My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
07-28-16, 02:59 PM
#51
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Just thought I'd weigh in with the younger perspective. My daughter is 10 and spends hours in the basement watching music videos on YouTube with her friends. They can watch whatever they want, whenever they want, for as long as they want, as many times as they want. That will always be more appealing than putting MTV on and hoping they play the video you want to see.
I tell my friends who don't have kids that things are way different now. Between YouTube and Netflix, my daughter and my 12 year old son can always watch exactly what they want to watch. Neither one of them watches anything on traditional TV. I watched tons of shows every week on primetime and Saturdays growing up. They just watch whatever they want at all times instead on any of their devices.
And frankly, if that technology had been around when I was a kid I would have done the same thing.
I tell my friends who don't have kids that things are way different now. Between YouTube and Netflix, my daughter and my 12 year old son can always watch exactly what they want to watch. Neither one of them watches anything on traditional TV. I watched tons of shows every week on primetime and Saturdays growing up. They just watch whatever they want at all times instead on any of their devices.
And frankly, if that technology had been around when I was a kid I would have done the same thing.
07-28-16, 03:47 PM
#52
DVD Talk Legend
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
I know this question has almost become a cliche for the past 15 years, as everyone blames MTV for not playing videos anymore. I honestly think that music changed in the 90's and that was essentially the death of music videos.
When I was growing up in the heyday of MTV during the mid 80's, pop music ruled everything. And what I mean ruled is that every type of music in one way another co-opted pop. Whether it was hair bands like Whitesnake and Motley Crue, or classic rock groups from 70's like Bowie, Rolling Stones, and Bruce to pure pop sensations like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and Whitney Houston.
MTV could play all of this music 24 hours a day and still have a mass audience, as rap and heavy metal were just a niche group of fans. Then the early 90's came and other forms of music became popular: Grunge, Rap/HipHop, Country, and Pop.
So what should MTV play 24 hours a day to get a mass audience? Would Nirvana fans listen to Notorius BIG? Would Eminem fans listen to Britney Spears or N'Sync? How about Country Music artists became mainstream too?
My point is that in the 1980's, MTV could play Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rolling Stones, Prince, Duran Duran, etc, and most teenagers growing up liked or loved most of them. But once music became diverse in the 90's/00's, then there would never be a mass audience to watch videos anymore, hence the death of MTV.
Now of course YouTube, and other forms of listening to music changed MTV too, but the bottom line is that radio stations are still alive playing music, the only difference is they cater to one specific genre of music, where MTV can never survive doing that.
When I was growing up in the heyday of MTV during the mid 80's, pop music ruled everything. And what I mean ruled is that every type of music in one way another co-opted pop. Whether it was hair bands like Whitesnake and Motley Crue, or classic rock groups from 70's like Bowie, Rolling Stones, and Bruce to pure pop sensations like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and Whitney Houston.
MTV could play all of this music 24 hours a day and still have a mass audience, as rap and heavy metal were just a niche group of fans. Then the early 90's came and other forms of music became popular: Grunge, Rap/HipHop, Country, and Pop.
So what should MTV play 24 hours a day to get a mass audience? Would Nirvana fans listen to Notorius BIG? Would Eminem fans listen to Britney Spears or N'Sync? How about Country Music artists became mainstream too?
My point is that in the 1980's, MTV could play Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rolling Stones, Prince, Duran Duran, etc, and most teenagers growing up liked or loved most of them. But once music became diverse in the 90's/00's, then there would never be a mass audience to watch videos anymore, hence the death of MTV.
Now of course YouTube, and other forms of listening to music changed MTV too, but the bottom line is that radio stations are still alive playing music, the only difference is they cater to one specific genre of music, where MTV can never survive doing that.
If you're going to say that Whitesnake and Michael Jackson both fall under the same "pop music" banner then so did Eminem, Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit.
I'd attribute the downfall of MTV more to the introduction of widespread high speed internet than changing music genres.
07-28-16, 05:22 PM
#53
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
My point is that these were all mainstream artists that pretty much appealed to anyone, so you could play these videos all day in 1985 and there was a market that watches them. If you go through the Top 40 these days, I guarantee most of it would not appeal to the masses other then a few songs.
