"(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR") THE BUGGLES: (Singing) Video killed the radio star. SCOTT DETROW, HOST: In 1981, The Buggles declared that video killed the radio star. For several decades, MTV became a cultural phenomenon and with it, the music video. (SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL JACKSON SONG, "THRILLER") DETROW: Music videos are still thriving in different places these days - think YouTube and other social media. But as of today, MTV's global reach is shrinking just a little bit, officially ending its remaining 24-hour music channels in the U.K., according to the BBC."
"One of the things that I found most interesting in doing the research for my book was discovering the long prehistory of the music video, or what became the music video, ranging from musical shorts that preceded feature films, to a short-lived video jukebox that would be in nightclubs and restaurants, to more familiar kind of proto music videos by The Beatles."
"(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER") THE BEATLES: (Singing) Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to strawberry fields. AUSTERLITZ: So, you know, this had been going on for a very long time and really for the entire length of the sound film, and that was sort of a fascinating discovery for me, at least."
MTV became a cultural phenomenon and made the music video central to popular music. Music videos existed long before MTV, emerging from musical shorts, proto-promos by bands like The Beatles, and experimental formats such as video jukeboxes in nightclubs and restaurants. Music videos evolved alongside sound film throughout the twentieth century. Changes in distribution shifted videos to platforms like YouTube and social media, where they continue to thrive. MTV's global reach has declined, exemplified by the end of its remaining 24-hour music channels in the U.K., signaling shifts in how audiences access music video content.
Read at www.npr.org
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