Guest Blog
MTV kills the video star
The evolution and deterioration of Music Television
By Lindsay Rice, Staff Writer
March 12, 2008 | 6 a.m.
The first music video that aired on MTV in 1981 was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. Currently it appears that MTV has killed the video star.
Originally intended to be a television channel dedicated to airing music videos, MTV was launched on Aug. 1, 1981, and proved much truer to its name, Music Television. At first, rough concert clips were aired until the record companies realized the station’s popularity and began to capitalize on it.
Modeled after “Top 40 Radio,” a continuous stream of music videos was played, providing free advertising for various artists and enabling them to gain national recognition. The term video jockey (VJ) was invented, and these young, hip hosts became the conductors in the orchestra of constant and full-length music videos.
The focal point was music and the artists that performed it, a true representation of what MTV was formerly determined to be. However, this idyllic union of its name and its meaning soon diminished.
Old-school MTV probably had it a little easier when it came to airing groundbreaking events since it was an all-new station with a completely different take on television. The legendary rock group KISS appeared on TV for the first time without a thickly layered façade of eyeliner and lipstick on MTV in 1983.
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video, aired in 1983, cannot be overlooked, since it changed the way that music videos were produced, bridging the gap between movies and music.
Perhaps an even more substantial facet of history was the first-ever Video Music Awards in 1984, where Madonna’s performance of “Like a Virgin” indicated that she was just the opposite.
These historical moments all personify the music-centered nature of early MTV. Little did audiences realize that the station would undergo a radical transformation.
In 1992 the pilot episode of “The Real World” aired and built the foundation for numerous other reality series to follow. The foreign idea of “seven strangers picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped” was born, and MTV and reality television as a whole would never be the same.
In 1985, Viacom bought MTV, and slowly conventional television shows were integrated into the station’s programming schedule. This turning point in the history of the station is the pinnacle of its gradual separation of its name and actual meaning.
The shows that did revolve around music videos didn’t make it into the 2000s. The show “Headbanger’s Ball” featured underground heavy-metal music and was canceled without notice in 1995. “Yo! MTV Raps” that featured hip hop, and, of course, rap was also canceled in 1999.
The closest equivalent to these canceled shows that exists today is “Total Request Live,” which offers music that is a far cry from the underground scene and offers mere 20- to 45-second clips of music videos.
Throughout the day, poorly scripted “reality” dating shows and reruns of reality shows from the night before are aired continuously. “The 10 Spot” represents the time slot in which the latest shows are aired, featuring the newest episodes of the most popular shows on the station.
Not surprisingly, reality series such as “Life of Ryan” and “The Gauntlet III” hold this prime-time spot. Today’s MTV has become a vast spread of dating, celebrity and even common-folk reality shows. The occasional music video that does play for a whopping 30 seconds at the end of “The Real World” is almost guaranteed to be the latest trend in pop music.
With today’s technology and the ideals of early MTV, a station could exist that provides a unique and creative blend of current underground as well as popular music that would appeal to the masses.
The name is a misleading indication of what the television station actually stands for, and it would be worthwhile to dedicate the name “Music Television” to a station that is fueled by music, artists and videos.
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