07-28-16, 07:25 PM
#54
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
I agree and sort of goes to my original post to start the thread. I was listening to the 80's Sirius Channel this weekend and they did the top 40 from July 13, 1985. Here were many of the artists and songs that were hits at that week:
-Duran Duran (A View to a Kill)
-Phil Collins (Sussudio)
-Bruce Springsteen (Glory Days)
-Huey Lewis & The News (The Power of Love)
-Tears For Fears (Everybody Wants to Rule the World)
-Billy Joel (You're Only Human)
-Whitney Houston (You give Good Love)
-Prince (Rasberry Beret)
-Survivor (The Search Is Over)
-Madonna (Angel)
-Eurythmics (Would I Lie To You)
-Til Tuesday (Voices Carry)
-Brian Adams (Heaven)
-Sting (If you Love Sombody Set Them Free)
-Howard Jones (Things Can Only Get Better)
-Heart (What About Love)
-Glen Frey (Smugglers Blues)
-Aretha Franklin (Freeway of Love)
My point is that these were all mainstream artists that pretty much appealed to anyone, so you could play these videos all day in 1985 and there was a market that watches them. If you go through the Top 40 these days, I guarantee most of it would not appeal to the masses other then a few songs.
-Duran Duran (A View to a Kill)
-Phil Collins (Sussudio)
-Bruce Springsteen (Glory Days)
-Huey Lewis & The News (The Power of Love)
-Tears For Fears (Everybody Wants to Rule the World)
-Billy Joel (You're Only Human)
-Whitney Houston (You give Good Love)
-Prince (Rasberry Beret)
-Survivor (The Search Is Over)
-Madonna (Angel)
-Eurythmics (Would I Lie To You)
-Til Tuesday (Voices Carry)
-Brian Adams (Heaven)
-Sting (If you Love Sombody Set Them Free)
-Howard Jones (Things Can Only Get Better)
-Heart (What About Love)
-Glen Frey (Smugglers Blues)
-Aretha Franklin (Freeway of Love)
My point is that these were all mainstream artists that pretty much appealed to anyone, so you could play these videos all day in 1985 and there was a market that watches them. If you go through the Top 40 these days, I guarantee most of it would not appeal to the masses other then a few songs.
When I see that list all I can think of list is besides Prince,Aretha and Madonna how did that milquetoast crap appeal to any young people or anyone but the whitest of whitebread people. Like it's hard for me to imagine anyone under 25 in any era being into Glen Fry or Bryan Adams.
07-29-16, 12:53 AM
#55
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Just thought I'd weigh in with the younger perspective. My daughter is 10 and spends hours in the basement watching music videos on YouTube with her friends. They can watch whatever they want, whenever they want, for as long as they want, as many times as they want. That will always be more appealing than putting MTV on and hoping they play the video you want to see.
07-29-16, 01:03 AM
#56
DVD Talk Hero
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Still doesn't excuse MTV for putting on crap instead of music videos. Watching MTV straight was how you got introduced to new songs and videos- if you're watching just what you want on YouTube, you're not as likely to check out something you never heard of before, though YouTube's auto-playing of similar videos afterwards might be helpful- I never tried that, but you'd likely eventually get stuck with some bootleg-quality upload of the same video you've just seen or one of those audio-only uploads that plays a song with a still picture of the album cover.
We've been trying to give them a movie education on the "classics" my wife and I grew up with but these are people who've never not had the Internet and wi-fi at their beck and call. Their mentality is completely different when it comes to media.
I'm old enough that my daycare lady had an 8-track player. I'd record MTV for hours at a time just in the hopes that my favorite video would come on.
If I'd grown up with an iPad and Spotify, I wouldn't have spent a single moment waiting for MTV or the radio to play a song I wanted to hear. I would have just listened to it whenever I wanted.
That's so different from my experience that it's hard to even wrap my brain around it. I think about that when I watch my 80 year old father ask Siri a question.
