Can MTV Return to the Glory Days of Music Videos?

By Jett Wells Posted Nov 7th 2010 02:30PM

Pop-Ed: When people talk MTV, they make it sound like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale. Jekyll was the 1980s-to-late-1990s MTV, when it was still called "music television" and was about one thing only -- music. The impact it had on musicians' careers was revolutionary, and it made artists like Michael Jackson transform from pop star to legend.

Mr. Hyde is what you see today, a network without an identity and invested more in teenage humor, publicity stunts and 'Jersey Shore.' If you grew up watching MTV in the '90s, you probably don't watch MTV today because music videos and 'TRL' ('Total Request Live,' yeah, the days of Carson Daly) have been replaced by pregnant teenagers and indie redheads from Texas.

Now MTV wants us to believe that's all changing, that they can move back to the glory days of music videos. Read on.

Vulture reported that MTV has taken on a new series where they'll finance music videos to turn them into epic dramas -- in other words, really expensive, cool-looking music videos with good directors. The series is called 'Supervideo,' and it officially started with a new video for LCD Soundsystem's 'Pow Wow,' featuring Oscar-nominee Anna Kendrick of 'Twilight' and 'Up in the Air' fame.

Can this series revitalize the cultural relevance of music videos once again, or is it just a pet project to please MTV's older fans? Simple answer: MTV gave birth to the music video, it killed the music video, and it still won't resurrect the music video -- at least not to what it once was.

The effort is led by publisher of Mean Magazine, Kashy Kahledi, an old music video geek, who feels premium value is returning to the art form after Lady Gaga and Kanye West's successes. "It says that there's a certain nostalgia, that there's a sort of excitement for the music video again," Kahledi said.

MTV nabbed 'Training Day' writer David Ayer to run the first 'supervideo,' and it certainly looked pretty, but for music videos to rise back to the influential medium they once were, it's going to take a whole lot more than fancy cameras and MTV money. The main idea that made music videos so powerful back in the '80s and '90s was that MTV was built around them; they had a whole network vying for different ways to promote them. Sometimes it was the music video that made the artist, but today the clips' roles are more similar to album covers -- decorative art to promote digital tracks on iTunes. Videos play second fiddle.

'Supervideo' isn't going to change MTV's relationship with music videos because MTV worked too hard to leave them in the past, and while a lot of people moved on, new viewers have tuned in for Snooki and 'The Burial Life' instead.

The irony is that even if MTV wanted to ditch reality TV and bring back the music video, it wouldn't matter because the state of the music industry has flipped upside down. When music videos were in their prime, Napster didn't exist and YouTube was years away. Music videos haven't lost all relevance, but they've adapted to today's viral environment where everything is on Vevo/YouTube, and people only buy music because they don't know how to use Google correctly. Times have changed, and today's music video doesn't fit into the end-all be-all role it once had, because our attention spans have been divided by four -- there's too much information on the internet coming at us from all ends for us to value it as much anymore.

Although the role of the music video has changed dramatically, that doesn't mean we don't love them when they're good. Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance' and Kanye West's 'Runaway' made music videos an artform once again, and their traffic on YouTube alone proves people still love them, but conversely, our behaviors have changed. MTV can't make money off music videos anymore because people only need a laptop, no more TV, to get what they want. People have the control. MTV can invest in high-quality music videos, and people will watch them, but this isn't by any means a return to the 1990s and they won't change the role of the video because our culture changed without them a long time ago.

Follow Jett on Twitter

Tags: MTV, music video

Comments

(47)

Monday 08 November

By Jason

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Just made me think of a moment. I happened to be watching mtv the day left-eye of tlc had died. And the whole day was devoted to interviews and videos and everything was about her. One of the better memories i have that they have done.

Sunday 28 November

By cPg

Vote down Vote up Report this

Just checked out to see who are the staff writers for POP EATER-
Are any of them even old enough to remember MTV in the 60's or 80's?--Just wondering......

By Pondo Sinatra

I would even be happy if they re-run all those videos of the 80s and 90s again

By kelldogg8

Video Killed The Radio Star, then M-T-V Killed The Video Star...

By juney

What do you mean MTV turned Michael Jackson from a pop star to a legend? If you ask me, Michael Jackson put MTV on the map! If it weren't for Michael there would have been no MTV; you can see what's happened since his death. There are no more superstars; just wannabes. I'm done with MTV, June 25, 2009 is the day the music died.

By reds8163

O yes the good old days. Graduated from high school and MTV debuted on my 18th birthday!! I even have VHS recordings of videos marathons when they featured artists. Now I had to convert the VHS to DVD!! But MTv will never be what is was - because the world is moving to fast. Heck I'd go back to before Microsoft!!! At least people knew how to have a conversation!!

By Nancy

I hate MTV - they have the nerve to charge for the crap they put on that channel! When the videos are on there other channels that cost even more and that is what we really wanna see! What happened to MTV news and all the other good shows? The half hour a day they play videos is like at 5 in the morning! Who the hell is up then? And WTF is up with them having an annual video awards show if they dont even play the damn videos they nominate!!!!!! Utterly ridiculous! Everybody at MTV needs to be fired!

Page 3 of 3