As a member of a generation that is seemingly attached to their cell phones, laptops, and iPods, it is hard to imagine a world without MTV. MTV was a small network that took a big chance by debuting a channel that solely played music videos 24/7. While in recent years, this is difficult to imagine, because MTV has been saturated with reality shows, there once was a time when it was committed to music. MTV Networks, a division of its corporate media company, Viacom, has several sister channels including VH1, which originally played more adult-contemporary music, though in recent years it, too, has focused on more pop culture reality shows. Several other sister channels include CMT, geared towards country music, as well as MTV2 which tends to focus on hip-hop videos and programming, and mtvU, a college-oriented channel. MTV also operates sixteen channels in the United Kingdom, as well as channels in countries worldwide including Greece, Ireland, Russia and Spain (http://www.mtv.com). Now, not only has the company expanded with multiple channels, but a store opened, five years ago in New York City. The store epitomizes Times Square, which has become a sort of pop culture universe to the station. The gift shop located just beneath “Total Request Live” studios, a show that is often credited for MTV’s popularity. The daily countdown-style show famously attracts fans and tourists to stare up at the windows, while bands such as Incubus and the Jonas Brothers wave to their admirers.
While there is no disputing MTV’s accomplishments and the franchise it has become, it is important to focus on MTV’s beginnings. Studying its history helps understand just how many sacrifices it has had to make to keep up with a constantly evolving media world. On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 am, Music Television (MTV) hit the airwaves with the words “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll” over a montage of the Apollo 11 moon landing. This image of the astronaut placing a brightly colored flag with MTV on it, has been immortalized with musicians winning “moon men” at MTV’s annual Video Music Awards. The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star”, was the first video to appear on MTV, whose fitting lyrics, “pictures came and broke her heart” foreshadowed the combining of music and television and the importance of a music video in making a star(http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9807/31/encore.mtv/index.html).
Viewers embraced MTV and their fascination with videos of their favorite artists helped the network gain popularity. The network revived careers of older artists such as Rod Stewart, while introducing new acts including Madonna and Duran Duran, who finally had the platform to get their music out to the masses. Madonna especially, is indebted to MTV for playing her often risqué videos when other networks would not. What Myspace is credited to doing today for new and unsigned bands, music videos did back when MTV first launched. While some videos were made with low production costs, others focused more on the elaborate, including exploring special effects. The video for “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, cost $1.5 million dollars, but because of its innovative appearance, is credited for making the album the best seller of all time(http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9807/31/encore.mtv/index.html).
In 1992, MTV decided to embrace politics by starting a pro-democracy platform called “Choose Or Lose”. The campaign which aimed to get more young people involved in politics and voting, was so successful, that as a candidate for president, Bill Clinton took questions from “Choose or Lose” supporters during a town hall forum (http://think.mtv.com/Issues/politics ). Gaining support from Bill Clinton, meant “Choose or Lose” volunteers were respected. Clinton stressed that these youths will one day be running our country and felt the need to connect to them. By crossing over into politics, MTV strengthened its influence by proving that they are interested in educating youth activism and not just their musical tastes. Perhaps this was the first hint that MTV realized in order to stay fresh, they needed to adapt their programming to the issues that were most important. In recent years, MTV has continued its activism by airing documentaries on subjects such as hate crime awareness and attacks in Congo (http://www.mtv.com).
Around the same time that MTV started taking an interest in politics, it also debuted its first reality shows “Real World” and “Road Rules”, at a time when this term was very unfamiliar. The tagline for “Real World”, “This is the true story of seven strangers picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real” emphasized the true-to-life aspects of the show. The show was marketed to teenagers and twenty-something’s, who could relate to the fights, the relationships, and the race and gender pressures. Now in its 20th season, “Real World”, is the longest-running reality series in history, and credited with introducing the world to this genre.(http://www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/about/pdfs/). “Road Rules” has been equally successful by following a similar model, yet these seven strangers traveled the world together in a RV and completed missions at each location. “Real World” and “Road Rules” contestants have also competed against each other on MTV shows such as “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” and “The Duel”.
