Extension of outlets

In the 1920's and 30's there was the introduction of "The soundies". This was where they would show a video of artists performing their music on a small screen. Soundies would be in areas for young people like cafes and food bars. This was the first time that the public could see the music artists playing their music, be for this people couldn't put a face to the music as music was only heard on the radio.

In the 1960's artists started doing short experimental films with their music involved they were seen as art films. In the 60's music videos were not important in promoting the band or selling records. But experimental films became very popular.

In the 70's "Top of the pops" started in Britain, all the artists played live. However when the artists couldn't be in the studio to perform they would play their music video as a substitute. So this meant that music videos were becoming a big deal, there was finally a purpose for music videos. Music videos were still experimental and were still linked to the art scene.

In the 1980's MTV started in America, it was the first time people could turn on their TVs and watch music videos. You could also tune in at different times for different music genres. Artist's realised that there was gap in the market for music videos, as playing your music videos on MTV would boost your sales as more people have the chance of seeing and hearing your music. Also in the 80's artists started doing music videos for every single they released, this was the first time this happened and it meant that they would sell more records as music videos would promote their music.

The 90's was a golden era for music videos, music companies would set aside alot of money to make music videos or to hire top music video directors. Other TV companies started to make spin off music channels like Smash hits and Q to cater to other music genres and not just the top 40 singles.

In the 00's Internet sites like YouTube and My space became big and these sites meant that you watch music videos online, this is good for the artist as it pro mote's there music for free. In the 00's artists had more control of there music and videos because they could appeal to a wide audience on the Internet for free, this meant that artist didn't have to follow the big music companies.