{"id":13321,"date":"2025-06-17T16:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/?p=13321"},"modified":"2025-06-17T19:49:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:49:20","slug":"the-history-of-music-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/2025\/06\/the-history-of-music-video\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Music Video in 169 Seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The History of Music Video in 169 Seconds\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1094051381?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"margin-bottom:40px\">This video essay is an experiment in the journal <em>16:9<\/em>\u2019s fixed format of \u201c169 Seconds.\u201d Collecting brief excerpts from one music video per year from the period 1964-2024, the video essay attempts to recount the entire history of music video in one single sweep from its beginnings to the present day. Attempting to cover the full complexity of music video in all its historical manifestations in a haphazard audiovisual supercut of a mere 169 seconds is obviously a project that is bound to cave-in on itself \u2013 but still the experiment invites several critical reflections about canonization and music video history that this written statement will serve to anchor and illuminate.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>In essence, the video essay can be seen as an attempt at providing a list of canonical music videos. The inspiration for making the essay came from similar brief supercuts of standout moments from film history, a type of video essay that has circulated on YouTube for quite some years now (for examples, see<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EmLdkQaULFQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> here<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nKkh2LWUVJw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> here<\/a> or<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CNYBXKt6_dw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> here<\/a>). The video essay thus collects one music video from every year in the period from 1964 to 2024 in chronological order, from The Beatles\u2019 \u201cA Hard Day\u2019s Night\u201d to Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cNot Like Us\u201d (fig. 1). At a breakneck pace, the video essay aims to make the development of music video come alive before our eyes and ears by showcasing landmark music videos by remarkable musical artists and video directors, along the way revealing historical changes in both musical, visual and audiovisual aesthetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1378\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13324\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-300x207.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-1024x706.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-150x103.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-768x529.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-1536x1058.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-218x150.jpg 218w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-696x480.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-1068x736.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_01-1920x1323.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 1. Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cNot Like Us\u201d (2024) is the most recent music video included in the video essay.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">(Why) Do We Need a Music Video Canon?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we tackle the issues raised by this exercise \u2013 like the criteria for video selection, the question of when music video history began, or whatever the essay might indirectly tell us about music video history \u2013 a first question needs to be addressed. Do we even need a music video canon? And if so, then why and for what purposes? One place to start answering these questions is by simply stating that past music video scholarship has done little to produce such a canon \u2013 or at least has done relatively little to actively and directly pursue the question of what a music video canon could amount to. In fact, a certain cautiousness can be traced whenever the question of canonization appears in past music video research. In his recent book, <em>The Rhythm-Image<\/em>,<em> <\/em>Steven Shaviro makes sure to remind the reader that he is decidedly \u201cnot trying to create a canon of music video masterworks\u201d (Shaviro 2022, p. 5). Similarly, in her book on the history of British music video, Emily Caston maintains that creating a single canon of music videos would simply \u201cbe impossible\u201d (Caston 2020, p. 14) in part because different musical cultures have quite dissimilar value systems. Thus, the basic answer to why we need a music video canon would be that, contrary to what is the case for other audiovisual media forms, a music video canon simply does not yet exist \u2013 or as Carol Vernallis has put it, that \u201cwhile film studies [\u2026] has created a canon of its own, no similar corpus exists for music video\u201d (Vernallis 2013, p. 25).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Closely tied to this lack of a commonly shared music video canon is a general lack of documentation and archiving. Information about who assisted in creating a given music video is not always obtainable, in part because labels have not necessarily kept \u201cclear records of the work undertaken\u201d (Caston 2020, p. 15). Even if the site imvdb.com is a valuable source for obtaining production credits for some music videos, to say that its history is \u201cuncatalogued\u201d (Austerlitz 2007, p. 1) or \u201cpoorly chronicled\u201d (Vernallis 2023, p. 74) is certainly no understatement. Even though many music videos are readily available online on various video streaming platforms, there are in fact \u201cno archives for music video\u201d (Vernallis 2013, p. 26). It is probably a common misconception that YouTube is a dependable archive for music videos, but in effect many music videos are not available for study and just as many are accessible only in a poor quality. In researching this video essay and gathering materials to include, I would often face a situation where a given video was either nowhere to be found or available only in a quite degraded version. The history I could tell and the canon I could thereby compile was thus limited by the more or less random accessibility of music video works. So even if \u201cthe public perception is that music videos are everywhere, closer inspection shows that the condition of music video archives is perilous\u201d (Caston 2020, p. 15) \u2013 and whenever you do locate any given more or less obscure music video, \u201cviewers, users and researchers cannot know what version they are watching\u201d (Caston 2020, p. 15). At one point, for instance, I used an excerpt from Kraftwerk\u2019s \u201cAutobahn\u201d as one of the included examples \u2013 but I ended up having to opt for something else as I was not only unable to chase up who made it, but also to determine the year in which it was produced. Several different videos for this track exist and while the animated music video seems to be from 1974 or 1975 and directed by Robert Mainwood, I used another video with live-action footage, that might be from as late as 1979 (fig. 2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1373\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13325\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-300x206.