Reality programs were very successful on MTV so the channel continued to cash in by building reality shows around infamous musicians including “The Osbournes”, “The Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica”, “The Ashlee Simpson Show”. Presently, the channel has more than ten reality shows on its schedule, with reruns airing constantly. The programs include, “Run’s House”, “America’s Next Top Model”, “That’s Amore”, “Making The Band: 4”, and “The Hills”. “The Hills”, a spin-off of the very popular “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” focuses on a young woman and her struggles to make it in the fashion industry, while juggling relationships, school, and Los Angeles. According to MTV Networks, the first episode of season four of the show, which aired in March 2008, was this year’s “highest rated cable telecast, thus far, as well as the highest rated episode of “The Hills” with 4.7 million viewers” The next day, the episode was streamed a record 1.8 million times on MTV.com (http://sev.prnewswire.com/television/20080326/NYW12226032008-1.html). Another interesting aspect of “The Hills” is the franchise it has become. The three main stars of the show have become overnight sensations and pop culture icons, appearing on the covers of “Us Weekly”, and “Seventeen” and have started their own clothing lines. “The Hills” also has their own website called SeenON! MTV: The Hills (http://www.seenonmtv.com) which features clothes, makeup, bags, and shoes, featured on the show that viewers can buy. Everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure program has been doing great things for MTV!
MTV is the perfect example of a media company that has changed with the times. When it first was launched the idea of playing just music videos worked for a while, but gradually the network knew they needed a new gimmick. The addition of “Unplugged” to their programming was the perfect way for MTV to present musicians in a different light, by highlighting artists playing acoustic and in a more intimate setting. Most Nirvana fans will never forget when they watched Kurt Cobain’s last televised performance before his untimely suicide. Nirvana’s “Unplugged” was unique because they played only one hit “Come as You Are” and instead played more covers and lesser known songs. While artists such as Bon Jovi and Korn have been on “Unplugged” in recent years, the program is shown much less now than in the early 90’s, adding to speculation that MTV is more of a reality show network than a music network.
While MTV still shows music videos, they often air very early in the morning or very late at night when the network knows no one is watching. “Total Request Live” still airs the top ten videos of the day, but the program is often criticized for playing mainly pop videos, whereas when MTV first launched more rock and rap artists were highlighted. In fact, even artists that MTV has embraced are now pleading with the network to go back to its roots, including Justin Timberlake, who during his acceptance speech at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards infamously exclaimed, “play more damn videos.” Perhaps the most ironic aspect of Timberlake’s comment, was that he accepted the award from three of the stars of “The Hills”!
Justin Timberlake was not showing disrespect to the network, because the point is that artists still want their videos on MTV and to see other artists’ videos. However, artists know reality shows are monopolizing MTV’s schedule. Therefore, if their video is not popular enough to be on “Total Request Live”, the video will not be seen unless they market it to other forms of media like the internet. Some artists have turned to making Myspace music pages where they can post their music and videos and link to their official website. According to Phil Leigh, senior analyst for Inside Digital Media, “Just like nature, commerce abhors a vacuum. Musicians suddenly had an ability to put videos on their own websites without having to plead with MTV for airtime.” While many argued MTV “sold out”, Leigh agrees saying, “MTV shot itself in the foot by going to reality programming. The viewership went up, but it left a latent demand, and the internet is tapping into that” (http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-08-25-mtv_x.htm). The power of the internet as a marketing tool through blogs, Myspace, and artists’ websites is amazing. While “word of mouth” promotion is still strong and often more valuable than advertising, the internet has made getting music even easier. Artists that might not even have a CD out can gradually gain a following by posting some of their music online. Also, with broadband internet connections becoming the norm, it is even easier for people to download, especially college kids. College students, with their fast connections, can get more music and videos from the internet than MTV.
People do not have the time to wait for broadcasts of their favorite music videos. More and more people are disgruntled with MTV because the channel is oversaturated with reality programming. While they still air some videos, they are often the same thirty or so and always what is popular at the moment. These videos always air very early morning or late at night when no one is watching. YouTube and Myspace are gaining popularity as MTV fans are turning to easier ways of getting what they want, when they want it. Myspace president Tom Anderson said it best, “A band with no history can get 40,000 people looking at its video just by getting on the site and doing some work. It’s a strong incentive…Fans get excited when they discover a band that’s made its own record or video” (http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-08-25-mtv_x.htm). While MTV continues to play the big and flashy videos, at obscure times – videos found online often focus on the artist and the music, rather than the elaborate presentation. We often forget that it is about the music. While the music video acts a promotion tool - the lyrics, the instruments, the sound is what truly matters.
