MTV---Rembember when it was cool?

[BrooklynKnight]

"...Springsteen, Madonna, way before Nirvana
There was U2, and Blondie, and music still on MTV.
Her two kids in high school, they tell her that she's uncool
'Cause she's still preoccupied
With 19--
19--
1985."

Johnathan, quoting lyrics from a song from the radio by a group called "Bowling for Soup" (I think)

Yep, thats a great song. 1985 by Bowling for Soup

 

[Frostmarrow]

While I doubt that you guys across the pond ever saw these shows, the ones I miss the most (on MTV Europe) - besides the music video's, of course - are the ones with Ray Cokes as the VJ. Ray's Request and MTV's Most Wanted were the greatest shows ever on MTV.

Ray Cokes was the man! I remember when he dressed up as a reggae artist and went to some celebrity packed event and called himself Coke Rays. He passed himself off as a mega-celebrity and embarressed a lot of people who had never heard of Coke Rays. Hilarious.

Almost as fun as when Chris Isaac went around in LA (his hometown) asking people if they'd heard of him. -Which none had. Chris Isaac was also the man.

I never had MTV. I caught some of it at friends' places but I will not miss it when it disappears.

 

[GentleGiant]

Ray Cokes was the man! I remember when he dressed up as a reggae artist and went to some celebrity packed event and called himself Coke Rays. He passed himself off as a mega-celebrity and embarressed a lot of people who had never heard of Coke Rays. Hilarious.

Ahh yes... good times, good times

 

[LightPhoenix]

First off, to whomever ever said males 18-35 are MTV's target demographic, I'd have to disagree. I'd say both genders, 14-18 are the target demographics, but that's just me.

Secondly, the whole concept of MTV, whether they knew it or not, was doomed to failure from the start. It's a testament to their staff that MTV still remains on television today.

See, the whole thing with music is that it was, and still is, portable. Tapes had come out relatively recently, and walkmans were the big thing. Mobility was/is a driving force in our culture, both here in the US and in many places across the globe. Videos were neat things to create a buzz about a song, but couldn't be sold on cassettes, and couldn't be viewed on the road. As technology progressed, we got CD players, which still lacked any sort of video output. By this time, the music industry had realized that making videos was an exercise in throwing away money, basically. The future of music was not in video, nor would it make any sense for it to be - it's an audial medium. The exposure that a band got from a video contributed very little to it's sales, nor did selling the video to MTV make much moeny at all. The internet and MP3 basically sealed the deal, making music extremely portable and providing an easier way to create buzz for a product.

Now, the future of video IMO rests on the very technologies that helped kill it dead - the internet and MP3 players. One of the ways available for the music industry to develop is exploitation of the internet. To this end, why not make videos and sell them online? Or include them as extras on the CDs from the store? Sure, you're going to have a percentage of piracy; piracy is an unfortunate side effect of the internet, and one that is here to stay. However, I think they'll find that fans are very willing to support bands they like and this is one way to do it.

 

[reveal]

By this time, the music industry had realized that making videos was an exercise in throwing away money, basically. The future of music was not in video, nor would it make any sense for it to be - it's an audial medium. The exposure that a band got from a video contributed very little to it's sales, nor did selling the video to MTV make much moeny at all.

Do you have any figures to back this up? Otherwise, I disagree completely. I know many, many people who bought CDs because they heard the song on MTV and liked it. Many people will turn on the television for "background noise" before they turn on the radio. When I was in the dorms, my friends and I would turn it on and do other things but MTV was there. Heck, I remember specifically sitting down and watching the "new buzz" videos because I wanted to buy a new album but didn't know what to get. Two bands jumped out: Green Day and Live. I bought both of their debut albums and they became very popular after that; not because of me, of course, but because of a combination of mediums which included MTV.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Do you have any figures to back this up? Otherwise, I disagree completely. I know many, many people who bought CDs because they heard the song on MTV and liked it.

Indeed, I agree with you here. I had watched and read a number of news stories on the rise and success of MTV. Many executives reported that in the early days of MTV the songs that had videos in rotation on MTV had sales increases well above the norm of those that had no video yet.

It led to a sort of gradual "weapons race" in spending on making videos for some average quality songs by franchise artists so that their music would get the exposure on MTV. Sure, spending massive amount of money on "epic" videos was partly ego stroking for tempermental narcisistic musicians regardless of the quality of the music, good or bad (Gun and Roses' "November Rain" sequence of videos, and Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell videos), but many studios that had artists they wanted to make into huge stars would spend extravagently on videos so they got into regular rotation on MTV.

Alternatively, getting a video into rotation on MTV could get a musician or band that was pegged into one narrow niche (like when the punk-like The Offspring became big with Come out and Play) into Top 40 play, and thus greater sales.

MTV was once the best advertisement for music sales. Was. I don't think it is anymore...

 

[Spell]

so what's the point? Doesn't MTV know that reality is on its way out? Their ratings have gone down, but they're still going to put on even more crappy reality shows! When is MTV going to get someone in charge of their programming who realizes that 1) the M in MTV is supposed to stand for Music 2) MTV does not need to do a Real World marathon every day!
They also gave two nominations to the ridiculous Mariah Carey, who has never made a decent video in her life! Remember when MTV was cool?

i stopped watching Mtv ages ago (i think it was 1994), but i was never fooled by the hype. i remember very well that when nirvana put nevermind out they had videos in such a high rotation, that it could be dubbed Ntv (N standing for nirvana, of course).
the fact that the music was quite better (for my tastes) in those days, didn't make the Mtv people a selfish and dedicated lot.

with the recent "rebirth" of payola (something that was always there since the 50s, really), it's not a surprise that you find crap on Mtv, or on the radio, or in the awards, and so on.

if they really cared about the music (mind you, not "cool" music, just music), people like britney spears would return working where they belong: porn industry or mcdonalds.

 

[Spell]

Do you have any figures to back this up?

well, it is true that making a video costs a huge amount of money... but you are absolutely right that being exposed to the music is the key to increase the selling.
the majors got angry at the p2p free downloading thing, not because it really hurted the sales (maybe it did, but there were other reasons behind that, far more logical), but because p2p networks threatened their distribution (quasi-) monopoly.
if you have the freedom to decide what to download and what to try, you might not be inclinded to buy the last naughty word album by [insert major name here], and spend your money for the things you really really like.

 

[reapersaurus]

I'm pleasantly surprised at how many people remember Remote Control.

wow - maybe there's enough support for a Best Of DVD season set. (!)

As long as it featured the young delicious Kari Wuhrer, I'd snap that one up.

And for the record - November Rain is a kick-ass song, so that's a bad example of indulgent videos for undeserving songs.

 

[Aris Dragonborn]

Whoa. Them's some memories right there.

Remote Control, Friday Night Video Fights, Headbanger's Ball......

*sigh*

That very first video by the Buggles...."Video Killed The Radio Star".........

Now, it's "Reality Killed The Video Star".

To AC/DC, Def Leppard, Metallica, Soundgarden, and others:

I salute you, those great videos of my childhood days, now swallowed up by rides being pimped, celebs getting punk'd, and the real world.

We watched Mtv to escape reality, not to experience it through someone else's eyes.

VIVA LA REVOLUCION!