YouTube Killed the (Promotional) Video Star

Next year, MTV will be 30 years old – celebrating the beginning of the music video genre as we know it.  Of course, music within motion picture was around long before MTV.  However, the modern form of music (or promotional) videos would not exist in its current state if it were not for MTV’s launch on August 1^st 1981.

Since “the launch,” there have been countless witty commentaries on the music video industry via the Buggles’ Video Killed the Radio Star (the first video ever aired on MTV).  Most claimed that the Buggles’ observations would, in fact, become true – that video would in fact kill the radio star.  Well, almost 30 years later and the radio star is nothing but enhanced thanks to the “download” and “YouTube” era.

Throughout the past 30 years, the music video industry has left its mark on pop culture in diverse yet significant ways:  we watched Michael Jackson mature into absurdity as he rewrote the books on both fashion and dance throughout the eighties.  Peter Gabriel (with director Stephen Johnson) broke the barriers of creativity with Sledgehammer.  Madonna mastered the art of “promotion” throughout her career via these visual means.  Mark Romanek single handedly ushered artists such as Lenny Kravitz (Are You Gonna Go My Way) and Fiona Apple (Criminal) into stardom, not to mention helping Johnny Cash conclude his music video career with one of the strongest narrative pieces to ever be released (Hurt).  And still atmospheric artists such as Joy Division, Radiohead, and Sigur Ros experimented with visuals that in many ways have unplugged the drain of “promotion” as we have known it.

In fact, as the new millennium approached, music videos began to take on a different form.   Slowly, artists and directors began to put aside the expectations of the industry (primarily Viacom) and create visuals for the sake of art and music. This is partially due to the MTV conglomerate shifting from “music videos all the time” to “music videos hardly ever” thanks to the likes of the reality television scene.

A perfect storm of the MTV demise, increased bandwidth, and the launch of YouTube (and the likes) enabled both artists and labels to have not only utilize a different medium, but capture a different audience.  In other words, the expectations have shifted.

Think about it. What type of videos find their way to your inbox and/or get retweeted? Unless it’s a parody, nobody is volleying to be this generation’s answer to David Lee Roth. The game has changed. As the quantity has diminished, ingenuity and creativity has increased.  In fact, since the turn of the century, we have seen an onslaught of what are more like “short films” set to music—as opposed to “promotional” music videos. It’s now about beautiful imagery, creative ideas, and compelling narratives. This is what gets our attention because this is what we care about.

In many ways, we are at the beginning of the music video industry’s greatest era. Director’s such as Chris Cunningham, Spike Jonze, Jonathan Glazer, Arni and Kinski, Michel Gondry, and Mark Romanek have all led the way—raising the stakes of storytelling via visual artistry.  But enough talking about, let’s experience. Here are a few (personal) favorites. What are yours?

Sigur Ros – Glosoli

UNKLE (Thom Yorke of Radiohead) - Rabbit in Your Headlights

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Johnny Cash – Hurt (Video)

Carpark North – Human

Cat Power – Where is My Love

Iron and Wine – Naked as We Came

Wolf Parade – Modern World

Jonsi - Go Do