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-1024x703.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-150x103.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-768x527.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-1536x1054.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-218x150.jpg 218w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-696x478.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-1068x733.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_02-1920x1318.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 2. Who directed this video for Kraftwerk\u2019s \u201cAutobahn\u201d and when was it made?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>However, to say that we need a music video canon simply because it doesn\u2019t already exist is of course not a complete answer as to why (or even if) we would want one. On one hand, we might ask, as does Vernallis, whether music videos even \u201cdeserve\u201d (Vernallis 2023, p. 74) a canon, while on the other, it is worth asking whether canons in general \u201chave outlived their usefulness\u201d (Kassabian 2010). Certainly, canons are increasingly surrounded by a certain skepticism with critics advocating for more inclusive and flexible canons or even questioning the need for canons at all. Canons risk conservatively reinforcing the centers of power and sustaining the status quo, thereby stifling diversity and leaving no place for new voices and less-known more experimental works. Along this line of reasoning, canon lists are arbitrary and subjective at the same time as they confirm the privileged and prejudiced politics of whoever is making such a list. Whenever something is highlighted, something else is ignored, and canons are indirectly as much about exclusion and marginalization as they are about arriving at some sort of consensus about the aesthetic essence of a given phenomenon. In short, canons restrict rather than inspire your imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, there are also arguments for defending canons. Canons can be a useful short-hand for arriving at shared references and resonances \u2013 both in general but also in more specific contexts, like those of research and teaching (Kassabian 2010, p. 74, p. 76). Once you have a canonized set of works, \u201creferencing those works is economical and brief\u201d (Staiger 1985, p. 9). In this view, canons help define what should be known and can facilitate critical discussion. Being familiar with canonical works in a given field can also provide historical insight into the phenomenon in question, a knowledge of key developments in a cultural field as expressed through exemplary works. Easy as it may be to disagree with any proposed list of canonical works, what a canon does provide is a starting point for discussing the merits and standards of excellence of whatever the canon is supposed to cover. In the specific case of music videos, a canon might also serve the additional purpose of arguing that music videos have actual cultural and aesthetic value and are worthy of preservation as cultural heritage. Scholars have often noted how music video is \u201can underappreciated, critically unnoticed subgenre of filmmaking\u201d (Austerlitz 2007, p. 1), how it has been \u201clargely neglected\u201d (Caston 2020, p. 157), and how academic screen studies have relegated it \u201cto a lower rung, despite its central role in generating representations and new configurations of old and new media\u201d (Perrott 2024, p. 2). A canon might assist in building credibility for such a devalued cultural phenomenon and remind us that it is problematic that too many videos are not being preserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Listomania?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter whether one finds the arguments for or against canons the most convincing, it is likely true that canon formation will never simply disappear. And even when trying to establish counter-canons, you end up facing some of the same issues anyway \u2013 since, as wisely argued by Janet Staiger, \u201ceven in revising and decentering dominant canons, new centers appear\u201d (ibid., p. 4). It is probably only a natural inclination to feel drawn to discussing which music videos we might find iconic, particularly accomplished or historically significant. Because as Simon Frith has suggested, \u201c[p]art of the pleasure of popular culture is talking about it; part of its meaning is this talk, talk which is run though with value judgments\u201d (Frith 1996, p. 4). Canon lists inevitably involve such value judgment and might helpfully instigate discussions about the worth of a given cultural phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if past music video scholarship has done little to interrogate the issue of canonization, it is still implicitly present every time any given music video is singled out for research attention at the expense of other videos. To my knowledge, past writings on music video have only produced three actual canon lists of videos: the earliest one in Michael Shore\u2019s book on early rock video (Shore 1985, p. 259-310), and then two more recent ones in Saul Austerlitz\u2019 popular history of music video (Austerlitz 2007, p. 225-227) and in the French-language book by Laurent Jullier and Julien P\u00e9quignot (Jullier &amp; P\u00e9quignot 2013, p. 120-121) \u2013 though you could also include the collection of British music videos in Emily Caston\u2019s largescale music video research project collected on an edited six-DVD boxset, even though this is of course limited to British videos (for an overview of the collection, see Caston 2020, p. 163-178). While not compiling such lists, all the standard references within the field of music video studies of course also contribute indirectly to the canonization of some videos, simply by means of discussing certain videos and omitting others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside of academia, though, such lists are more common. For one thing, MTV has produced its own array of such lists, including for instance a \u201ctop 500 of all time\u201d in 1997 (see Beebe 2007, p. 309-310). But music video charts have proliferated elsewhere as well, particularly online, both in the form of \u201cbest of all time\u201d lists, but also narrower \u201cbest of\u201d-lists for particular genres, directors or musical acts \u2013 from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/country\/best-country-music-videos-8022162\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> country<\/a> to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-lists\/best-rap-music-videos-1234788922\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> hip-hop<\/a>, from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-lists\/strike-a-pose-madonnas-20-greatest-videos-16146\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Madonna<\/a> to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/newyork\/blog\/the-10-best-bjork-music-videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Bj\u00f6rk<\/a>, or