Part of the reason that New Wave became big in the early 80’s is because New Wave bands came from more affluent beginnings, so those bands could afford to make music videos at a time when they were relatively rare.
I’d gamble a larger percentage of artists (whether music, acting, or painting) have affluent beginnings than the general population. It’s easier to rise through the struggle of a high risk profession if you have a safety net.
It’s true that groups like Duran Duran and the like were mostly comprised of public school brats whose affluent parents bought them the DX7s and Fairlights they wrote their hits on. However, music videos were funded by labels. They were basically commercials for the record.
Have you ever run a business before? You need to make money which at the time meant stadium rock and “Top 40” pop radio.
MTV was not started to provide access for smaller acts to break into the mainstream especially at a time when hiphop was very localized.
Part of the reason that New Wave became big in the early 80’s is because New Wave bands came from more affluent beginnings, so those bands could afford to make music videos at a time when they were relatively rare.
I’d gamble a larger percentage of artists (whether music, acting, or painting) have affluent beginnings than the general population. It’s easier to rise through the struggle of a high risk profession if you have a safety net.
It’s true that groups like Duran Duran and the like were mostly comprised of public school brats whose affluent parents bought them the DX7s and Fairlights they wrote their hits on. However, music videos were funded by labels. They were basically commercials for the record.
They became commercials for the record over time, but there was a few years in the early 80’s where labels didn’t understand a music video’s value.