I am one of those guys who became frustrated with the network over the years for venturing into too many non-music programs. The Real World had nothing to do with music, for example. It was a trendsetting show, but did it really belong on MTV? Now that the iconic network is officially dropping "Music Television" from its logo (and I'm assuming from all other collateral associated with its brand identity) does that open the door for more shows like Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, and The Hills? Does that mean the few music-oriented programs left on MTV now face an even greater threat of extinction? Will the MTV Video Music Awards have even less relevance if the network completely abandons airing music videos and completely distances itself from its music roots? Who would have thought that I would miss Carson Daly's Total Request Live (or TRL as it eventually became known, as it strayed away from music videos and became more about live studio guest interviews and screaming tweens outside on Times Square).
The music video is an interesting creative medium. Many people have derided videos for making performing artists focus more on visual style than musical talent. But some videos are truly works of art and great forms of artistic expression, and I hate to see them become even more marginalized. With the popularity of video iPods, YouTube, and smartphones, I would think that music videos should be more popular today than ever before. So it surprises me that MTV has strayed so far from its origins. Gone are the video DJs. Gone are the hours and hours of music video countdowns.
MTV has transformed itself into a broader, more mainstream channel that is more about youth culture than about music, which I suppose makes sense for them from a business perspective as they attempt to expand their reach beyond just what they consider to be a niche marketplace. But MTV was always pretty mainstream in my opinion. Just like when the Sci-Fi Network changed its name to Syfy, I think MTV's abandonment of its music identity is a big mistake.
If MTV does not really stand for Music Television anymore, what does it stand for ideologically? Reality television? Spring break and summer vacation? Pop culture? Celebrities and general entertainment? Fashion, style, and consumer spending? Now they're trying to sell their audience everything, instead of just the music albums they were hyping back when they first began. I can't blame them for that, but trying to be everything for everybody makes them just one of many other cable/satellite networks. What's so special about MTV anymore?
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Those of us who actually remember that music videos actually existed have been shuffled off, first to VH1 (har) and then down to the bottom of the cable listings, if at all.
It is now axiomatic that any Internet article discussing an MTV property will automatically draw some geezer commenting, "Hey - remember when they used to run MUSIC VIDEOS?"
But, I look at this on a deeper level, actually. If you'll indulge me for a moment, the significance of this is huge, as social commentary betraying the fact that Mtv *IS* trying to be like every other network, which essentially means their audience is just like the audiences of the other competing networks.
In a sense, maybe this *could* have a benefit in allowing the world to see the X and Y generations in a different light and take us/them more seriously as people?
Maybe too many movies and TV shows were starting to look like music videos that MTV felt that music identity wasn't sufficient enough. But instead of embracing music and taking the music video genre to the next level and building programming around music, they have really diluted their brand so now they are really no different from any of a countless number of other mainstream networks out there.
Grandson: Music videos? Is that like 8-tracks?
Grandpa: Yeah, kinda.
I used to watch the videos, even though I don't miss them.
BTW, Martha Quinn went my high-school (a decade later, but still.) Wonder what she's up to.
I guess the next question would be, considering the rise of 3-D and "The IMAX experience" that is now being used by movies like Avatar, Alice and Wonderland, and even the Michael Jackson documentary, what IS the next step in the audio-visual media that music videos could represent as the next wave of experience?
I think they may have depended TOO MUCH on their niche audience, and didn't consider what would happen when that niche audience of kids and teens and 20 somethings grew up, and meanwhile other media forms caught up with the groundbreaking nature of the music video, so maybe MTV just realized they had reached the natural conclusion of audio-visual media capable for tv distribution, and changed with the changing times of the newer, younger, more apathetic generation
I certainly don't have any answers, but I can at least make a logical argument for why Mtv abandoned its original format
Simply because society has changed, and it is just trying to keep up
Rated
I honestly stumbled onto FUSE and watch the video's there.
Great Post... I loved the Real World and Road Rules... those were the orginal reality shows.
The most striking example of this is probably TNN (The Nashville Network), which tried to reinvent itself a couple of times, and then junked the whole thing and morphed into something called "Spike". I guess they must have held on to the NASCAR crowd or someting. But, then GAC (Great American Country) and RFD-TV sort of stepped into the void left by TNN.
rated.
I was just thinking the other day about how many great music videos I'm missing out on because a) there's hardly any left on MTV, and b) I hardly watch MTV because of it. If I see a music video nowadays, it's because I googled it or found it on YouTube. Or someone told me to check out a certain music video. Gone are the days of TRL, Say What Karaoke, and the dozens of other shows that MTV did well. Sure, I grew out of TRL. But it's still a fact that whenever I turn on MTV, it's not music - it's pregnant teens, Jersey Shore, or a spin-off on pregnant teens. 'Tis a shame. Thank God for the internet though.
David Bowie's "Let's Dance" was on seemingly every hour. Still one of my favorite music videos.
The funny thing is that they still have the MTV video music awards- yet they don't play any music or videos.
Hey, if anyone is interested "Snookie" is making an appearance in VA Beach this weekend--- anybody want a bar fight?
Sorry to keep coming back, but I just had to add...
Thank God for VH1Classic! and my "Classic Alternative" music-on-tv station LOL