Research Into The Music Industry

Who are the main television companies that show music videos?

MTV is probably the most well-known exhibitor of music videos on television- the name itself is an acronym for 'Music Television'. MTV went on air for the first time in 1981, and was originally created by the Viacom Music and Entertainment group with the sole aim of showing music videos (which were provided for free by the record companies). MTV has been instrumental in promoting the careers of influential artists like Madonna, Nirvana and Michael Jackson. 

Since its humble beginnings in the early 
1980s, MTV has evolved and grown into a group of genre-specific music channels. The original MTV channel now shows mostly reality shows such as 'Catfish' and 'Teen Mom', while its subsidiary music-based channels such as MTV Rocks show music videos, interviews, award shows and live performances. 

VH1 is another popular television channel known for showing music videos. An acronym for 'Video Hits One', the channel was originally launched by the Viacom Music and Entertainment Group in 1985 in order to try and build on the success that MTV had been receiving. To avoid large amounts of competition with its sister channel MTV, VH1 aimed their programming style at a slightly older demographic by focusing on the softer side of popular music. 

While MTV has by far the most subsidiary music channels, VH1 has also created some additional genre-focused channels: VH1 Classic (launched in 1999) and VH1 Soul (launched in 2000). These two channels continued the theme of targeting an older demographic, respectively showing mainstream 'classic' hits and Soul/R&B/Motown songs.


The CSC Media Group is a UK-based satellite television channel provider. They are responsible for what are arguably the UK's most popular and accessible music television channels, including Chart Show TV, Scuzz, 
Starz TV and The Vault. These channels vary across a 
wide range of genres, catering to a large demographic. Unlike MTV and VH1, all of the CSC Media Group's channels
are available on Freeview, meaning that they are essentially guaranteed a much wider audience than channels like MTV, which are exclusive to people who pay for television subscriptions such as Sky TV. (Launch date image/information from Wikipedia). While the CSC Media Group has access to a broader audience than MTV and VH1, they lack the large budgets and high production values of these channels. As a result of this, many of their channels use text messaging services to encourage audiences to send a specifically priced text to the channel in order to request a music video to be shown on television. 

Where can you find music videos?

As discussed above, the first place that audiences were able to access music videos was MTV. This did not allow much freedom for the audience, and teenagers in particular would often spend hours on end waiting for a particular video to be shown on their televisions. Since the development of social media, music videos have become much more accessible for audiences. The main platform used to stream music videos is currently Youtube, which is partnered with VEVO for certain video releases. The ability to embed videos from Youtube onto websites and blogs, and to share videos on other social networking sites makes music videos accessible from almost anywhere on the internet at any given time. 

What is the purpose of music videos?

The main purpose of music videos is to generate promotion for an artist without their record label having to pay huge amounts of money for advertising. Music videos were originally created as a method of boosting the popularity of an artist, which in turn lead to increases in sales for the record companies. A music video is used to promote a single, which then promotes an album, and overall promotes the artist's image. As music videos have become more popular and complex, they have more varied reasons for being produced, such as an artist trying to portray a certain persona, or to promote other forms of media such as films. However, the main reason that music videos are produced still remains to generate money for the record companies and recognition for the artists.

If my music video was a real world media product, it would be distributed through both music television and internet sites such as YouTube and Vevo. In terms of music television, my video would likely be shown on channels such as VH1, Viva, Chart Show TV, Starz TV, MTV Music and MTV Hits. I am familiar with all of these channels and the style of music that is played on each one, so based on our song choice I believe that our video would be shown on them. YouTube and Vevo are by far the most popular sites for artists to upload their music videos to, as the videos are easily accessible to the public and therefore can gain the artists as much recognition as possible. This is why we will be uploading our video to YouTube, and why if it were a real world media product, we would upload it to both YouTube and Vevo.