‘No one makes money from them’: with MTV channels switching off, is the music video under threat?

The music video for Firestarter by the Prodigy – directors are worried bold videos like these are becoming harder to make. Photograph: XL Recordings

The launch of MTV, in 1981, ushered in a new era of music. Showing music videos 24 hours a day, the television channel redefined artist marketing and launched the careers of artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna, whose public personas became inseparable from the gripping, frequently controversial clips they produced to be played on the service.

Now, that chapter of music history appears to be drawing to a close, with MTV’s parent company Paramount announcing last week that its five dedicated music channels in the UK – MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live – will cease broadcasting after 31 December. (The flagship MTV channel, which broadcasts reality programmes such as Catfish, The Hills and Geordie Shore, will remain in operation.)