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it's february 8 2010 and something
subtle happens so discreet not many
people
notice but it confirms the end of an era
and while mtv continues to exist
that small change is critical this is a
brand's capitulation to new tendencies
mtv marked generations set trends and
gave us new ways of enjoying
music it also helped launch some of the
music industry's biggest names but now
music theorists repeatedly say that the
brand
is dead but what does that really mean
let's talk about mtv in this episode of
company for instance
the origins mtv's predecessor was
sight unsound a warner cable product
that consisted of a music channel
with concert footage and music oriented
content but no
original music videos in turn this
channel was part of the cube system
warner
amex interactive cable television system
prototype
viewers could vote on their favorite
songs and artists win prizes and
interact with djs
think of it as a predecessor to
interactive media altogether but mtv
as we once knew it was robert w
pittman's
product a visionary executive thanks to
his expertise in the music industry he
had come up with an idea to create a
network dedicated
only to music it wouldn't be any music
channel
the total opposite actually pitman knew
he had to aim to be
anti-establishment anti-authoritarian
and
have the under 30 audience at his grasp
mtv wouldn't be afraid of playing rock
songs with the latest
and craziest music videos its vjs would
be young
and cool and the stages would have
delirious backgrounds pitman even hired
the manhattan design studio to create
the iconic logo and it was
the first step towards making history
but a rocky one
mtv is born
ladies and gentlemen rock and roll
and thus mtv was born just after
midnight on august 1
1981 it premiered with the song video
killed
the radio star by the bugles those who
remember the earliest mtv days could
have thought it was a successful start
but besides
an impactful first impression which it
was mtv
struggled music videos were scarce
because no one made them because they
weren't a thing
so they weren't many to pass around and
the network had to repeat
all of its inventory the vjs often spoke
for long periods between videos
and yes they talked about music but it
wasn't fun
and let's remember that mtv was a cable
channel which was a luxury back then
not only that its special personality
threw off many of the more conservative
cable networks craig marks co wrote the
book i want my mtv the uncensored story
of the music video revolution and here's
how he summarizes
society's perception of mtv they thought
that mtv was a bunch of
coked up rock and roll fiends and they
were
right in a way facing a lack of public
approval pittman began the i want my mtv
campaign it was a fiery set of ads
featuring rock and pop stars like the
police
and mick jagger demanding their rock
channel if that wasn't enough the
channel expanded its catalog to include
more artists and genres like rhythm
blues and disco and among these was
michael jackson with his trend-setting
videos
jackson was obviously a hit followed by
other huge names like madonna
and guns and roses executives loved the
numbers and fans
loved the music but it was more than
that it was a culture change
record stores near where mtv was
broadcast notice an increase in these
new artists
sales in contrast stores far from mtv
saw a little movement because radio
wasn't broadcasting them
marx even credits mtv with helping bill
clinton gain political traction with
younger audiences
as he made frequent appearances on the
channel but
though mtv had become a beacon for new
talent
the network would only be dedicated to
music for a short
while subtle and not so subtle changes
thanks to pikmin's ideas and the
network's turnaround mtv became the
first basic cable channel to become
profitable brands were glad to pay for
advertising as long as the sales were
rising and they were but there's a
caveat we're going to explore
later attempted mtv success in 1985
entertainment giant viacom bought it
from warner and that's when everything
started changing videos were now
segmented by genre
like headbangers ball for heavy metal yo
mtb
wraps for hip-hop and 120 minutes for
alternative rock
these segments did work after all they
were the platform for other upcoming
artists think
nirvana pearl jam and rap icons like dre
but it marked a shift in mtv's identity
by 1997 the birth of other programs like
mtv news remote control house of style
and club mtv
showed that the network was willing to
venture into dance fashion
and games even pittman the one who
helped mtv transcend couldn't cope with
these changes he left in 87 after being
unable
to buy the network viacom's aggressive
and tv expansion continued with its own
awards the video music awards
a spin-off called the mtv movie awards
and the europe music awards so
mtv was unstoppable but looked beyond
music
to do so mtv goes mainstream and hits
the pop charts
in 1992 mtv launched its own reality
show
real world it was a real depiction of
young people's struggles with sexuality
drugs depression and partying the show
took the world by storm and further
cemented mtv's identity as a vehicle
for social topics and the occasional
