987 : MTV-Europe (MTV-E) launched, broadcasting to 1.6m homes
           Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer (Stephen Johnson), wins best director award
1988 : MTV-Europe achieves 2.5m subscribers
1989 : MTV-Europe reaches 6.7m homes
           Live Broadcast form Moscow Peace Festival
           Madonna Express Yourself (David Fincher), wins best director award
1990 : Madonna: Vogue (David Fincher), wins best director award
           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 Beavies and Butthead
1994 : REM: Everybody Hurts (Jake Scott), wins best director award
           Launch of VH1 in UK
           Launch of MTV-Europe Music Award
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: Lauch of MTV Dance