Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, looks back at MTV’s legacy and if it will ever reclaim its glory days
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| MTV Logo. Found on Wikimedia Commons. |
Thirty-six years ago today, MTV
made its debut, filling a niche in the television schedule that no one ever
knew was necessary: a 24-hour music channel. Through the airing of music videos
and other music-related programming, the channel has become a juggernaut,
launching the careers of countless new artists and giving rise to the term “Video
Jockey.” And while the channel may have lost its musical direction nearly a decade
ago, the channel’s legacy of cutting edge cultural programming remains.
MTV wasn’t always as popular as it is today. In fact, when
the channel first launched in 1981, cable carriers were weary of picking it up.
There were very few instances of channels completely devoted to music before
and providers weren’t sold on whether people would actually watch something
like that. Even carriers in the channel’s home market of New York didn’t start
carrying it until two years later, after proving that it was going somewhere.
With that being said, when MTV took off, it took off. The
channel’s Top 40 format proved to be a success amongst teens and young adults.
It gave new life to the music video, which, while existing prior to the 1980s,
was not an overly popular means of promoting an artist in the United States at
the time. With the popularity of the music video, MTV was able to launch the
careers of artists that were not getting the kind of radio airplay other
popular artists had been. Michael
Jackson, Guns
N’ Roses, Madonna,
Prince
and more all saw spikes in popularity from having their music in MTV’s
rotation.
Particularly in the last decade, MTV has drifted away from
music programming in favor of reality-based and scripted shows. The shift
prompted the channel to drop the words “Music Television” from its name in
2009, officially ending the channel’s hold on the music industry. Though you
will still hear new music on the channel, it’s usually embedded in television
shows with just a short prompt in the lower eighth of the screen telling you to
visit the MTV website. The only music-influenced programming currently airing
new episodes is Nick Cannon’s ‘Wild ‘N’ Out,’ which gives rappers and comedians
a chanced to roast each other through rap battles.
MTV has tried to bring back some of their past music
programming in some form or another over the last few years. ‘Unplugged’ and ‘120
Minutes’ were both revived in the early 2010s, but ended up either being
relegated to specials on the MTV website. Attempts at bringing back music
videos in the early hours of the morning failed. This week, it was announced
that ‘Total
Request Live,’ the music video countdown show that premiered in 1998 and
gave rise to boy bands like The
Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC
and 98
Degrees, and bubblegum pop princesses like Britney
Spears and Christina
Aguilera, would be making a return in October.
The one thing that MTV never lost throughout its entire run
is its ability to push the envelope with its programming. They put black
artists into their rotation when it didn’t seem popular to do so. They gave
comedians a shot at getting their material out there, no matter how racy. Their
news and documentary broadcasts were cutting edge and showed real life problems
that people in the channel’s demographic were dealing with. Even now, MTV’s
unscripted programming is some of the most inclusive in terms of portraying
people of all races, religions and sexual orientations.
MTV has been a pioneer in music television and cultural programming.
Early on, the channel was a force in the music industry, popularizing the music
video and launching the careers of many artists along the way. Though it has
gotten away from the music programming it was once known for, its ability to break
boundaries has continued to guide the channel’s current programming. MTV might
not be the musical influencer that it once was and probably never will be
again, but it will always be remembered for what it has done, no matter what comes
next.
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Find music from MTV’s hottest artists at Vinyl Bay 777 and
vinylbay777.com. Long Island’s top new independent record shop has thousands of
titles to choose from in an array of genres ranging from pop, rock and R&B
to hip-hop, dance, classical and more. Browse our wide selection of new and
used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more. Stop by
our Plainview, NY location or shop online from the comfort of your own home.
With more titles being added to our selection all the time, there is always
something new to find at Vinyl Bay 777.
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