Who killed the music video star?

Here is a very interesting article on cnn.com dissecting the glorious past and current redirection of music videos. It's how the once powerful marketing tool and visual soundtrack of our lives during the 80's, had shrunk in usage due to a downturn in the industry, been somewhat pushed aside, then transformed by a new generation from strict music company creation to a much more creative introduction served up by the artists themselves directly to their fans online.

MTV is dead, and the people who are making the music now have in their own hands the necessary tools to build their own careers. The music video is, however, far from dead. In fact it's thriving in a very different location then where it originated; the internet. But the big budget days of record companies producing highly anticipated event videos have passed. With the exception of Lady Gaga's "Telephone", which had built tremendous buzz recently, the goal has now turned towards what works best for the song visually as opposed to focus group meddling.

After reading this article, I definitely want to check out Saul Austerlitz' "Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video." It's really an exciting time for music artists who want to truly guide their own careers, and the 'creative over money' mentality is what a lot of bands are striving for.

You can also read a second article at the Toronto Sun's website that expands on the transformation of the music video from television to the web.