from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rb-hip-hop\/the-20-best-hype-williams-directed-music-videos-8528219\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Hype Williams<\/a> to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/features\/general\/best-to-worst-david-finchers-complete-music-videography-ranked-271812\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> David Fincher<\/a> (fig. 3). As noted by Diane Railton and Paul Watson, the gradual increase of this practice of list-making has served to produce \u201can informal canon of videos that appear on list after list: a canon which cuts across both time and genre\u201d (Railton &amp; Watson 2011, p. 6). In addition to this informal process of canonization, Railton and Watson also point to a more institutionalized process of canonization with museums like MoMA in New York and film institutions like the BFI in London archiving and exhibiting music videos. In exhibiting music videos in a context normally reserved for high-art, such music video exhibitions have assisted in \u201clegitimating music video as an art form of sorts\u201d (Korsgaard 2023, p. 48).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1119\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13326\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-300x168.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-1024x573.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-150x84.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-768x430.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-1536x859.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-696x389.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-1068x598.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_03-1920x1074.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 3. According to Billboard, the best music video directed by Hype Williams is the one for 2Pac\u2019s \u201cCalifornia Love\u201d (1996).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A less institutional and more transitory phenomenon also contributing to such processes of canonization was the release of various DVDs featuring the music video work of either musical artists or leading directors. A great many musical artists have had their videos collected on such DVDs, from 80s trendsetters like Michael Jackson or Madonna and on to Radiohead or Beastie Boys onwards (see also Kooijman 2017). While the release of DVDs featuring the work of directors is rarer, the series from Palm Pictures released between 2002 and 2005 was quite influential in lionizing a group of (all male) directors. The series was initiated by Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry who were the first directors included in the series to be followed later by Mark Romanek, Jonathan Glazer, Anton Corbijn, and St\u00e9phane Sednaoui (fig. 4). The importance of these collections is confirmed by the fact that the first three DVDs including the work of Jonze, Cunningham and Gondry were also the starting point for one of the only extant academic discussions of music video canonization, namely a chapter by Carol Vernallis in her 2013 book, <em>Unruly Media<\/em> (Vernallis 2013, p. 262-272). Others have also made the case for the importance of these particular DVDs in helping establish the idea of a \u201ccanon of music video artist-directors\u201d (Fleig 2021, p. 140, my translation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1362\" height=\"1943\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13327\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04.jpg 1362w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04-210x300.jpg 210w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04-718x1024.jpg 718w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04-105x150.jpg 105w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04-768x1096.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04-1077x1536.jpg 1077w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04-696x993.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_04-1068x1524.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1362px) 100vw, 1362px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 4. This DVD series from Palm Pictures championed certain music video auteur directors, including Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Directors vs. Musical Artists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This tendency to focus on music video directors when discussing music video canons points to a central tension regarding music video authorship. While directors are certainly important creative agents in making a music video and while the notion of the auteur has frequently been called upon in terms of legitimizing music video\u2019s cultural value, it is also self-evident that music video is fundamentally collaborative. Without the music and the musicians who make the music, there would be no video. For this reason, one cannot simply adopt the film studies <em>auteur<\/em>-based<em> <\/em>approach to the question of authorship \u2013 or at least, such an adoption \u201cwill need to be modified\u201d and \u201cspecially tailored to music video\u201d (Vernallis 2013, p. 25; see also Caston 2015). In the case of music video, it seems intuitively correct to assume that they are the product of a <em>dual<\/em> authorship between the musician(s) and the director \u2013 and even if their expressive aims can differ, in the end product of the music video these \u201cdiffering perspectives must somehow coalesce\u201d (Shaviro 2022, p. 1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the case of my video essay, this also meant considering both important directors (including some of the \u201cusual suspects\u201d mentioned above on to early pioneers like Russell Mulcahy and still-active luminaries like Joseph Kahn or Dave Meyers) <em>and <\/em>important musicians (some of which have also already been mentioned). The risk of importing the film studies <em>auteur<\/em>-approach simply focusing on music video directors would be that \u201c90 per cent of the content will be judged inadequate for a canon\u201d (Caston 2020, p. 155). But on the other hand, it is also problematic to focus solely on the music. Discussing one of the MTV \u201cbest of\u201d-lists, Roger Beebe notes that the awarding of the top spot to Nirvana\u2019s \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d is a reminder that \u201cthese are <em>music<\/em> videos\u201d (Beebe 2007, p. 324). Beebe\u2019s argument rests on the view that while \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d is indeed one of the most iconic 90s songs, the video itself is somewhat less accomplished (fig.5). In balancing out the attention given to influential directors versus touchstone musicians and songs, this particular video is still included in my video essay, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1545\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13328\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-300x232.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-1024x791.