... when MTV (clarification for the some who have come to believe that it has always been the home of generic reality TV) was the official Music Television channel? Can you still recall MTV Unplugged? No, not "Nip Tuck" but MTV Unplugged - acoustic showcases of some of the biggest pop/rock artists and bands producer in TV Special format. The ultra-famous TRL (Total Request Live) was before YouTube... And does anyone remember MTV UK's Bitesize - random videos, clips and music news? Yup, that was all before The Soup!
If video killed radio, then myspace and youtube have certainly replaced MTV, VH1 and all of its numerous clones internationally... Good news or bad news?
While in the 80's and the 90's appearing on MTV was a major achievement for a new band, nowadays it's practically uncool to even ask an artist if he/she is on MTV - a) because it no longer exists (the MTV we've got on Time Warner today is not the same, let's face it!) and therefore, if you're "hip" and up-to-date about what's going on in the world, you should be aware of that, and b) very few good indies could ever afford the luxury of buying airtime or even ending up on the channel for free without the right connections...
Today it's all about myspace, iTunes and youtube...... But what about tomorrow? Isn't this just a bridge that will get us from A to B (the latter still remaining a mystery to everyone in the music industry on the verge of collapse unless they can come up with the Plan B either now or never) ?
Where are we heading.... Back to square one? Because let's not forget - music will always be in demand whether it's in this current format or another, an indie or a major label (not so likely anymore), live or on record... It will always have a listener, always find a buyer. That's the only consolation.
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