"MTV doesn't play videos anymore."
"MTV should be called RTV (Reality Television)."
"I want my old MTV back."
These are some of the complaints I've read over recent years regarding the dismissal of music on MTV to make way for the newest salvo of reality and scripted series. Face it, the MTV we, anyone over the age of 20-something, knew is no more. Save a six hour block four times per week, MTV is largely void of music programming. So what happened? MTV's evolved, out of necessity, to survive and remain relevant. Music videos are largely viewed on YouTube, Vevo and the like and artists now depend on these outlets for gaining exposure instead of getting it from the big M. And, despite the backlash from critics and fans who fondly recall the glory days, MTV's evolution is working in its favor.
Jersey Shore is the network's highest rated program ever. The reality stars of Teen Mom are fast becoming weekly fixtures on the covers of gossip magazines alongside their Shore brethren. The music's out and boozin' and baby makin' are in. Sweet! Or not? I'm not thrilled, but who cares what I think? The ratings speak for themselves, and MTV's profits are in the tasteless, not the taste-makers.
The M in MTV hasn't been sent packing into the wastelands of Wikipedia as one would think. MTV's music programming and journalism are now digitally driven. Web and mobile platforms are now the stage for the newest crop of MTV brands that you or your friends are likely unaware of at the moment. Ever heard of MTV Iggy? It's an infant brand and a home for global indie music. How about MTVK or MTV Desi? No? K pushes Korea's pop scene and Desi's spotlights India's. Does MTV Hive ring a bell? Will Michele Bachmann be the new leader of the free world in 2012? You know the answer to both.
Diversifying its brand in recent years, MTV is placing its chips into niche segments with blogs and other features to entice the portion of its audience who haven't succumb to fist-pumping juiceheads and the fad of angsty wolf and vampire teen dramas. These readers are still about the music. "MTV still cares about music" you ask? Yes it does. The network that introduced the world to the music video is doing things a whole lot different these days.
For starters, the majority of new installments for the MTV Unplugged series debut online first, then eventually run on cable. The most recent exception was in June when Lil Wayne went unplugged on both MTV and MTV2. Another example comes from the latter network who moved the long-running Headbangers Ball to a web only platform, angering some of the show's most loyal followers. See the show's Facebook page for the scathing responses.
"The Ball" covers the less prevalent metal genre and until recent only aired in the early morning hours on MTV2 before moving completely online. The change was seemingly inevitable for the series and Unplugged as well. MTV knows the way people discover music has changed, too. They're not the only trick in town anymore, and by all appearances it looks like MTV has made peace with this fact way before we did. In the age of Turntable.fm and Pandora, its new-ish Music Meter property is another way to see which acts you should know about as determined by social media buzz.
All hasn't gone to the web surprisingly. Days before MTV's 30th birthday, 120 Minutes returned to the airwaves with famed VJ veteran Matt Pinfield. Leading up to 120's re-birth came a weekly web short on Hive called 120 Seconds. The series debuts new clips when its big brother is not airing.
Believe it or not, actual video premieres still occur on MTV, though few videos get this special treatment and is normally limited to A-list acts like Britney Spears, Rihanna and Green Day. If you're fortunate enough, your cable or satellite provider may grant you access to the lesser known 24/7 MTV video channels like MTV Jams (hip hop and R&B), MTV Hits (top 40) and MTVu (college-genre videos). Competitors Fuse and TheCoolTV may also be in your line-up to help satisfy your hunger for the music video.
What MTV is doing now is not anything new. In fact, they're late to the party. The sudden explosion of new music and entertainment blogs seems to be an attempt to re-capture an audience that long ago fanned out to smaller but strong competitors like Rotten Tomatoes, TMZ and Gawker. Recent MTV blogs Splash Page, Hollywood Crush and Geek are hoping to lure you back into the fold. However, these hangouts, along with playground king and queen Facebook and YouTube, are where you and yours are most likely spending time watching videos, discovering music and discussing artists, movies and celebs you like. The chances are you aren't going to deflect anytime soon to try out the newest MTV flavors, or not until enough of your friends do first and ask you to do the same.
MTV's revived interest in being the destination for discovering new music and artists is commendable. Howbeit, it may be too late for the trend setter that now apparently is the trend follower. The next few years will be very telling for MTV whether or not they get a second go-around as a major player in the music business. I'd be more inclined to see it as such if its news hub, MTV News, starts to put out more legit, in-depth music journalism and not litter its home page with articles about Twilight stars and who's hot to trot. For now, I'll stick to my social news feeds and Vevo until I have a good enough reason to hit Like on MTV's Facebook page.