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-150x116.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-768x593.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-1536x1187.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-696x538.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-1068x825.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_05-1920x1483.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 5. \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d is undoubtedly an all-time iconic 1990s song, but is the music video equally accomplished?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In other cases, this question of visual vs. musical authorship is less problematic. On one hand, this includes those instances where music videos are the result of existing collaborative partnerships between certain directors and musicians. In the video essay, this goes for videos as different as Lasse Hallstr\u00f6m\u2019s video for ABBA\u2019s \u201cWaterloo\u201d (1974), Chris Cunningham\u2019s video for Aphex Twin\u2019s \u201cCome to Daddy\u201d (1997) or Hiro Murai\u2019s video for Childish Gambino\u2019s \u201cThis Is America\u201d (2018). On the other hand, authorship is also potentially less complicated in those cases where the musicians self- or co-direct their videos. In the essay, this goes for videos like David Bowie\u2019s \u201cAshes to Ashes\u201d (1980), Talking Heads\u2019 \u201cOnce in a Lifetime\u201d (1981) and the videos by OK Go (fig. 6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1476\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13329\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-300x221.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-1024x756.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-150x111.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-768x567.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-1536x1134.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-696x514.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-1068x788.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_06-1920x1417.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 6. Since this video for \u201cHere It Goes Again\u201d (2006), OK Go have become known for their inventive and meticulous music videos.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The fact that the music is always the starting point for any music video also means that the director\u2019s task is somewhat different than in other types of audiovisual production. There is always an aesthetic negotiation between the musical and the visual taking place in music video production, and thus directors need to rely on a specific skillset that involves how they \u201cunderstand and approach a song\u201d as well as how they \u201cdeal with music video\u2019s particular requirements\u2014its short form, lack of dialogue, and need to showcase the star\u201d (Vernallis 2013, p. 25). Along the way, specific musical genres have developed specific visual languages and stereotypes, ultimately meaning that \u201cthe kind of video that works for Radiohead isn\u2019t the kind of video that works for One Direction\u2019s fan-base\u201d (Caston &amp; Smith 2017, p. 3). In terms of trying to have the video essay arrive at a <em>general<\/em> canon of music videos that does not favor any particular music genre, this poses yet another challenge. Seeing that videos for each music genre \u201cexist on their own timeline, with their own clich\u00e9s and their own techniques\u201d (Austerlitz 2007, p. 9), the canon presented in the essay needed not just to represent key directors and musicians, but also at the same time a breadth of musical genres, making the compilation of examples an extremely complicated puzzle that must factor in several variables all at once. The impossibility of fully solving this puzzle also led to the killing of a great many darlings as well as some uncomfortable omissions, whether in terms of directors, musicians or genres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to Start?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The format of \u201c169 Seconds\u201d (inspired by the journal\u2019s name) was what originally sparked the idea to make a highly condensed compilation of music video highlights. The length restraint for the video essay to be only 169 seconds long imposed a simple challenge: how much can you even fit into such a short duration? Another self-imposed constraint was that I could pick only one music video per year. With a period of roughly sixty years to cover, this would facilitate a rapidly alternating historical tour of the progression from music video\u2019s early years to its current incarnation \u2013 the equation being that around sixty clips of around two seconds each plus a beginning and an ending would add up to the required 169 seconds. Even as this provided a rough guideline for gathering videos to include, three questions still lingered: what counts as a music video? In what year should the essay commence? And what are the criteria for including videos?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Past scholarship has proven that offering a permanent definition of music video is a surprisingly difficult task \u2013 and a task that has only become progressively more challenging with music video\u2019s travels from MTV onto YouTube and social media (Jirsa &amp; Korsgaard 2024). This development has led one of the leading music video scholars, Carol Vernallis, to suggest that \u201cat one time we knew what a music video is, but no longer\u201d (Vernallis 2013, p. 11) and that this constant remediation of music video means that the best definition we can arrive at is that music video is \u201ca relation of sound and image that we recognize as such\u201d (ibid.). This broad definition certainly offers flexibility in terms of what counts as a music video, but other more strict definitions also exist \u2013 like for instance the list of 5-7 key traits outlined in my own book, <em>Music Video After MTV<\/em> (Korsgaard 2017, p. 26). This definition would have that music videos are characterized by being a combination of music and visuals where popular music forms the foundation for the video: the song is pre-recorded and precedes the images and is also the structural unit for the video, meaning that song length and video length are typically more or less the same. Still, this is certainly not a catch-all definition \u2013 and in the essay, I have aimed for an understanding of music video that lands somewhere in-between such inclusive and exclusive definitions. This has also allowed for the inclusion of borderline examples all the way from the first example included in the video essay, The Beatles\u2019 \u201cA Hard Day\u2019s Night\u201d which stems from a feature film, onto more recent videos like Pinkfong\u2019s \u201cBaby Shark\u201d which is just as much of a children\u2019s video (fig. 7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1119\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13330\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-300x168.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-1024x573.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-150x84.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-768x430.