The history of music videos !

'Soundies' 1940's

Soundies were an early version of
music videos.

Each three-minute
musical film was produced in either New York, Chicago or Hollywood
during 1940 to 1946, like in a modern music vid they often
included short dance sequences.

Soundies were played on a
Panoram which was a coin-operated film
jukebox or 'machine music' found in;
Nightclubs, bars, restaurants and amusement
centres.

Soundies covered all genres of
music, from classical to big-band
swing, and from hillbilly novelties to
patriotic songs, just like modern music videos do now.

In 1941 Soundies experimented and tried to appeal to a broader audience, so filmed comedy Soundies.

However most of these films were non-musical, and were not as popular as the musical Soundies.