Do you remember the time...

... 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.

Pop Music: Younger & More Graphic Than Ever

It seems it was only yesterday when a "teenage sensation" in a school uniform, dark pinkish lipstick and ponytails stormed the charts via high school corridors around the world in 1998/1999. Britney became an instant imaginary B.F.F. for most of the girls of her generation.

Even yours truly, heavily addicted to nothing but adult contemporary, Jazz and Classical was eventually forced subconsciously to learn "Baby One More Time" by heart driving to school and back with other classmates more attuned with the current pop music transformation from Spice Girls to a much younger and cuter Britney Spears. Far from becoming a teen-pop fan, I was still reeling from Celine Dion's smash album "Let's Talk About Love" which featured the mega "My Heart Will Go On". So, yes, not exactly your average "hit me baby" fan, but humming along was inevitable....

Just then, the Lolita boom was back in a full 40-year circle... And it's been here more or less on and off ever since.

After a brief break between Britney clones, such as Mandy Moore, a vocally much better equipped Christina Aguilera (albeit a teen pop starlet at the time, nonetheless) and a few more whose names I honestly can't remember anymore (that's a sign in itself!) - in 2008 we're facing a much less subtle version of "Lolita pop" not only among the Hanna Montana fans and the controversial (although not that big of a deal, for goodness sake!) fashion shot of Miley Cyrus, to name but a few.

Ultimately, the combination of the taboo view of young girls in flashy grown-up clothes and millions of teenagers' admiration of such teen-pop icons, along with the utter realization of the 80's fear that "video killed the radio" (and now even MTV is no longer about music, it's all about the "Nip Tucks!" and "The Soup" equivalents) leaves music way behind - what's it all about then, Alfie? Surely not the music. Neither a well produced video, for that's long gone as well...

So, what's next? Not only in pop music but on a larger scale - for young upcoming generations.... childhood vs. adulthood - do we skip adolescence altogether?