Introduction

The invention of film and Cinema brought about the possibility of combining music and moving images. Advances in technology have turned the music video into what it is renown for today. Music videos have been around since the 1920s, but mainly included live recordings of artists performing. Jazz musicians, like Bessie Smith, had concerts recorded and paired with her music, which created her music video.

Bob Dylan broke this trend in 1965, with the music for Subterranean Homesick Blues. This wasn't like music videos that had been recorded before, and now is inter-textually referenced in many other music videos. Bob Dylan's video also reflects the new trend of lyric music videos, being produced alongside an actual music video.

The focus on producing short promo videos for music started to replace live performances of the artist on TV. MTV was notorious for this and enjoyed by many, with the first music video ever shown on the channel being 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by The Buggles on August 1st, 1981.

1975's Bohemian Rhapsody video by Queen was one of the first to use special effects, which suited the psychedelic sounds of the music video. In the modern day, music videos carry a strong narrative alongside the lyrics, allowing people to possibly understand and enjoy the music more.