controversial episode and occasionally
music let's be clear there was music and
it was
huge with artists like allison chains
and soundgarden it also featured
metal bands like pantera and white
zombie and gangster ripe like tupac and
biggie smalls
theaters had become events in themselves
artists wanted to outdo each other and
renowned directors were eager to direct
them by the mid 90s
most of mtv's content wasn't about music
it was so distant from music that the
network launched mtv2
in 96 to go back to its roots mtv2 began
just like the original version
but changed to genre-specific vlogs and
eventually yielded
to reality shows and gossip just like
mtv
take the teen pop craze of the late 90s
mtv knew it had to be a part of it
the spice girls the backstreet boys and
sink these were huge
so pop video rotation increased and
other genres saw
less exposure mtv opened its time square
radio studio
and launched total request live
thousands of screaming fanatics flooded
the streets
but the show transcended music carson
daly its likable host
delved into celebrities lives and made
the show more
like a talk show than a music show and
it drew millions of viewers but it also
outlined the debate were music networks
really about
music after all mtv was doing all it
could to survive as a brand
not as a music network and the numbers
showed by 2008 mtv played only three
hours of music per day
down from eight hours in 2000. billboard
magazine wrote mtv has these
non-music shows on for the sake of
immediate ratings
there will always be that tension
between the music industry and mtv
when mtv doesn't support music
reality is the new music in 2008
mtv was losing its grip on music trl was
cancelled with some blaming it on carson
daly's departure but in reality
trl had degraded itself to pranks
celebrity interviews and unlikable hosts
that more than anything reflected mtv's
entire identity
and that was because younger viewers had
found somewhere new to enjoy their music
instead of their tv it makes perfect
sense music now came from computers
ipods and downloading albums so mtv
rushed to replicate some of its
successful products like real world
in game shows like teen mom the hills
and even car shows like pimp my ride
by the way up until 2017 this was one of
the longest running shows in tv history
the reality show era had begun former
mtv vj adam curry told cena that it was
the best decision mtv ever made
plus he revealed some interesting facts
remember when we said that in the 80s
mtv was the first cable network to show
a profit
well music wasn't their primary source
of income it never was
but cringy reality shows seemed to work
in 2011
mtv was a 4 billion a year business but
it was fighting a losing battle
mtv had very little to offer against the
new wave
of consuming content instead of waiting
for celebrity fashion and controversy at
the vmas fans follow their favorite
celebrities on social networks
and then of course there was the rise of
youtube as a platform for consuming
music
let's take sweet child of mine by guns
and roses
a video made famous by mtv in guns and
rose's youtube channel
it has 1.2 billion views no standalone
platform could ever come close
to competing with this mtv's evolution
had just been
up to this point a struggle to survive
they had tried it all
from rock to teen pup from reality shows
to more reality shows and whatever
jersey shore is
but could it continue surviving
the death of music television if you
tune into mtv you'll see
hours upon hours of its star show
ridiculousness and other reality shows
but
it can bore you quickly and that's the
problem every generation is different
some remember mtv for nirvana's
legendary unplugged concert
while others for fear factor and trl i
remember it because of jackhams
every once in a while it's logical that
someone asks
is mtv dead and the answer is in its own
history as a music concept
it died in the 2000s as a brand that
epitomizes cool
some say it died around 2009 2010 when
it failed
to reinvent itself especially when we
see that mtv has tried
several times to create apps revamp its
social networks and capture more fans
but
which fans it's certainly not the 16 to
24 year olds
they have tick tock in the attention
span of a goldfish so when you see this
brand try to remain cool
we can't help but cringe the revived mtv
news hopped in the youtube music news
way too late and it only has a hundred
thousand subscribers on youtube
so less than us overhauled ideas like
teen mom and crips have a moderate
following but they fight against giants
like youtube
and netflix and so we return to where we
started in this video
it's february 8th 2010 and mtv removes
the words
music television from its logo now it's
just mtv
a brand desperate to stay alive and to
stay cool maybe that's the problem
mtv can't do everything at once while
trying to be cool it must decide
what's it going to be and cool certainly
isn't it
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what do you think does mtv have to go
back to music to survive
can it go back to music to survive or is
it just
a zombie now let us know in the comments
and we'll see you next week
[Music]
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