07-29-16, 01:29 AM
#57
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Still doesn't excuse MTV for putting on crap instead of music videos. Watching MTV straight was how you got introduced to new songs and videos- if you're watching just what you want on YouTube, you're not as likely to check out something you never heard of before, though YouTube's auto-playing of similar videos afterwards might be helpful- I never tried that, but you'd likely eventually get stuck with some bootleg-quality upload of the same video you've just seen or one of those audio-only uploads that plays a song with a still picture of the album cover.
07-29-16, 06:38 AM
#58
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
I think it's the old chicken and the egg theory. MTV says no one will watch music videos on TV anymore. People complain that networks like MTV and VH1 don't play music videos anymore. And around and around she goes.........
07-29-16, 08:40 AM
#59
DVD Talk Legend
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
I was under 25 and liked Glen Frey and Phill Collins.
VH1 has become a sister station of BET. All the shows now are mostly geared for black viewers like Basketball Wives, Love and Hip Hop, TI's show, and a show with Shaq's ex wife.
Maybe the only shows you can see white people on VH1 are repeats of SNL and Dating Naked.
Vh1 Classic is being rebranded MTV Classic on Aug 1. and will show a bunch of old shows.
Maybe the only shows you can see white people on VH1 are repeats of SNL and Dating Naked.
07-29-16, 10:53 AM
#60
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
And apparently all the nudity on "Dating Naked" is blurred- what's the point of THAT? (Wondering if they'll ever start a cable channel for nudists? I might watch that- though they'd eventually turn that into all reruns of "Law and Order" anyways.)
07-29-16, 05:22 PM
#61
DVD Talk Legend
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
LOL
They should show it uncensored during the late hours.
Still can't believe the programming VH1 shows that replaced music videos.
They should show it uncensored during the late hours.
Still can't believe the programming VH1 shows that replaced music videos.
07-30-16, 03:28 AM
#62
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
VH1 started out as a music video channel for "older" audiences too- leaning more towards what was played on "adult contemporary" format radio stations at the time, skipping the harder stuff that MTV played.
07-30-16, 04:38 AM
#63
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Vh1 Classic is being rebranded MTV Classic on Aug 1. and will show a bunch of old shows.
it will include some rare stuff that hasn't aired in ages like Aeon Flux and Clone High. They will also be including classic episodes of Unplugged, Yo! MTV Raps, 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball.
The music video blocks are staying but under alternate names:
Metal Mania -> Headbangers
Rock Fest -> Rock Block
Totally 80's -> I Want My 80s
90s Rocked -> 90s Nation
Morning Video Block -> MTV Classic Videos
VH1 Classic 120 Minutes -> 120 Minutes
And they're adding the following blocks
YO! Hip Hop Mix (Classic Hip-Hop)
House Of Pop (Pop from the 80s-early 00s)
Total Request Playlist (late 90s-early 00s)
The channel is also relaunching on the 35th anniversary of MTV with the entire first hour of MTV as it aired back on August 1st 1981, complete with classic commercials and technical glitches.
it will include some rare stuff that hasn't aired in ages like Aeon Flux and Clone High. They will also be including classic episodes of Unplugged, Yo! MTV Raps, 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball.
The music video blocks are staying but under alternate names:
Metal Mania -> Headbangers
Rock Fest -> Rock Block
Totally 80's -> I Want My 80s
90s Rocked -> 90s Nation
Morning Video Block -> MTV Classic Videos
VH1 Classic 120 Minutes -> 120 Minutes
And they're adding the following blocks
YO! Hip Hop Mix (Classic Hip-Hop)
House Of Pop (Pop from the 80s-early 00s)
Total Request Playlist (late 90s-early 00s)
The channel is also relaunching on the 35th anniversary of MTV with the entire first hour of MTV as it aired back on August 1st 1981, complete with classic commercials and technical glitches.
Day 1 features an Unplugged marathon, anchored by Nirvana of course.
Nirvana
Erykah Badu
Bob Dylan
Neil Young
Aerosmith
Oasis (Liam sits this show out if I recall, leaving all vocals to Noel)
The Cure
R.E.M. (1991 Performance)
Alice In Chains
Nirvana
Nirvana will also reair several more times through the first couple weeks.
