MTV and Vh1: Music authorities caught in the reality TV frenzy
Chris Graham
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: Opinion
Remember the days when MTV and Vh1 seemed to play music all day and were the authority on music? Man, have the times changed.
In the last year, MTV cancelled TRL, one of its most famous shows devoted to music. Now while this pop music-driven show got on the nerves of fans of rock and rap, it offered fans an hour of music.
Vh1 had several countdowns of the best and worst songs of every genre and featured its Top 20 countdown. But now the countdown airs at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, which clearly is way too early for its main audience - high school and college students.
The biggest problem is both networks switched from being about music to being about reality TV and thinking that is what their viewers wanted to see. On any night, these two channels' primetime lineup contains no music - reality dominates their block each evening. Whether it is "The Hills" on MTV or some 80's rock star looking for love on Vh1, there is too much reality. As a result, music lovers are left disappointed by the two networks that originally promised music. These two networks have gone away from their roots so much that when they try to do something with music, problems ensue.
Take MTV's latest attempt at analyzing the hip hop game with the Top 10 Hottest MC's list. Its list included rappers who hadn't released any CDs this year. Several rappers who believed their music was good enough to be worthy of a spot bashed the list.
The most telling omission of this list, though, was Eminem. The second-hottest MC in the game, Lil Wayne, was surprised over Eminem's absence, according to an article on www.rapbasement.com. Not only has Eminem been a favorite of MTV for years, appearing on the network over and over again, but he also had one of the highest-selling rap albums of the year. Yet he can't crack the Top 10? MTV has lost its train of thought toward music when it cannot recognize somebody it has been backing forever.
Vh1 recently had its "Hip Hop Honors" and started a new group of "Behind the Music" features. Vh1 actually did a good job in presenting the features with Lil Wayne and 50 Cent. The only problem is its music views seem to be insignificant with the way it presents the station. It becomes tough to take Vh1's music opinion seriously when it has shows about celebrities in rehab or former reality stars looking for love following these programs about music. Vh1 cannot have it both ways.
Understandably, MTV and Vh1 are not going to be what they were in the mid 90s and early 2000s, but there needs to be more focus on music. Unfortunately with the trends the two stations are showing, they will continue pushing reality down our throats and pushing music away from us.
Just look at what happened over the summer; It took Michael Jackson dying for both of these stations to play music all day. Music lovers are in serious trouble if this is what needs to happen for the two channels to return to their musical roots.
So the next time a question on music arises, I will look to other sources for the answer, but when I want to know who Kristen Cavallari is dating, or what 80's star is finally going to find that special someone, MTV and Vh1 will be the first places I look.
In the last year, MTV cancelled TRL, one of its most famous shows devoted to music. Now while this pop music-driven show got on the nerves of fans of rock and rap, it offered fans an hour of music.
Vh1 had several countdowns of the best and worst songs of every genre and featured its Top 20 countdown. But now the countdown airs at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, which clearly is way too early for its main audience - high school and college students.
The biggest problem is both networks switched from being about music to being about reality TV and thinking that is what their viewers wanted to see. On any night, these two channels' primetime lineup contains no music - reality dominates their block each evening. Whether it is "The Hills" on MTV or some 80's rock star looking for love on Vh1, there is too much reality. As a result, music lovers are left disappointed by the two networks that originally promised music. These two networks have gone away from their roots so much that when they try to do something with music, problems ensue.
Take MTV's latest attempt at analyzing the hip hop game with the Top 10 Hottest MC's list. Its list included rappers who hadn't released any CDs this year. Several rappers who believed their music was good enough to be worthy of a spot bashed the list.
The most telling omission of this list, though, was Eminem. The second-hottest MC in the game, Lil Wayne, was surprised over Eminem's absence, according to an article on www.rapbasement.com. Not only has Eminem been a favorite of MTV for years, appearing on the network over and over again, but he also had one of the highest-selling rap albums of the year. Yet he can't crack the Top 10? MTV has lost its train of thought toward music when it cannot recognize somebody it has been backing forever.
Vh1 recently had its "Hip Hop Honors" and started a new group of "Behind the Music" features. Vh1 actually did a good job in presenting the features with Lil Wayne and 50 Cent. The only problem is its music views seem to be insignificant with the way it presents the station. It becomes tough to take Vh1's music opinion seriously when it has shows about celebrities in rehab or former reality stars looking for love following these programs about music. Vh1 cannot have it both ways.
Understandably, MTV and Vh1 are not going to be what they were in the mid 90s and early 2000s, but there needs to be more focus on music. Unfortunately with the trends the two stations are showing, they will continue pushing reality down our throats and pushing music away from us.
Just look at what happened over the summer; It took Michael Jackson dying for both of these stations to play music all day. Music lovers are in serious trouble if this is what needs to happen for the two channels to return to their musical roots.
So the next time a question on music arises, I will look to other sources for the answer, but when I want to know who Kristen Cavallari is dating, or what 80's star is finally going to find that special someone, MTV and Vh1 will be the first places I look.
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