It』s hard to remember now, but there was a time when MTV was new – an upstart with barely enough clips so fill its aritime. The viewing experience was unlike any before it: almost exclusively music videos, a strange new medium of three-minute units and an uncharted arena of artistic and commercial opportunities.

Back then, the venue and the content seemed so perfectly suited that it was hard to imagine one without the other. Together, the new medium and the new genre rewrote the rules of both visual culture and music marketing.

But the partners grew. And in this case, they grew apart. The video and MTV have gone their separate ways. But rather than shrivel away, videos have taken on an exciting if uncertain life of their own. They thrive it at online music sites, they』re sold in record stores, they connect strangers across the internet.

But as the circumstances in which they are viewed change, so has their function. Once viewed as cultural events (the debut of Michael Jackson』s 「Thrilled」 video was a moment not soon forgotten by those who witnessed it,), they are now just another part of the crowded, colorful, noisy background of contemporary life. and once regarded as merely promotional tools, they are now expected, in many cases, to return a profit in their own right.

Back when videos lived on MTV, labels viewed them – as cool as they were – as an afterthought. They were made to promote the music, and the bands that recorded it. Quickly, a generation of musicians learned the importance of visual marketing. Prince, Michael, Jackson, Rn-D.m.c, Duran Duran and Madonna all invented and reinvented themselves through video.

But as much as videos could make bands into stars, videos could become stars themselves.

MTV had become a media giant, record companies were getting revenues, bands were getting exposure, directors were getting respect. The only part having second thoughts about the arrangement was MTV itself. It found that people watched videos the way they listened to radio, turning in and out. for advertisers, there was no guarantee viewers would stick around to watch what was on the other side of the commercial break, still less the commercials themselves. So beginning in the late 80』s, MTV changed its focus. It switched to an amalgam of programming like reality television and interview programs.

「early on MTV』s life cycle, the novelty of video were off,」 says Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music Group. 「we had to evolve with our audience and develop beyond a radio model.」

Videos are extraordinarily well suited to the Internet, because they』re short enough to be easily downloaded, and they sound good to make up for imperfect visual quality. Services like Yahoo Music and AOL music allow people to watch videos on demand – choosing what they want to see rather than a programming executive has lined up. Videos, both current hits and catalog selections, are offered free.

「You don』t have choice and control on a network,」 says Bill Wilson, AOL』s senior vice president for programming.

Online social networking, especially the kind dominated by teenagers, has been remarkably fertile turf for music marketing. The community site Myspace.com features pages for more than 350,000 bands, from indie acts to platinum artists like Nine Inch Nails and Black Eyed Peas. Myspace allows users to become 「friends」 with bands, communicating directly with them (or whomever they hire to answer e-mail) and sharing video and audio clips with other users. For Myspace users, the music content is a draw, giving them something to talk about online. And for labels, Myspace is a marvelously efficient, remarkably cheap and not terribly invasive means of spreading buzz. Two months ago, Myspace began offering streaming video. Immediately, record labels began using the site for video debuts.

Says Mr. Toffler: 「I believe that MTV as it was would not thrive today. it was perfect and specifically relevant to the time.」

The next great frontier for video could reverse the trend. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had met with major record labels to discuss selling videos through is iTunes online music store, fueling speculation that the introduction of a video iPod was imminent. Apple is keeping quiet.

Bringing music videos to hand-held devices would join two of the most profound innovations in pop music in recent decades. But more than that, it would speed the music video』s transformation into a consumer product unto itself. Which might take videos from an expensive afterthought (and in some cases an expensive indulgence) to be a basic part of the business model – something artists are simply required to produce, an essential part of the life of a pop song.