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-1536x859.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-696x389.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-1068x598.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_07-1920x1074.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 7. Can the most-viewed YouTube clip of all time, Pinkfong\u2019s \u201cBaby Shark\u201d, be considered a music video?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of determining the birth year of music video, past scholarship has proven time and time again that this is impossible to arrive at in any simple terms, precisely because there is no one definition of music video. It is also related to the fact that music video has a diverse set of historical roots and \u201ccame into existence only gradually and as the offspring of many different precursors\u201d (Korsgaard 2017, p. 17). This poses a very concrete problem when trying to historicize the medium of music video \u2013 one might point to developments ranging all the way back to the era of silent cinema, to the experimental tradition of so-called \u201cvisual music\u201d, or to various videos shown on visual jukeboxes (like the 1940s \u201cSoundies\u201d or the 1960s \u201cScopitones\u201d). Along these lines, it is true that there \u201cis no such thing as \u2018the first music video\u2019\u201d (Marks &amp; Tannenbaum 2011, p. 22), and therefore no self-evident starting point for the video essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That the essay starts in 1964 with The Beatles\u2019 \u201cA Hard Day\u2019s Night\u201d is thus just one possible solution \u2013 as mentioned above, in a sense it\u2019s not even a music video, but rather an excerpt from the film of the same title, directed by Richard Lester. Still, this film was important in establishing some of the tropes of what would later become music video proper \u2013 and the mid-1960s is generally considered an important time for the beginnings of music video. For instance, Caston\u2019s book on British music video starts in this period as well, though in 1966 instead of 1964 (Caston 2020). Having established 1964 as the year to start the essay, the historical progression is simple enough: one video per year all the way up to the year in which I made the essay, 2024. Still, to establish a canon or a history of music video is clearly an absurdly unachievable task in a mere 169 seconds. In fact, some of the few comprehensive writings on music video history establish that this is something that even a whole book cannot truly accomplish: Austerlitz calls it a \u201chopelessly ludicrous enterprise\u201d (Austerlitz 2007, p. vii) while a more recent anthology confirms that \u201cgiven the volume of music videos in the world\u201d it cannot amount to \u201can exhaustive history\u201d (Arnold et al 2017, p. 4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, this impossibility is potentially part of the essay\u2019s allure. For one thing, the impossibility of writing a purely objective and straightforwardly chronologic history might be said to be true of any historical phenomenon and not simply of music video \u2013 as suggested, for instance, by Antti-Ville K\u00e4rj\u00e4 in relation to popular music in general: \u201cWriting history is always about selecting things to tell \u2013 writing total history is impossible\u201d (K\u00e4rj\u00e4 2006, p. 4). It is precisely the fact that you cannot get anywhere near to covering everything in 169 seconds that is demanding and thought-provoking. What to include in so little time? The viewer might similarly wonder: why was this or that video left out? Why so many examples of this particular ilk? Why so blandly middle-of-the-road or why so pretentiously leftfield? The very question indeed becomes \u201cwhat is <em>worth<\/em> including?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Selection Criteria<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Put differently, a video essay like this one needs a set of criteria for selecting videos. A few of these have already been implied above. Some relate to the form of the essay: exactly 169 seconds and only one video per year. Others are evaluative: which directors and musicians have been crucial to the evolution of the form? And which particular videos \u2013 that might not include key artists and\/or standout directors \u2013 stand out as iconic touchstones? This is of course a matter of debate, even if some argumentative force can be gained by looking at which videos, artists and directors that have appeared in past lists, that have been frequently analyzed and constantly inspire new writings, that have been and continue to be immensely popular and influential, and so forth. Within this set of criteria \u2013 key artists, directors and\/or videos \u2013 I also attempted to strive for a high level of diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This also relates to something already touched upon \u2013 the fact that \u201cmusic video greatness\u201d varies by music genre: \u201cThere are many different music genres and music communities, and each holds a different set of criteria about what constitutes a \u2018great\u2019 music video\u201d (Caston &amp; Smith 2017, p. 2). Striving for the inclusion of many different music genres thus also became a goal in and of itself. This quest for diversity also rests on a frequent argument in past music video studies that music video, regardless of music genre, is an aesthetically versatile phenomenon caught in a state of permanent transformation (Perrott 2024, p. 12; Jirsa &amp; Korsgaard, 2019, 2024). A 1970s punk music video (like Sex Pistols\u2019 \u201cGod Save the Queen\u201d) is obviously wildly different from a 2010s pop music video (like Taylor Swift\u2019s \u201cBlank Space\u201d). And in between and beyond these two examples, the history of music video is even more multifaceted. In compiling videos, I also strove for some level of diversity in terms of the artists and directors represented as well as the countries of origin \u2013 though, I\u2019ll admit, with varying degrees of success, given that these concerns also had to be balanced out with the other criteria. So while there is at least some balance in the amount of female artists and artists of color represented, there is at the same time a massive overweight of US and UK videos and a massive overweight of male directors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this complex of multiple criteria in play all at once, the videos ended up being included for different reasons \u2013 some for multiple reasons. To provide but a few examples: \u201cThis Is America\u201d was included for its strong representation of an artist of color (Childish Gambino), but also simply for being a standout video with an immense popularity \u2013 and also for its director, Hiro Murai, who is perhaps less well-known than other influential directors, but still a productive music video director held in high regard. Despite the controversies surrounding Michael Jackson, a music video canon that would not include \u201cThriller\u201d is hard to imagine \u2013 perhaps the most famous video of all time, it was very influential for extending music video into