Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video from the Beatles to the White Stripes

by Saul Austerlitz

Saul Austerlitz's fascinating book tells the history of the music video, delving into its origins, function, stars, motifs, genres, conventions, and masterpieces

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

250 pages, Hardcover

First published December 22, 2006

About the author

I am a freelance writer whose work has been published in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Slate, and The New Republic, among others.

I am an adjunct professor of writing and comedy history at New York University, as well as the author of Kind of a Big Deal: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century (Dutton, 2023), Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era (Dutton, 2019), Just a Shot Away: Peace, Love, and Tragedy with the Rolling Stones at Altamont (Thomas Dunne Books, 2018), Sitcom: A History in 24 Episodes from I Love Lucy to Community (Chicago Review Press, 2014), Another Fine Mess: A History of American Film Comedy (Chicago Review Press, 2010), and Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video from the Beatles to the White Stripes (Continuum, 2007).

Booklist named Another Fine Mess one of the ten best arts books of 2010, and Just a Shot Away received rave reviews, including from the New York Times Book Review, which called it “the most blisteringly impassioned music book of the season.” Generation Friends was named the second-best comedy book of 2019 by New York magazine, as well as one of New York’s 15 best books on TV comedies.

I grew up in Los Angeles and am a graduate of Yale University and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. I lives with my wife and two children in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Sannie · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be clear, I'd actually give this book 2.5 stars as a book that can be used for research, but 3 stars in terms of read-for-fun. But because I used it for research, I'm giving it 2 stars.

I'm writing my master's thesis on music videos and thought this would be a good resource, but honestly, the book reads like a music video encyclopedia, simply listing music videos and describing what happens in them. Instead of reading the book, it'd be easier to just go through the list of "Top 100 Videos List" in the back and go through them in chronological order on YouTube or Vevo or another music video hosting site.

Like another reviewer commented, the book is super subjective and Austerlitz highly praises some videos/artists and criticizes others, sometimes a little bit unfairly. Sometimes what Austerlitz writes doesn't make sense. For example, he writes, "In its embrace of the sexually insalubrious, (Christina Aguilera's) "Dirrty" owes more to other videos attracted to pushing the envelope regarding nudity and sexual content, like Fatboy Slim's "Slash Dot Dash" (2004), Eric Prydz's "Call on Me" (2005), T.I.'s "Let's Get Away" (2005), and Kevin Lyttle's "Turn Me On" (2004)." This statement makes absolutely no sense because "Dirrty" came out before any of these videos back in 2002.

One other thing that really annoyed me was Austerlitz's writing style. It's as if he wants to project some sort of coolness, throwing in words like "wigger" to describe "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" from The Offspring, or saying that Eminem "tore Middle America a new one." Yes, music videos are an accessible genre/medium and yes, the type of person that might read this might know what all this slang means, but his use of slang and informal English came off as forced and trying too hard. I think this was due to the fact that he also seemed to be trying to present music videos in an academic light, when really there was no analysis truly provided (a few things were OK, but mostly, it was just pure description of the music videos).

I think this would be a good book to read if you're interested in music videos in a non-academic fashion. Austerlitz definitely mentions all the classics ("Thriller," "Sledgehammer," "Smells Like Teen Spirit," etc.) and it could be entertaining to read for fun. However, like I already mentioned, you might be better off photocopying his Top 100 Music Videos list from the back and just go watch them online.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I really loved Generation Friends and I figured music videos would be interesting. However, rather than being a history of how music videos became popular and how they influenced the cultural zeitgeist, Austerlitz's book just devolves into endless summaries of the videos themselves. I found this pretty boring since I am old enough to remember most of the videos he's talking about and I didn't need them recounted to me, sometimes in excruciating detail. Perhaps this book is for someone, but it wasn't for me.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book on the history of the music video as an art form and a marketing tool. It's highly subjective, and I feel like I should be giving it three stars instead of four for its lack of scope and its sometimes inaccessible writing, but I grew up watching a lot of these videos and reading about them brought back a lot of the excitement I had watching them.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to the history of the music video and techniques modern music video directors use. I know that the music video is not as popular but this book gives some interesting tips and viewpoints.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting and informative, but the author comes off as pretentious. As someone who speaks French, I noticed that he uses a lot of loanwords incorrectly. Still a good read if you like music and want to know how the music video came to be.

[Andrew Fechner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a 200-page bad college essay.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stricken with the similar textbook affliction as Noise/Music. However, it was the impetus for a new series of articles I'm working on--look for them to begin on Tiny Mix Tapes beginning in 2008.