MTV: Music Mainstream Essay -- Entertainment Television Papers

Invention of MTV MTV pioneered the music video, music television industry. The music video genre was taking its first steps in the 60s and 70s. MTV seized upon the idea, linked it with cable television and created a media icon. MTV has been the launching pad for the careers of stars for two decades. On the MTV model, other music television programs adopted the format such as BET, VH-1, and the Nashville Network. MTV has continuously pushed the envelope in music and social issues. Their success deserves to be studied. The story of the founding of MTV has valuable lessons for the media industry. This is a brief look at who did it, how they accomplished it and their adaptations to the changing nuances of the industry. Linking music and the video is similar to the linking of sound and films in the early 20th century. It changed the way Rock and Roll music did business. Rock groups and soloists no longer had to sound good; they now had to look good close up. Professionals in video art and technology joined with professionals in the sound recording industry. The concept of the video jockey, VJ evolved. The term â€Å"yeah, I saw that song† was born. Prior to the invention and distribution of cable television, rock and roll music was flourishing. The few television networks limited the convergence of music and television in existence at the time. The music video was an experiment and the resources the networks could provide limited it. Music and television usually converged on Saturdays with programs like â€Å"the Monkeys†, and the cartoon â€Å"the Beatles† in the morning, â€Å"American Bandstand† in the early afternoon, â€Å"Soul Train† in the late afternoon, and â€Å"Midnight Special† or â€Å"Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert† Saturday night.... ...deos, all the time†. Who knows what will happen in the future of music television. Either way MTV will find a way to dominate popular culture and help young kids fit into the society that MTV keeps creating and recreating. Work Cited Absolute TRL. Show Index. 5 November 2001. http://absolutetrl.net/showinfo/index.html Denisoff, Serge R. Inside MTV. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1988. Waits, Jennifer C. (1997). Fantastic Reality: The Blurring of Leisure and Work Space On MTV’S The Real World and Road Rules. Bowling Green State University: Bowling Green, OH. http://www.mtv.com http://www.mtvi.com http://www.rockthevote.org http://www.CKY2K.net â€Å"Rockin in Time 4th Edition† David P. Szatmary, Prentis Hall INC. 2000. â€Å"The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Rock† Carlton Books Limited, 1993, Michael Heatley Editor, p. 321-22.