The revolution of MTV and music television changed the way people conceived the sound of music through a visual sense. The illustration of music was taken to a level of visually stimulating images that told a story or described a scene. Some artist/musicians took complete advantage of the idea and made it part of their identity, and an extension of their musical persona. While some bands may have made videos out of obligation, they didn’t seem to care too much about the relationship between the song and video itself. A lot of “grudge” bands seem to be more concerned with the music itself and the message within that song, and out of their rebellious antics they became more infamous. In a sense, the lack of carelessness toward a music video propelled certain bands in superstardom.
On the other hand, some artist made music videos an art form and popularized the industry and made it commercial and theatrical. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was an enormous milestone that changed the way people looked and conceived music videos. It was basically a fourteen minute short film that involved a lot of well known people such as John Landis; who directed An American Werewolf In London. Marilyn Manson also puts a lot of effort into the imagery of his videos to reflect the sound of the song. Madonna was also a music video pioneer with edgy lyrics that correlated with the imagery of the song. Music television became a visual langue that extended the communication system of a generation. Music television today has moved from the television itself and onto the internet. YouTube has redefined not only music, but the industry itself. Any person can make a video by however means necessary and have it on the web in a matter of minutes. The content of the video or the unpleasant sound that coincides with it is just an opinion at this point. The fact of the matter is that the recourses are out there and that people can be viewed just as much as a popular artist, and also raises the bar for a popular artist/musician.
