Myah's A2 Media Blog: November 2013

The Early Days
In the 1800's telephone inventor Thomas Edison invented the first machine to record sounds, the phonograph.
In the 1940's vinyl was invented to entertain the soldiers during the World War II as a means of transporting music to remind them of happier times.
During this time jazz was a popular music genre it was known to lift peoples spirits during hard times in history. Ragtime and Swing offered rhythm and beat and left jazz as the first type of music meant for dancing as a result of this it became popular with younger audiences and dance halls were soon packed with individuals who wanted to have a good time through dancing. Soon after in 1949 Todd Storz started to study the trends of audiences and of jukebox choices and then decided to introduce the "Top 40" that is seen in the modern day charts today!

1950's
In the 1950's World War II ended and things really changed. Major activities began such as black and white artists began worked together. In the spirit of coming together and expressing oneself rock 'n' roll was born which developed through the merging of black and white styles. In 1956 Elvis Presley came onto the music scene and the generation gap widened. Elvis Presleys music was sexual and anti authority and because of this older generations felt threatened and worried about the effects it may have on the morality of their children. Radio became extremely popular in terms of listening to music, the portable radio was invented in 1957 which meant people could move music around there homes.

1960's
In 1962 The Beatles signed to EMI records they were an instant hit 'Beatlemania' gripped the world over the coming years the four member were constantly greeted with screaming fans and were an object of mass hysteria until Paul McCartney quit the band in 1970's.
In 1963 audio cassettes were put on the market for the first time the cassette quickly developed into a popular format for listening to music.
The BBC resisted giving rock and roll airtime until 1967 mainly because the radio station served middle class individuals and was known to be respectable, Instead audiences could tune into hear new rock and roll on handful of pirate radio stations.mIn 1967 the government closed the loophole in the law that allowed the pirate radio stations to operate and promptly closed them down. This then allowed the BBC to set up a new radio station to serve a younger audience this was Radio 1. In the 1969 a momentous event was held near New York it was a music festival called Woodstock.

1970's
The 1970's was the decade of happy, optimistic disco music, progressive rock from bands such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and at the extreme , the rebellious, and angry punk movement with bands such as The Ramones, The Clash, The Sex Pistold and Blondie. In the 1960's punk bands sang about crime, girls, sniffing glue and anarchy. The music was fast and frantic, tough and gritty, and attacked the establishment. The punk genre influenced fashion through torn t shirts, leather jackets customized with patches, metal studs, chains and artwork, tight jeans, and outlandish hairstyles dyed in variety of colours were worn by many young people in the 1970's.

1980's
The 1980's was a hugely influential decade for the music industry. In 1981 MTV was launched as the first ever non stop music channel. Young people grew to expect their favorite music to come with moving images, and their thirst for their favourite bands was quenched with MTV's schedule which was a constant flow of music videos. Due to popularity of music videos, it quickly became necessary for record companies to increase their marketing budgets for music artists in order to produce a video to accompany every new release. In return, sales of records increased dramatically and MTV became instrumental in promoting the careers of artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. Ever since the birth of MTV, the music video has become a necessary element in creating a bands success.

In 1981 the must have music gadget was the Walkman, developed by Sony, which had been released in Japan two years earlier. Music was portable and the Walkman changed the way people used music. Suddenly it was possible to have a soundtrack playing to every aspect of life. The Walkman caused music sales on cassettes to continue to rise but it also had a negative effect on the industry and people began to copy music rather than buying a cassette version of their favourite music resulting in piracy.

In 1982 the CD was first released to the public by Sony and Phillips and was hailed as being indestructible as well as producing crystal clear sound. In 1983 Live Aid was broadcast to the world in its entirety on MTV and became one of the biggest television events in history.

In 1985 Madonna was very popular with her post punked, sexualised image and her poppy, optimistic sound. She subverted stereotypes of women by taking elements of female iconography of the 1940;s, 50's and 60's such as bright red lipstick, lace corsets and high heels and turning them into something far more raunchy and rebellious. She also had male backing singers, which was historically unheard of for female artists. Michael Jackson was also leading the way as the top male solo artists of the decade, he used the music video as a way of increasing his popularity and the legendary 14 minute 'Thriller' video which was a global phenomenon.

1990's
In 1990's music became extremely diverse the music industry was booming with music from the likes of Spice Girls and Nirvana/ In the 1990's there was the rise of Britpop which was british produced rock created by bands such as Blur, Pulp, Oasis and Suede. Since 1988 the Discman was the portable music machine of choice up until the release of the first MP3 in 1998.

2000's
In 2001 Apple introduced ITunes and the world of music changed forever. The same year Apple introuduced Itunes they released the Ipod where PC users were able to access music downloads.
In the 2000's the record industry faced a crisis. CD sales fell and illegal downloads meant people who might have bought CD's were now able to get it free from illegal download websites. Today it is estimated that 95% of music files exchanged online are unlicensed and unpaid for meaning that no money goes back to the people in the music industry making the music.
Meanwhile, record labels were gaining profits from reality tv shows such as Pop Idol and Xfactor where musical artists were showcased and groomed to become the next big thing.
In the 2000's the internet allowed fans to get closer to their favourite aritsts and bands through Facebook and Twitter. Forums such as Myspace allowed unknown artists to have their music heard and to build a fan base without the costs of releasing a record.

In 2000's music tastes still remained diverse hip hop and rap dominated the UK and US with arists such as 50cent, Kanye West and Eminem often said to be the most succesful hip hop artists in the 2000's. In the UK grime also came on the scene with artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder. This genre remained very male dominated usually consisting of male aritists, male orientated lyrics and videos that often exploited women something that is still a typical convention of the Hip Hop genre. Indie rock also remained popular with bands such as Kings Of Leon, Muse and The Arctic Monkeys.Hard Rock/Metal also remained a popularity with the likes of bands such as Green Day, Paramore, My Chemical Romance and Panic at the Disco. Pop was less clean cut and artists such as Christina Aguilara hardened their image, while Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne led the way with the pop-rock hybrid something that differs today as a result of Miley Cyrus turning to the Rap Scene. Popular acts in the UK in the 2000's were JLS, Girls Aloud, and Sugababes song writers such as Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen some of which are well known legends in the music industry today (Amy Winehouse) R&B remained popular with artists such as Beyonce, Rhianna, Usher and Alicia Keys being some of the more successful acts of the decade.

Auteur Theory-

Auteur Theory suggests that a director can use the commercial apparatus of film making in the same way that a writer uses a pen or a painter uses a paint brush. He suggests that this is a medium for the personal artistic expression of the director.

The theory suggests that Music Video directors can also be auteurs it states that this platform can allow for more creative, artistic expression then film making. The director may use this medium to showcase a distinct style or repetition of themes. There should be a clear connection between their work and this is something Hype Williams does in his work.

Harold "Hype" Williams is an American music video and film director who mainly specializes in being the director of the hip hop genre music videos. When looking at Hype Williams hip hop videos I can draw clear links between his style shown throughout. Each video holds the same themes being bright colours, flashing lights and fast editing throughout. This is something that matches the genre of the music being quite fast paced. Hype Williams also consistently work with the same music artists representing clear links between every one of the artists releases.

Kanye West- All Of The Lights