Did Video Really Kill the Radio Star?

Did video kill the radio star?

I used to love the song "video killed the radio star"by The Buggles . That got me to thinking to seek out the truth in the statement. Yes, the mediums Mtv, Viva, Bet, Vh1, Go-tv, YouTube and many more video formats catered to the visual nature of human beings; thus, many musicians were forced to change their way of conveying music. Ages ago (ok, many ages ago), musicians only had to sing extremely well with a catchy beat and memorable lyrics or/and play an instrument superbly well. Success was based on raw and pure talent or nepotism if you are cynical like me. Rarely, did it matter how they looked while doing what they loved unless they made a rare television appearance. Those days were all about the sound and how it came through over the radio.

Now, singers must have a snazzy video in order to break through in the business and gain popularity. Video sells the concept of the song to the viewers through a type of short story. It makes sense that we must see the singer because, after all, that what eyes are for; however, that’s what television appearances accomplished, so why video? I think video takes us to a complacent place of surrealism where the audience feels more connected and attached to the song. Video allowed us to happily escape reality for a moment by immersing us in all aspects of the song.

On the down side, video did kill the radio star. During the transition from radio to video, great singers met their music career demise for such various reasons as lack of physical attractiveness, inability to dance, lack of animation or, even, the lack of style. They were reduced to a lackluster career; relegated to singing in bars; entertaining at small venues or in extreme cases, banished from the music industry all together.

Video is definitely not the only killer of music mediums. If one takes a historical trip down music memory lane, several music formats became obsolete due to a newer form of conveyance. Surely, there were trails of broken dreams, shattered careers, fear, and resentment during each transition. Ultimately, adaptation enabled various musical artists to thrive and combined with the acceptance from consumers, clearly, helped usher in each new era..

The following music formats were obliterated by one physical form in favor of another:

Hydro Organ – Music Boxes - Phonautograph - Phonograph – Wax Cylinders – Gramophone Disks - Celluloid Cylinders – Juke Box - Magnetic Tapes - Vinyl Disks (records and albums) – FM Radio - Compact Cassettes – Music Movies (Beatles) - 8 Track Tapes – Music Videos (Thanks to Australia’s “Countdown and Sounds” video program with MTV un-hosted videos following) - Compact Disks - Minidisc/ATRAC/Walkman – MP3’s – DVD’s – ITunes/Windows Media DRM - Streaming

Of course there were other technologies that weren’t listed, for instance Thomas Edison’s film with music for the Kinetophone, paved the way to videos, sadly or happily depending on whether you were an artist affected or the consumer, killing the radio star.

Now, I wonder which technology will kill the omnipresent YouTube stars.