Before the 1940’s music videos were not used to promote artists or bands. They were used as promotional videos. An example of this is the song Fantasia from Walt Disney. This then helped the movie get more popular because people have heard the music in the movie. This then influences music videos because they became more popular to create.

1950's

In the 1950s, it became more popular for live performances to happen and they saw this as a way of getting your music out there. It was even better if the artist/band could get on a television show like Top of the Pops as there would be a large audience to listen to their music. An example of a live performance from the 1950s is Bill Haley and the comets:

In 1959, Tony Bennett was filmed walking along the serpentine in Hyde Park as his recording of his song ‘Stranger in Paradise played’. The video was played on UK and US television and he then claimed he made the first music video.