Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Radio & Music >

MTV at 25

Our Lady Has Left the Building

20:12 / 01.08.06

That CNN article that's going around the interwebs. I must admit that I watch MTV almost not at all, occasionally lighting on MTV2 in horrified fascination and sometimes hovering on MTV Dance in the hopes they show a KLF video late at night. But then I'm 30 so probably around 15 years upside their demographic. Does MTV matter any more or are they as past it as the radio?

33

21:15 / 01.08.06

I must admit that I watch MTV almost not at all, occasionally lighting on MTV2 in horrified fascination and sometimes hovering on MTV Dance in the hopes they show a KLF video late at night. But then I'm 30 so probably around 15 years upside their demographic. Does MTV matter any more or are they as past it as the radio?

*** Well it seems to matter to you - hence the word " hope "

According to what I read MTV want to be the peterpan or forever young and hip ,change with the times..

There is vh2 but again its mostly popular older songs which suits me fine but not if I want to see something that isnt so much of a one - off or popular hit.

That said who am I to talk I cant even find much on the internet so far though I did hear some interesting radio shows in Wisconsin last year.

Yep I dont think MTV is cool personally anymore , but then like I said I dont really see any other channels that cater towards anything but the mainstream pop .

arr

Our Lady Has Left the Building

05:51 / 02.08.06

Really? What about MTV Base? MTV2? VH2? VH1 Classic? Or outside the MTV umbrella there's Kiss? Magic? Kerrang? Channel U? Scuzz? Have you got satellite telly or just Freeview?

08:41 / 02.08.06

MTV2 is great for 120 Minutes every night; I sometimes pop onto VH1 Classics for a nostalgia kick, too. There's still something for everyone, so it doesn't really matter to me that MTV proper doesn't show videos anymore.

Anyway, I just thought it was great to see Styx and REO Speedwagon on MTV last night. Talk about incongruity...

09:16 / 02.08.06

MTV itself isn't really about music anymore- its more a Yoof channel which sometimes plays music isn't it?

I supose in may ways the internet is really quickly superceding MTV as a place to watch videos and find out about music- look at stuff like Youtube- the banning of Chris Cunninghams Horrors vid has only made it more popular on the internet.

MTV2 in the Uk shows some really interesting stuff- I don't have it at home cos irritatingly its one of the channels that you have to have super sports and film cable packages to get.

We have it at work and while its dominated by the NME charts they also have a great policy of playing new stuff- if only the bands can be arsed to make a decent video. They have shown all the videos that i've directed- and gave me a really big helping hand by showing stuff early on in my directing career that i'd shot on tiny, tiny budgets of about £200- pretty cool thinking i reckon.

While the internet is growing as a tool to show new stuff, i don't think MTV is totally irrelevant given the audience that it reaches. There are many many vids on the internet- but the non linear nature of the medium means that an audienced isn't always force fed stuff that they may otherwise miss by simply not looking. How many times have you seen a new video on Tv and fallen in love with a new band?

There is of course the counter arguement that i read about a band on a forum like this and instantly check em out on YouTube- but i think some of us still like the stamp of authenticity that a TV show gives something.

10:16 / 02.08.06

while its dominated by the NME charts they also have a great policy of playing new stuff- if only the bands can be arsed to make a decent video. They have shown all the videos that i've directed

Ok, I'll bite - which ones? (Really obvious clues will do instead of the actual titles, but please make them really obvious - in spite of the recent, somewhat inadvertent name change, I'm still more at home with a toasted tea cake than I am with current developments in youth culture.)

33

15:11 / 05.08.06

lly? What about MTV Base? MTV2? VH2? VH1 Classic? Or outside the MTV umbrella there's Kiss? Magic? Kerrang? Channel U? Scuzz? Have you got satellite telly or just Freeview?

** what about them ?

They area all much the same to me or at least all popular / current..

MTV2 10 Yrs ago mabye
Headbangers ball etc with that chick with blonde hair

I've seen most of those channels but its repetitive and often note the same rota songs being played on different channles .. so it just bores me

Personcally I dont even watch tv , I stopped 3 years ago its gotten so bad.. I make an exception for some sport events but other than that its pure crap IMO

As billy connoly said people at home sittin watching other people at home - how unimaginative , braind dead and lacking or expression can you get ?