miniature films. OK Go\u2019s \u201cHere It Goes Again\u201d was one of the first viral videos to prove how online distribution changed the rules for music video. \u201cTake on Me\u201d by a-ha is very famous for its use of the animation technique of rotoscoping and also one of those relatively rare pre-online music videos to have made it into the billion-views club on YouTube (in fact, it is currently the most viewed pre-millennial music video on YouTube with more than two billion views). Pinkfong\u2019s \u201cBaby Shark\u201d might be massively annoying, and as already touched upon some might not even consider it a music video even though it <em>is<\/em> prerecorded music provided with lipsync imagery as in music video proper \u2013 but at the present moment it is the most watched YouTube clip of all time by a far margin. Sometimes a specific year would have more than one obvious contender: for the year 1990, how do you choose between the iconic tear in Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connors \u201cNothing Compares 2 U\u201d and Madonna\u2019s \u201cVogue\u201d (fig. 8), one of music video icon Madonna\u2019s most notable videos and certainly one of famous director David Fincher\u2019s landmark music videos? (see Korsgaard forthcoming).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1495\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13331\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-300x224.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-1024x765.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-150x112.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-768x574.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-1536x1148.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-696x520.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-1068x798.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_08-1920x1435.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 8. Madonna\u2019s \u201cVogue\u201d (1990), directed by David Fincher, did not make it into the video essay due to fierce competition.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lessons Learned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The final thing to consider is what can be learned from this video essay experiment. I went into compiling videos with the criteria in mind, but without a pre-formed idea of any narrative or message about music video history I wanted the essay to communicate. Being able to now reflect on the essay at a distance, there are a few lessons that spring to mind. First of all, the essay chronicles the evolution of music video style, both visually and musically. In terms of visual style, the essay shows the three general music video genres of performance, narrative and \u201cdream\u201d videos as they develop historically (see Kinder 1984). Early videos are often driven by a relatively straightforward performance mode, while more recent clips tend to adopt more conceptual and narrative approaches and frequently blend the three types. Musically, the essay cannot help but reflect the rise and fall of popular music genres, from rock into pop into grunge into electronic into hiphop and back into pop again. Both visually and musically, the essay confirms the diversity of music video and its propensity towards constantly experimenting with new ways of generating images and new ways of combing sound and vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another thing that indirectly reveals itself is music video\u2019s overlap with other media forms. The first two \u201cvideos\u201d in the essay are from films (The Beatles from Lester\u2019s feature and Bob Dylan from D. A. Pennebaker\u2019s rockumentary, <em>Dont Look Back<\/em>). But some of the more recent clips also overlap with other media forms, from the children\u2019s entertainment of Cat Stevens\u2019 \u201cMoonshadow\u201d (and of \u201cBaby Shark\u201d) and onto the visual album with Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s \u201cFormation\u201d taken from <em>Lemonade<\/em>. At other times, by chance the videos that happen to be in adjacent years appear to be speaking to each other. There are several such serendipitous interrelations between the videos. Sometimes this occurs between the lyrics: from Spice Girls\u2019 \u201cYo, I\u2019ll tell you what I want\u201d into Aphex Twin\u2019s \u201cI want your soul\u201d (from sexual desire into commercial desire) or from Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cget the fuck off my stage\u201d into Childish Gambino\u2019s \u201cget down!\u201d. At other times, the resonances are visual: from Missy Elliott\u2019s phone to Britney\u2019s phone (though with Outkast sandwiched in-between) and with women on motorbikes in both Rosal\u00eda and SZA (fig. 9-10). And occasionally the relations occur between registers: from the proclamation \u201cHop on top, I wanna ride\u201d in Cardi B\u2019s \u201cWAP\u201d into Lil Nas X giving the devil a lap-dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1122\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13332\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-300x168.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-1024x574.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-150x84.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-768x431.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-1536x862.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-696x390.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-1068x599.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_09-1920x1077.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 9. Rosal\u00eda\u2019s \u201cSaoko\u201d (2022) features several images of women riding motorbikes.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10.jpg\" class=\"td-modal-image\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"832\" src=\"https:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13333\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10.jpg 2000w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-300x125.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-1024x426.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-150x62.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-768x319.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-1536x639.jpg 1536w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-696x290.jpg 696w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-1068x444.jpg 1068w, http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-content\/uploads\/404_10-1920x799.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig. 10. SZA also rides a motorbike in the video for \u201cKill Bill\u201d (2023).