MTV: Doing what needs to be done

MTV as people remember it is a thing of the past. Music videos have been left in the rearview mirror for a few years now. MTV is more of a reality TV station, which is probably in the best interests of the station. The channel is more of a brand that younger generations identify with. With the evolution of the Internet there is no need for long drawn out shows of countless music videos when someone can look for whatever they want in a matter of seconds on their computer. I remember watching MTV waiting to see a certain video I wanted to see and it may have never came on. MTV had to come up with a strategy to keep the viewers watching for long durations of time instead of their viewers channel surfing. So having shows that people want to watch on a normal basis was something that had to be done.

Having shows on MTV is nothing radically new; there were shows on throughout the early 90’s like Real World, and Bevies & Butthead. Now it’s just that the channel is predominately overran with shows instead of music videos. The title of the channel “Music Television” is not really relevant anymore but the channel is a brand name and that’s what sells. I haven’t watched MTV in a few years mainly because it doesn’t have anything to offer me anymore, as I was stating previously with the evolution of the Internet and sites like YouTube and Dailymotion people can easily watch whatever they want whenever they want. I think that MTV will always have a place on television and will also have an influence with younger generations. Musicians and artist will also play a role on the channel as more of a traditional homage to years past, but music videos will probably become less and less. MTV will always be associated with music and they do still have events like the MTV music videos awards, which are still a big deal to people. There are other channels that have adapted the MTV formula and show music videos on a more regular schedule. A channel that comes to mind is Fuse, which is really cool I think. Not do they play music videos but they also do live concerts and in-depth interviews with the artist, and they even that stabs at MTV occasionally. The channel can’t be found on basic cable but on satellite TV. For people who love to watch music videos on an actual TV station still have a few options, but ask for MTV its kind of a blueprint of the past.

Music videos in my life today basically consist of watching stuff on YouTube & Dailymotion. I can watch 50 videos of my choice, rather than wait to see videos on TV. Also with the Internet people can be exposed to a larger variety of music that they may have been aware of. Even when MTV showed Music videos regularly there were always videos that were not shown for a number of reasons. In my opinion things have changed for the better and it was just an evolutionary affect of the music television industry.