MTV. The channel that, when spoken of in nearly any social setting, evokes feelings of contempt and antipathy. Seemingly everyone nowadays waxes lyrical about the "good old days" of MTV and reminisces of hours spent watching countless music videos with friends - the euphoria, the ecstasy of hearing P Diddy rap about how much money he has. Gone are the days of MUSIC television! No longer can anyone stumble upon any awesome new music, as MTV has "sold out" - a hilarious phrase when contemplating how MTV has always made its money. Before even considering the notion of selling out, let's talk about reality television and how MTV has apparently declined so much, according to everyone's standards. While I wholeheartedly dislike the concept of reality TV, I understand why MTV has turned to it. Reality TV, for better or worse (incontrovertibly worse in my mind), has a colossal market that's evidently being tapped by companies like MTV. My issue with everyone having issue with this is that markets do not create themselves - there is a supply and a demand for each one. The reality TV market thrives because people want to watch shows like the Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, etc. Are these shows considered mediocre and sub-par by most? Absolutely. Does this matter at all to MTV (and apparently to viewers)? Absolutely not. In order to get a better sense of why I have a problem with people being so opposed to this new format, we simply have to look at the demographics of shows such as the Jersey Shore; it is impossible for any show to have success without viewers so who makes up the largest demographic of people watching this show? The same people complaining about the new format of MTV are the ones who caused it to take on this new format. The reason why MTV no longer plays music videos is because it's no longer a lucrative business. MTV made its money from advertisers, who paid them large sums of money because people watched those ads; additionally, people used to buy CDs, but this is no longer the case. Nowadays, people have VEVO on YouTube allowing them to watch nearly every music video ever created since bands started making music videos. People used to DEPEND on MTV for music videos - now that anyone can watch thousands of videos with a few keystrokes and clicks, MTV's old format naturally became obsolete. To complain about this happening is tantamount to whining about the downfall of VHS after buying a DVD player - of course VHS could no longer be supported, people moved on to something new. Quite simply, if you are part of the group whining (while simultaneously watching drunk people make asses of themselves and feeling superior to them) YOU are the reason MTV has sold out.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
The Rise and Fall of MTV
MTV. The channel that, when spoken of in nearly any social setting, evokes feelings of contempt and antipathy. Seemingly everyone nowadays waxes lyrical about the "good old days" of MTV and reminisces of hours spent watching countless music videos with friends - the euphoria, the ecstasy of hearing P Diddy rap about how much money he has. Gone are the days of MUSIC television! No longer can anyone stumble upon any awesome new music, as MTV has "sold out" - a hilarious phrase when contemplating how MTV has always made its money. Before even considering the notion of selling out, let's talk about reality television and how MTV has apparently declined so much, according to everyone's standards. While I wholeheartedly dislike the concept of reality TV, I understand why MTV has turned to it. Reality TV, for better or worse (incontrovertibly worse in my mind), has a colossal market that's evidently being tapped by companies like MTV. My issue with everyone having issue with this is that markets do not create themselves - there is a supply and a demand for each one. The reality TV market thrives because people want to watch shows like the Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, etc. Are these shows considered mediocre and sub-par by most? Absolutely. Does this matter at all to MTV (and apparently to viewers)? Absolutely not. In order to get a better sense of why I have a problem with people being so opposed to this new format, we simply have to look at the demographics of shows such as the Jersey Shore; it is impossible for any show to have success without viewers so who makes up the largest demographic of people watching this show? The same people complaining about the new format of MTV are the ones who caused it to take on this new format. The reason why MTV no longer plays music videos is because it's no longer a lucrative business. MTV made its money from advertisers, who paid them large sums of money because people watched those ads; additionally, people used to buy CDs, but this is no longer the case. Nowadays, people have VEVO on YouTube allowing them to watch nearly every music video ever created since bands started making music videos. People used to DEPEND on MTV for music videos - now that anyone can watch thousands of videos with a few keystrokes and clicks, MTV's old format naturally became obsolete. To complain about this happening is tantamount to whining about the downfall of VHS after buying a DVD player - of course VHS could no longer be supported, people moved on to something new. Quite simply, if you are part of the group whining (while simultaneously watching drunk people make asses of themselves and feeling superior to them) YOU are the reason MTV has sold out.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Dumbass of the Day
Today's dumbass of the day is youtuber "Vivalapolska93" - nice username by the way.
Just watch the stupidity unfold before your eyes.
Just watch the stupidity unfold before your eyes.
Welcome to the House of Soul
Welcome to the twisted trainwreck that is my mind. I will be updating regularly so stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)