Music in the 80's

In the 1980's the music video 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson came out. The music video was completely different to other music videos. It subverted typical music video conventions, the thriller video starts with credits. This makes it seems more like a short film rather than a music video. The video, directed by John Landis intentionally doesn't resemble a music video and subverts normal music video conventions. One example of the conventions it subverts is the length of the video - it is around 13 -14 minutes long, whereas usually music videos are around 3-4 minutes long. The music video also stops at points along the video for the narrative to take place. The narrative plays a strong part in the video and there is non diagetic sound in the form of a voice over. The thriller video is one the most important music videos for Michael Jackson personally and the 1980's.

Another major event that happened in the 1980's music industry was the launch of music television and the channel MTV, first launched in the USA in 1981 and then introduced to Europe in 1985. This gave access to music videos and music television constantly, and this saw record sales soaring from the launch of this as MTV was a form of promotion. The first music video shown on the launch of MTV in Europe was 'Money For Noting' by Dire Straits. It's easy to see why this video was chosen as it strongly promoted MTV as the lyrics contained the word 'MTV' - 'i want my MTV'. It also featured clips from other music videos to promote them as well.