Overview
In the early 1980s, the massive deregulation of television broadcasting led to an expansion of cable TV services throughout the United States. These cable providers carried a number of specialized channels for their subscribers. On August 1, 1981, Warner Communications and the American Express Company launched MTV, the first 24-hour music video cable channel. By 1983, MTV had expanded from 2.5 million initial subscribers to 17 million, making it the fastest growing cable channel in history. Airing videos on MTV was a way for artists and record companies to promote their music. By 1983, nearly all of the albums on the Billboard albums chart had at least one song in heavy rotation on MTV. MTV became the new way to advertise music to consumers.
Objectives
- Recall the development of MTV during the 1980s
- Examine the significance of the Second British Invasion as it related to MTV
- Examine the role Michael Jackson played in eliminating the color lines on MTV
- Recall how Madonna pushed musical and visual boundaries in her music and videos
Introduction
Music videos existed long before the invention of MTV. Television programs had been an important method for promoting music since the days of American Bandstand in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, video jukeboxes such as the Color Sonics machine would show images of bands performing a selected record. The Beatles produced promotional film clips for songs such as "Penny Lane ♫" and "Strawberry Fields Forever ♫." British glam rock group Queen created an elaborate video to accompany their 1975 single "Bohemian Rhapsody ♫." The release of MTV was not the first time that music and video were integrated, but it was the most ambitious and one of the most commercially successful combinations of the two mediums.
“MTV didn't exist in 1980, but by 1982, it had gotten to be a force to be reckoned with.”