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In a weird way, this also tells us something about the question of what constitutes music video greatness. \u201cGreat\u201d music videos are often thought to rely on such spillover effects between music, image and words. The best music videos are frequently thought to give rise to a kind of \u201cthirdness\u201d that elevates a music video to more than the sum of its visual and musical parts. However, what the essay also demonstrates is that even if this can be considered an essential trait of music video aesthetics, it is something that can appear in many different guises.Accordingly, many versions of this video essay could be made \u2013 and so the essay is probably at least as valuable in the discussions it provokes as it is in and of itself. I could certainly have made multiple versions of the video essay where I replaced all videos with other videos that I might personally find more accomplished and engaging works \u2013 but that are much less well-known and exemplary, and thereby, in some sense, less canonical. By way of conclusion, I would love for others to disagree with my choices, if not for anything else then simply for initiating a conversation about what constitutes a great music video. So more than anything else, consider this video essay <em>an invitation<\/em>: what would make it onto <em>your<\/em> list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Facts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Videos (by order of appearance)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The Beatles: \u201cA Hard Day\u2019s Night\u201d (1964). Excerpt from <em>A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em>, dir. Richard Lester.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bob Dylan: \u201cSubterranean Homesick Blues\u201d (1965). Excerpt from <em>Dont Look Back<\/em> (1967), dir. D. A. Pennebaker.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Kinks: \u201cDead End Street\u201d (1966), dir. Ray Davies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Beatles: \u201cStrawberry Fields Forever\u201d (1967), dir. Peter Goldmann.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Doors: \u201cThe Unknown Soldier\u201d (1968), dir. Mark Abramson.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The 5<sup>th<\/sup> Dimension: \u201cAge of Aquarius\u201d (1969), dir. unknown.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Carpenters: \u201cClose to You\u201d (1970), dir. unknown.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>John Lennon: \u201cImagine\u201d (1971), dir. John Lennon &amp; Yoko Ono.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cat Stevens: \u201cMoonshadow\u201d (1972), dir. Charles Jenkins.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pink Floyd: \u201cMoney\u201d (1973), dir. Barry Chattington (?), Peter Medak (?), Wayne Isham (?).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ABBA: \u201cWaterloo\u201d (1974), dir. Lasse Hallstr\u00f6m.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Queen: \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d (1975), dir. Bruce Gowers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Devo: \u201cJocko Homo\u201d (1976). Excerpt from <em>The Truth About De-Evolution<\/em>, dir. Gerald Casale &amp; Mark Mothersbaugh.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sex Pistols: \u201cGod Save the Queen\u201d (1977), dir. Julien Temple.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kate Bush: \u201cWuthering Heights\u201d (1978), dir. Keith MacMillan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Buggles: \u201cVideo Killed the Radio Star\u201d (1979), dir. Russell Mulcahy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>David Bowie: \u201cAshes to Ashes\u201d (1980), dir. David Bowie &amp; David Mallet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Talking Heads: \u201cOnce in a Lifetime\u201d (1981), dir. Toni Basil &amp; David Byrne.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Duran Duran: \u201cHungry Like the Wolf\u201d (1982), dir. Russell Mulcahy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Michael Jackson: \u201cThriller\u201d (1983), dir. John Landis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cabaret Voltaire: \u201cSensoria\u201d (1984), dir. Peter Care.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a-ha: \u201cTake on Me\u201d (1985), dir. Steve Barron.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Peter Gabriel: \u201cSledgehammer\u201d (1986), dir. Stephen R. Johnson.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Whitney Houston: \u201cI Wanna Dance with Somebody\u201d (1987), dir. Brian Grant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Neneh Cherry: \u201cBuffalo Stance\u201d (1988), dir. John Maybury.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Madonna: \u201cLike a Prayer\u201d (1989), dir. Mary Lambert.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor: \u201cNothing Compares 2 U\u201d (1990), dir. John Maybury.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nirvana: \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d (1991), dir. Samuel Bayer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Guns \u2018N\u2019 Roses: \u201cNovember Rain\u201d (1992), dir. Andy Morahan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bj\u00f6rk: \u201cHuman Behavior\u201d (1993), dir. Michel Gondry.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Beastie Boys: \u201cSabotage\u201d (1994), dir. Spike Jonze.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Michael Jackson &amp; Janet Jackson: \u201cScream\u201d (1995), dir. Mark Romanek.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spice Girls: \u201cWannabe\u201d (1996), dir. Johan Camitz.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aphex Twin: \u201cCome to Daddy\u201d (1997), dir. Chris Cunningham.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UNKLE feat. Thom Yorke: \u201cRabbit in Your Headlights\u201d (1998), dir. Jonathan Glazer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bj\u00f6rk: \u201cAll Is Full of Love\u201d (1999), dir. Chris Cunningham.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>D\u2019Angelo: \u201cUntitled\u201d (2000), dir. Paul Hunter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chemical Brothers: \u201cStar Guitar\u201d (2001), dir. Michel Gondry.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Missy Elliott: \u201cWork It\u201d (2002), dir. Dave Meyers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Outkast: \u201cHey Ya!\u201d (2003), dir. Brian Barber.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Britney Spears: \u201cToxic\u201d (2004), dir. Joseph Kahn.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nine Inch Nails: \u201cOnly\u201d (2005), dir. David Fincher.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OK Go: \u201cHere It Goes Again\u201d (2006), dir. Trish Sie &amp; OK Go.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arctic Monkeys: \u201cBrianstorm\u201d (2007), dir. Huse Monfaradi.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Weezer: \u201cPork and Beans\u201d (2008), dir. Mathew Cullen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lady Gaga: \u201cBad Romance\u201d (2009), dir. Francis Lawrence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OK Go: \u201cThis Too Shall Pass\u201d (2010), dir. James Frost &amp; OK Go.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tyler the Creator: \u201cYonkers\u201d (2011), dir. Wolf Haley.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Psy: \u201cGangnam Style\u201d (2012), dir. Cho Soo-hyun.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Miley Cyrus: \u201cWrecking Ball\u201d (2013), dir. Terry Richardson.