At least round 70s they had original shit like magic roundabout, really it makes a strong case for entheogens and desinger drugs ( conrolled ) IMO

ARRRRrr

Our Lady Has Left the Building

17:31 / 06.08.06

33 Personcally I dont even watch tv , I stopped 3 years ago its gotten so bad.

Okay, so your opinion, like most of your opinions IS CREATED IN YOUR TINY MIND WITH NO REFERENCE TO THE ISSUES BEING DISCUSSED? You're dismissing MTV2 despite not having watched it for 3 years? You're so disconnected from the world around you they should put you in the House of Lords.

18:33 / 06.08.06

i think it stopped being the only thing in the tele-party, but i dont think radio died. it' taken on some pretty interesting additional forms recently(podcasts, lastfm, pandora), but guided listening is a great thing that will stay with us as long as there are folks who like someone else to take control of the stereo for a bit.

TV is the same, i reckon.
the internet is great, but some folks don't even know about youtube, hey.
some people use the internet as a communicaton tool and little else, unaware of the media treats available.

you can see and hear almost everything, but sometimes you dont want to have to choose.

i wouldnt have watched the three amigos anytime recently, for example, if it hadnt been on telly.
it was, and i did.
and i loved it.

i think music television will wane but wont die completely, at least not for a while yet.

MTV2 10 Yrs ago mabye

their tenth birthday was five days ago.
four when you posted.
so it was good for three or four days, then it got shit?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:32 / 06.08.06

(Slightly off-topic, and maybe for another thread...)

you can see and hear almost everything, but sometimes you dont want to have to choose is something I've been thinking about a lot recently- we're always told about the amazing amount of choice we have by virtue of t'internet, TVOD and stuff... part of me kind of liked it when someone else did the choosing for me. I liked TV as a medium for lazy people. As is, I have a stack of DVDs and always spend at least an hour trying to decide what to watch before it goes on. Ee, when I were a lad, you had three channels (later four) and you'd be so concentrated on what was on that you actually cared even if it was shit. Of course, you only got to see a very limited selection of stuff and blah blah blah.

Apologies for off-topic- as I say, maybe another thread in this. I'll have a think.

09:02 / 07.08.06

Continuing the thread rot:

33, why don't you try Radio Paradise for rock

Or maybe

or WMFU for something a little alternative. Actually, on second thoughts, don't listen to that second link - it contains some music, from "a certain ethnic group" to use your own words.

I don't know whether you will find anything in those that can take you away from all this popular mainstream music and match your avant gardist tastes of... er... The Smashing Pumpkins, but who knows. If not ask yourself why you post an inordinate amount of shit onto a forum for discussion, when you have no intention of listening or debating things.

The "This is what I like and everything else is rubbish because (a) I say it is and (b) it's all popular mainstream now and everything was better in my day, 5 years ago when I was growing pubes" reactionary crap is starting to grate.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

11:39 / 07.08.06

I think we should avoid trying to help 33, we did that once already and it turned out to be a massive waste of time.

Regrettable Juvenilia

12:53 / 07.08.06

I don't have MTV2 at home but by coincidence found myself watching it late last night and saw all kinds of good stuff: New Young Pony Club (who I'd heard of but am now very enamoured with thanks to 'Ice Cream'), CSS, that new Streets single which barely has Mike Skinner on it at all and is therefore actually good, plus loads of stuff I'd never heard of (The Russian Futurists?). Meanwhile MTV Base is well worth the occasionally viewing as long as you don't share 33's issues with the cultural influence of "certain ethnic groups". So while the main MTV channel may have become less to do with music and more to do with light documentaries about slebs and that, the diversification into different 'speciality' channels means that 33's opinion that "it's all the same" is as wrong as he can possibly be, which as we know, is very very wrong indeed.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:24 / 07.08.06

33, I'm not being mean, but what I really don't understand is how you can simultaneously not want to like what the masses like, and complain that the music the masses listen to is rubbish? What, you want everyone else to listen to really great music just so you can dislike it?

