ABSTRACT
The earliest form of video promotion of music began in 1890. For the next 25 years, “ illustrated songs ” became the rage of thousands of large and small theaters across America, and were credited with selling millions of copies of sheet music. In these theaters, vocalists accompanied by bands or small orchestras would perform songs, while hand-painted glass slides were sequenced and projected on a screen, depicting the story of the lyrics. Often, a vocalist would then lead the audiences in singing the song as the lyrics were projected (PBSKids, 2004).