They're also going to still air movies (Both Ghostbusters, Revenge Of The Nerds, Sixteen Candles, etc.)
07-31-16, 11:28 AM
#64
DVD Talk Godfather
07-31-16, 01:21 PM
#65
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
My point is that in the 1980's, MTV could play Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rolling Stones, Prince, Duran Duran, etc, and most teenagers growing up liked or loved most of them. But once music became diverse in the 90's/00's, then there would never be a mass audience to watch videos anymore, hence the death of MTV.
08-01-16, 11:46 AM
#66
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 830
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Graduating High school in the late 90s outside of some stuff on 120 Minutes I can't think of a single band I have ever heard of thanks to MTV. The rock,rap or pop songs MTV played were basically whatever the rock,rap or top 40 station were playing. Basically the only way to find out about bands besides whoever was cherry picked by the record labels was Indy Record Magazines,recomendations from friends and the local stations on Sunday showcasing local bands. Nowadays there's a thousand different ways to discover new acts and explore unheard of genre's.
08-01-16, 04:01 PM
#67
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
On August 1, 1981 -- 35 years ago today -- a channel launched that was to change music history. Music Television, or MTV, kicked off for the first time at 12:01 a.m., Eastern Time, with the now legendary words: "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll."
08-01-16, 05:23 PM
#68
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
For those curious, here is how MTV Classic started (after showing MTV Hour One):
Madonna - Like A Virgin (1984)
No Doubt - Hey Baby (2001)
Outkast - Hey Ya (2003)
Kanye West - Gold Digger (2005)
Matchbox 20 - Bent (2000)
Santana & Rob Thomas - Smooth (1999)
Madonna - Like A Virgin (1984)
No Doubt - Hey Baby (2001)
Outkast - Hey Ya (2003)
Kanye West - Gold Digger (2005)
Matchbox 20 - Bent (2000)
Santana & Rob Thomas - Smooth (1999)
08-01-16, 05:25 PM
#69
DVD Talk Hero
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Says every member of every generation about their music compared to the next.
08-01-16, 08:42 PM
#70
DVD Talk Hero
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
I think the teen-to-early-twenties generation has more diverse music interests than any in the past four or five decades.
When I was a kid in the 80s, if you liked rap music you hated heavy metal. If you liked heavy metal you hated rap. Nobody liked country music except old people (Garth Brooks really changed this around 1990 or so, though).
But now it seems like the average kid has diverse interests, that can include all genres of popular music. My friends and family have teens that will listen to country, pop, hip hop, metal, alt rock.
When I was a kid in the 80s, if you liked rap music you hated heavy metal. If you liked heavy metal you hated rap. Nobody liked country music except old people (Garth Brooks really changed this around 1990 or so, though).
But now it seems like the average kid has diverse interests, that can include all genres of popular music. My friends and family have teens that will listen to country, pop, hip hop, metal, alt rock.
Last edited by Josh-da-man; 08-04-16 at 10:46 AM.
08-02-16, 01:32 AM
#71
DVD Talk Reviewer & TOAT Winner
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Yet you won't find a radio station that plays all of those together.
One idea I had for a radio format was a ridiculously diverse selection of music- punk rock to classical to you-name-it. Likely it would be hard to sell ad time on such a station as companies want to advertise to specific demographics, but I can dream.
One idea I had for a radio format was a ridiculously diverse selection of music- punk rock to classical to you-name-it. Likely it would be hard to sell ad time on such a station as companies want to advertise to specific demographics, but I can dream.
08-02-16, 11:10 AM
#72
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
08-03-16, 10:37 AM
#73
DVD Talk Legend
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
Nobody needs to see Rob Thomas in two consecutive videos. Nobody.
08-04-16, 09:49 AM
#74
DVD Talk Legend
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore
It's ridiculous now, but it was a weird time.
08-04-16, 11:09 AM
#75
DVD Talk Legend
Re: My theory on why MTV doesn't play music videos anymore