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Taylor Swift: \u201cBlank Space\u201d (2014), dir. Joseph Kahn.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pinkfong: \u201cBaby Shark\u201d (2015), dir. unknown.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Beyonce: \u201cFormation\u201d (2016), dir. Melina Matsoukas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kendrick Lamar: \u201cHUMBLE.\u201d (2017), dir. Dave Meyers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Childish Gambino: \u201cThis Is America\u201d (2018), dir. Hiro Murai.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Billie Eilish: \u201cBad Guy\u201d (2019), dir. Dave Meyers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cardi B: \u201cWAP\u201d (2020), dir. Colin Tilley.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lil Nas X: \u201cMontero (Call Me By Your Name)\u201d (2021), dir. Tanu Muino &amp; Lil Nas X.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rosal\u00eda: \u201cSaoko\u201d (2022), dir. Valentin Petit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SZA: \u201cKill Bill\u201d (2023), dir. Christian Breslauer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kendrick Lamar: \u201cNot Like Us\u201d (2024), dir. Dave Free &amp; Kendrick Lamar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Literature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Arnold, Gina, Daniel Cookney, Kirsty Fairclough &amp; Michael Goddard. <em>Music\/Video: Histories, Aesthetics, Media<\/em>. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Austerlitz, Saul. <em>Money For Nothing: A History of the Music Video from the Beatles to the White Stripes<\/em>. London &amp; New York: Continuum, 2007.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Beebe, Roger. \u201cParodoxes of Pastiche: Spike Jonze, Hype Williams, and the Race of the Postmodern Auteur\u201d, in <em>Medium Cool: Music Videos from Soundies to Cellphones<\/em>, eds. Roger Beebe &amp; Jason Middleton, 303-327. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Caston, Emily. \u201cNot Another Article on the Author! God and Auteurs in Moving Image Analysis: Last Call for a Long Overdue Paradigm Shift\u201d. <em>Music, Sound, and the Moving Image<\/em> 9:2 (2015): 145-161.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Caston, Emily. <em>British Music Videos, 1966-2016: Genre, Authenticity and Art<\/em>. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Caston, Emily &amp; Justin Smith. \u201cFifty Years of British Music Video: Introduction\u201d. <em>Music, Sound, and the Moving Image<\/em> 11:1 (2017): 1-9.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fleig, Michael. \u201cMichel Gondry und Spike Jonze \u2013 Auteurs des Musikvideos\u201d, in <em>Musikvideo reloaded: \u00dcber historische und aktuelle Bewegtbild\u00e4sthetiken zwischen Pop, Kommerz und Kunst<\/em>, ed. Kathrin Dreckmann, 125-144. Berlin &amp; Boston: D\u00fcsseldorf University Press, 2021.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Frith, Simon. <em>Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music<\/em>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jirsa, Tom\u00e1\u0161 &amp; Mathias Bonde Korsgaard. \u201cThe Music Video in Transformation: Notes on a Hybrid Audiovisual Configuration\u201d. <em>Music, Sound, and the Moving Image<\/em> 13:2 (2019): 111-122.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jirsa, Tom\u00e1\u0161 &amp; Mathias Bonde Korsgaard. <em>Traveling Music Videos<\/em>. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jullier, Laurent &amp; Julien P\u00e9quignot. <em>Le clip: histoire et esth\u00e9tique<\/em>. Paris: Armand Colin, 2013.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kassabian, Anahid. \u201cHave Canons Outlived Their Usefulness?\u201d. <em>Journal of Popular Music Studies<\/em> 22:1 (2010): 74-78.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kinder, Marsha. \u201cMusic Video and the Spectator: Television, Ideology and Dream\u201d. <em>Film Quarterly <\/em>38:1 (1984): 2-15.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kooijman, Jaap. \u201cThe Boxed Aesthetic and Metanarratives of Stardom\u201d, in <em>Music\/Video: Histories, Aesthetics, Media<\/em>, eds. Gina Arnold, Daniel Cookney, Kirsty Fairclough &amp; Michael Goddard, 231-243. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Korsgaard, Mathias Bonde. <em>Music Video After MTV: Audiovisual Studies, New Media, and Popular Music<\/em>. New York &amp; London: Routledge, 2017.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Korsgaard, Mathias Bonde. \u201cIt Belongs in a Museum? Music Videos in Danish Museum Exhibitions\u201d, in <em>More Than Illustrated Music: Aesthetics of Hybrid Media Between Pop, Art, and Video<\/em>, eds. Kathrin Dreckmann &amp; Elfi Vomberg, 47-58. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Korsgaard, Mathias Bonde. \u201cDavid Fincher, Music Video Auteur?\u201d, in <em>ReFocus: The Films of David Fincher<\/em>, ed. Keith Clavin. Edinburg: Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>K\u00e4rj\u00e4, Antti-Ville. \u201cA Prescribed Alternative Mainstream: Popular Music and Canon Formation\u201d. <em>Popular Music<\/em> 25:1 (2006): 3-19.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marks, Craig &amp; Rob Tannenbaum. <em>I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution<\/em>. New York: Dutton, 2011.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Perrott, Lisa. <em>David Bowie and the Art of Music Video<\/em>. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Railton, Diane &amp; Paul Watson. <em>Music Video and the Politics of Representation<\/em>. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shaviro, Steven. <em>The Rhythm-Image: Music Videos and New Audiovisual Forms<\/em>. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shore, Michael. <em>The Rolling Stone Book of Rock Video<\/em>. London: Sidgwick &amp; Jackson, 1985.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staiger, Janet. \u201cThe Politics of Film Canons\u201d. <em>Cinema Journal <\/em>24:3 (1985): 4-23.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vernallis, Carol. <em>Unruly Media: Music Video, YouTube, and the New Digital Cinema<\/em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vernallis, Carol. <em>The Media Swirl: Politics, Audiovisuality, and Aesthetics<\/em>. Durham: Duke University Press, 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>169 SECONDS. Past music video scholarship has only rarely touched upon the issue of canonization and accordingly there have been almost no discussions of which music videos that could amount to canonical status. In this brief video essay and accompanying written article, Mathias Bonde Korsgaard aims to redress this lack and asks whether you can recount the entire history of music video in a mere 169 seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,14,227,33],"tags":[577],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13321"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13321"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13336,"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13321\/revisions\/13336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16-9.dk\/3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}