History of the Development of Pop Promos

The purpose of a pop promo is to promote the image of the given 'pop star' in a usually positive light which serves to encourage interest from consumers who will hopefully go on to buy their latest single or album.

It is thought by many that Queen's 'Bohemian Rapsody' was the first real pop promo when in fact German Oscar Fischinger had experimented with abstract synchronisations in the 1920s. Also a film of about eight minutes in length were used to promote singers Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby as part of the info wheels in cinemas at that time. The biggest leap towards modern day MTV was when US company Harman-ee began to produce pop promos which took on a very suggestive and often borderline pornographic route by employing extended shots of the female crotch and exotic dance routines.

Just prior to that Warner Bros and Disney had both produced individual animations cut to specific songs with a major example being 'Three Pigs in a Polka.' Additionally before the Second World War 'promotional clips' were made for visual jukeboxes usually involving Jazz musicians which became somewhat of a fad in bars and night clubs.

Elvis Presley signalled a big shift in attention towards pop promos when he appeared in a variety of fictional locations for singles such as 'Jailhouse Rock' whilst the Beatles appeared on a busy railway line in 'A Hard Day's Night'. This coincided with the launch of American Bandstand in the USA and Top of the Pops in the UK during the mid sixties. The Beatles continued to produce what we now consider to be pop promos with the likes of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever which, because of their enormous popularity, created increased interest in the medium.

Across the pond, the Monkees were being billed as an answer to the Beatles and they made several notable pop promos with Daydream Believer and Then I saw her Face amongst them. However their biggest contribution came after they disbanded when Mike Nesmith had the idea of producing a programme called Pop Clips which would show nothing but pop promos for a whole hour. Warner Brothers loved the idea of creating round the clock programming with the only cost being royalties but this was offset by advertisers being will to pay large sums of money for air time. MTV began broadcasting in 1981.

MTV grew quickly with numerous bands wanting play time and the introduction of 'serious rock' onto the channel enhanced their reputation. They also later introduced rap music which added to the channel's demographic. Nowadays MTV has several channels and has even introduced some regular programming such as The Osbournes and Jackass as they increase their power. However this may be threatened by the growing ease with which pop promos are available online as the new virtual generation see this as an easier and quicker way to consume pop promos.

Big time directors began to move into the medium with both John Landis and Martin Scorcese directing videos for Michael Jackson. As a result pop promos began to introduce 'plots' with the Kinks and the Rolling Stones being particular pioneers along with the director Anthony Stern. Further progress was into political means was made apparent when the Vietnam War broke out and numerous artists including the Doors and Morrissey used the medium as protest and to potentially galvanise youth support. Sympathy for the Devil is a famous example of a pop promo doubling up as a political film talking about John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War - it was directed by the french political director Jean-Luc Goddard. The Sonny and Cher comedy hour also hired animators to create promos for several songs.

Michael Jackson's Thriller was the most watched and most anticipated pop promo of all time and caused the medium to jump further into the mainstream than ever before thus embedding it in the way it is today. It also sparked a wave of highly outspoken, flambuoyant and talented directors like Spike Jonze, David Fincher and Michel Gondry who as well as creating more artistic promos saw the medium as a means to create a respected reputation so as to eventually move into cinema. Their future films include Where the Wild Things Are, Fight Club and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind respectively.

In the eighties a few pop promos were banned by the BBC under pressure from Mary Whitehouse and others, most notably the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen. Nowadays however it is unheard of for a band to release a single without a pop promo as it is often the first way potential consumers come across these particular songs. There has also arisen controversy over the increased sexuality of a lot of pop promos, usually in the rap and dance genre, which has caused outrage from some leading feminists. Sex sells.