Fifty Years of British Music Video, 1964-2014: Assessing innovation, industry, influence and impact.

Over a period of more than fifty years, promotional films for British popular music have received critical acclaim and numerous awards. Since the launch of MTV in 1981, these films have become known as 'music videos', despite the fact that until the 2000s the overwhelming majority were shot on 35mm and 16mm film, and despite the fact that the form predated MTV. In 1964 a series of short promotional films for British bands were commissioned culminating in seminal short 'promos' for The Kinks, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones through the mid- to late Sixties. Music videos have not only impacted subsequent generations of television viewers but have also inspired creative producers in fashion, design, photography and feature film. Directors Derek Jarman, Julian Temple, Jonathan Glazer, John Maybury and Jamie Thraves are among a number of filmmakers behind some of the most innovative and celebrated music videos. Yet despite its recognition, its innovation and its longevity, the cultural significance of music video within British academic research has been largely unacknowledged. This project seeks to change that.

The two-year study is a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and University of the Arts London in partnership with the British Film Institute and the British Library. It draws together both industry and academic expertise. Permission has been given for the research team to use a new and very rich selection of data, archives, and films from private industry collections. The team will bring together leading academics in popular music, film and television studies and cultural studies to analyse the significance of these collections both for an international audience of academics (thorough our academic outputs) and for the general public (through the nationwide public cinema screenings).

In Year 1, using new data donated by British licensing agency, Video Performance Licensing (VPL), and the trade journal Promo News, the CI will create a master database of British music videos 1964-2014, and a separate database of detailed production credits for 1992-2014. These will generate core data necessary to investigate the research questions. In consultation with industry experts and a steering committee of academics, we will select titles of 60 British music videos as case studies for further analysis during a series of six academic focus groups at the BFI. The research questions will be investigated further in a series of industry panels at the BL and supplementary interviews with leading industry figures and archival research. We will also conduct case study analyses of Warp Records and a case study analysis of The Chart Show (using restricted data on single sales held at the British Phonograph Industry Library).

The results will be disseminated in a book and a journal special issue. The book will be a monograph which presents a history of the structure, creative practices, models of authorship, stylistic innovations and influences of the industry. The journal special issue will present the results of the focus groups in a series of specially commissioned articles about the cultural significance of British videos written by academics from popular music, film and television studies and cultural studies.

The project will also generate two permanent digital collections of music videos at the BFI and BL for the general public and academics. In order to make them more accessible nationwide they will also be exhibited to the public in a series of cinema screenings in London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Manchester, and distributed on a BluRay/DVD by Soda Pictures. There will also be public talk by the CI, Dr Emily Caston, at the British Library to launch these new collections.

Beyond the direct academic benefits of this project, there are a number of potential additional benefits to a wider constituency which will increase the impact of the research.

1. Impact on our partners. This project will considerably enhance existing (uncatalogued) resources at the BL and the BFI. The BL's Sound Archive will be augmented with the accession of a major music video donation from Warp Records, which the British Library have undertaken to catalogue and make publicly accessible. The BFI's Chart Show holdings (currently only partially catalogued), will be fully catalogued. Sections of the BFI's existing music video holdings which are neither catalogued nor digitised will be fully catalogued and digitised in creating a permanent collection of 60 landmark videos for the National Archive. The two new digital databases will make a significant contribution to their collections, enabling an informed appraisal of the significance of their existing collections. Currently the BL has a collection of approximately 16,000 VHS tapes from the Musicians' Union and is unable to establish whether this collection includes any items which are 'at risk' because no masters exist. The BFI is currently undertaking a digitisation program of materials originated on celluloid and is unable to identify which of its current music video holdings were originated on celluloid. This project will enable the BL and BFI to answer those questions and prioritise their existing holdings for digitisation and access. A public lecture on British music video at the BL will increase awareness of its extensive sound archive.

2. Impact on the Industry. This research is likely to impact the music video industry in four ways. Firstly, the digitised collection of 60 landmark videos will be made available for commercial exploitation by Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), rights holders and broadcasters. The accompanying metadata established in the databases at the BL and BFI will provide rights holders information for use by for rights clearances where the holders are not represented by the PPL. Secondly, by producing new archival resources for two national organisations charged with preserving the nation's cultural memory, and via industry consultancy and interviews, the project will demonstrate to the industry the cultural value of its own heritage and the importance of securing its legacy. Thirdly, by generating a significant audience for DVD sales and cinema exhibition of music videos from previous decades, the project hopes to stimulate further commercial exploitation of back catalogues for artists and musicians whose work has been neglected and is no longer generating income. Fourthly, the metadata contribution to the BFI's Collections Information Database will involve piloting the use of the EIDR DOI standard audiovisual work identifier for music videos in collaboration with industry partners. This has a potential impact in the formation of an industry-standard metadata template for music video.

3. Impact in Schools, FE Colleges and Universities. As well as a DVD/BluRay which can be used with an educational licence from Soda Pictures for classroom teaching and lectures in Media and Film Studies, the project will create a text history for BFI Player. Feedback on these pilot resources will enable the PI and CI to make a separate application for a grant to develop an educational resource / study pack.

4. Impact on the Public. The popularity of the BUG music video screenings and the success of recent gallery exhibitions have demonstrated a public interest in British music video. The BUG retrospectives in 4 UK cities for the will present a major public showcase for the project's work. The BluRay/DVD will be on sale in galleries and on Amazon. Both will communicate, with celebrity introductions, the wealth and variety of this rich heritage. The public lecture at the BL will make this case also, as will the book.