"I BOUGHT TEN ALBUMS LAST WEEK AND THEY WERE ALL BOLLOCKS!!! I AM THE KING OF FREEDOM!!!"

15:42 / 07.08.06

i havent watched TV at all in months, due to an excessive work load.

i do agree that there is some pretty good stuff to be found in among the occasional crapper, but i just find it hard to feel comfortable sitting around long enough to watch a whole video, let alone a few.
i have the same problem with youtube as well, though, so that isnt a TV thing entirely. i usually have about three or four things open besides a video, reading as i watch.
i do occasionally have to rewind things, but i dont seem to have the will to focus.

i get antsy wasting time watching stuff in a way that i dont if i am reading a book or doing something with my hands.
whittling, or something.
whittling away the day whittling.

i dont smoke enough weed these days, clearly.

33

12:30 / 09.08.06

I have seen MTV recently and now and again over the years , every time I do its the same calibre / current trends ..

Whats whittling ?

33

12:36 / 09.08.06

By the way you are all taking this far too personally..

but your welcome to think what you like , I'm sorry if the fact I dont apprecaite similiar music etc irks you

I dont smoke enough weed these days, clearly

This could be why you have problems , esp if your using it as means to hide skeletons..

paranoidwriter waves hello

13:07 / 09.08.06

but your welcome to think what you like , I'm sorry if the fact I dont apprecaite similiar music etc irks you

33, you're still not getting it, are you? It's got nothing to do with your musical tastes, and everything to do with how you're posting and the lack of logic in your comments. e.g. see Stoat's comment above.

paranoidwriter waves hello

13:33 / 09.08.06

Oh, and FYI: whittling.

33

13:46 / 09.08.06

what is illogical ?

I explained from my perspective not an objective one..

I said that based on my experince and tastes ..

Maybe to some here timberlake and sterophonics are miles apart but not to me, its still pop / mainstream and that my friend was the point..

Of course if someone wants to present a playlist , stats to prove me wrong i'd be happy to see it..

I rest my case

lotsa

33

13:49 / 09.08.06

by the way if you look at the number of I's , I think you will see I am not alone..

33

13:52 / 09.08.06

33, I'm not being mean, but what I really don't understand is how you can simultaneously not want to like what the masses like, and complain that the music the masses listen to is rubbish? What, you want everyone else to listen to really great music just so you can dislike it?

** Did I ever say that ?

What do you mean by masses , I'm sure theres a lot of folk that like my tastes still of my era..

paranoidwriter waves hello

13:56 / 09.08.06

Well, I was going on your comments in this thread and the others you've contributed to on Barbelith.

However,...In my humble opinion, it's illogical to say that you don't watch mainstream TV and yet you do tune in every so often, and that you can base a fully informed opinion on what is being shown twenty four hours a day on mainstream TV by occassionally switching on your Goggle-box.

Seriously, 33. If I were to make broad and ill informed opinions/assumptions about Scotland, the Scottish, and the state of Scottish music, based on a one day busman's holiday I had there two years ago, would that be logical?

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:03 / 09.08.06

By the way you are all taking this far too personally..

He's a trickster figure. He's Anansi. He's Coyote.

Actually, possibly he's Skunk Anansie. Suitably po-faced and joyless, although the singer was of a certain ethnic group...

Regrettable Juvenilia

18:48 / 09.08.06

Maybe to you Skunk Anansi and Ciara are miles apart, Haus, but it's all the same to me. That's my personal opinion. I'm not saying it's right, but anyone who disagrees with it is fooling themselves.

21:39 / 09.08.06

MTV2 10 Yrs ago mabye

as has already been pointed out, you have no idea what you are talking about.
it seems from your posts you type whatever feels good, based on a very limited knowldge of almost anything you care to mention.

your views on MTV might be of interest if you actually watched it, but right now i dont think i see the point of your posts, other than to pour scorn on something you dont like the idea of.

also, please stop suggesting i have a drug problem.
i have ignored your impolite questions about drug use in PM. you dont know me and you are unwlecome to speak to me in the manner you have chosen.

you should talk about music in this forum, or you should talk elsewhere.

33

13:33 / 10.08.06

Well, I was going on your comments in this thread and the others you've contributed to on Barbelith.

However,...In my humble opinion, it's illogical to say that you don't watch mainstream TV and yet you do tune in every so often, and that you can base a fully informed opinion on what is being shown twenty four hours a day on mainstream TV by occassionally switching on your Goggle-box.

** what do you want to do watch it for 50 hours every week ?

Besides I am familiar with some of the programmes enough to know what to expect without watching them

Seriously, 33. If I were to make broa

d and ill informed opinions/assumptions about Scotland, the Scottish, and the state of Scottish music, based on a one day busman's holiday I had there two years ago, would that be logical?

** Just about as logical as people accusing me of what they have based on the little they know ..

But to me it is logical in the sense it is a perception you cant deny what you experinced but if your trying to in order to make a broader statement or something that makes sense its not..

What this boils down to pw like it or not is that subjective does become the objective even if its only 1 day what you see in that day is going to infleunce how you respond to it..

So to answer you question yes i would think your opinion of my homeland is utterly fair ,

sidenote ** toksik I am not jusding you or what you do , you can do whatever the hell you like as far as I'm concerned , but i think its arrogant of you to demand certain privelages when clearly your yourself - without proper case - comtinually jump on the joywagon
to paint me as something..

it was you yourself that said you needed more weed with empahsis on the word " needed "

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:32 / 10.08.06

What this boils down to pw like it or not is that subjective does become the objective even if its only 1 day what you see in that day is going to infleunce how you respond to it..

No, dear. Subjective remains subjective. Opinions remain opinions, which may be based on knowledge or ignorance. You do not watch MTV, so your protestations here about it are based on ignorance of its current programming. This is, however, as you say academic, because you do not like any modern music, so a channel showing modern music is unlikely ever to make you happy.

Since this thread has been rotted through by the Meldrew effect, shall we start another one on music television generally?

33

15:26 / 10.08.06

hellos haus..

my point is this ..

ready ?

If you saw a hen just one in your lifetime then it is going to forever have the subconcious effect of infleuncing how you feel about hens forever more..

I verify this with experinces of things I that happened ocassionally such as entheogens , suffice to say the experince has for the time being regardless of what others say influnced me permanently thus far

but yes lets start again..

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

16:53 / 10.08.06

I'm sure your invitation has already been mailed, buddy.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

17:06 / 10.08.06

33 Besides I am familiar with some of the programmes enough to know what to expect without watching them

AAAAAAAARGH!!!!!

So to clarify, you don't watch music telly, except you do. You watch it in order to satisfy yourself that you're not missing anything by not watching it and so continue to not watch it. You don't watch it because it's full of bands you hate, and you watch it to confirm that it's full of bands you hate and then you don't watch it.

Oh, and it appears that I now love paranoidwriter and the having of hugglebabies may indeed be involved in there.

33

17:19 / 10.08.06

AAAAAAAARGH!!!!!

** No you got wrong its ARRRRRRRRRRR

but i'll let you off seeing as you seem so miserable maybe I'll even throw in free lollipop ...

19:04 / 10.08.06

33, i asked you to stop talking about it.
it was a joke regarding the sedentary nature of television not being for me, and the flavour of your response was not welcome.

please talk about music and not what you percieve as my drug problem.
this is the music forum, and there are points about music television that have been raised that you have not commented on.

do you accept that you were pulling nonsense from thin air when you said that MTV2 had been shit for a decade, a period only days shorter than it's tenure?

04:32 / 11.08.06

*opens door to thread, steps in*

What the fuck?

*shakes head, leaves*

paranoidwriter waves hello

21:28 / 11.08.06

Oh, and it appears that I now love paranoidwriter and the having of hugglebabies may indeed be involved in there.

*blushes*

Erm... er... I'm not sure what to say... Er... Wow... Thanks... I really like you too, Our Lady.... Erm... So, how do we have digital hugglebabies? Is that like those cyber-pet thingys, and does this mean we'll need a Barbe-creche thread soon?...

What? Oh come on, this thread is rotted anyway, right? Yeah, I suppose you're right, "there's always hope". I just wanted to say thanks.