What Happened to Music Videos?

I can remember staying up late on a friday night to see the first ever viewing of the THRILLER video. That was scary cool.

For me it was the Beat It for some reason. It was on Friday Night Videos. I think that’s the first music video I ever saw. The next day I wanted the red Michael Jackson jacket.

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All of the reality shows that are done are basically because of money. It’s cheaper per hour of product to produce. There’s no wardrobe expense, and no writers, or very little additional writing. There’s also far less expense in paying the performers. It’s cheaper and easier for the networks to throw up hours of that kind of mindless drivel than it is for them to pay for real creative content.

I, too have a hard time figuring out how you can have a channel named ‘Music Television’ that plays no music. For that matter, I can’t figure out why a channel called ‘Arts & Entertainment’ has not much of either, but I digress.

I also agree with you that part of the reason that music sales have slumped is the lack of play and exposure. One of the lessons of advertising is that when sales slump, one should spend more on advertising, not less. If you want to remind people that you have a product for sale, and keep it in their minds, you have to remind them with exposure and advertising. That’s what the music video channels did. It kept reminding the potential customer. And a visual image does so more powerfully and more persistently than does just the audio.

I would respectfully disagree that the record companies are the ones that should create the channel. The record companies are the ‘robber barons’ of the music industry, charging the artists artificially-inflated expenses against what they do for the artists, leaving the artist with very little after the declared ‘expenses’ are deducted. The record companies, and their bloated staffs of questionable value functionaries and ‘created’ expenses are the primary reason that CDs cost so much, and the artist who creates the actual content of the product being sold gets so little. Let’s shorten the distribution chain, cut out the middle man, and find a solution that is the shortest path between artist and consumer. Let the artists reap a greater reward for their part of the product, and lower the cost to the consumer. The record companies are also responsible for the lack of diversity in the product available. If you are an artist that does not fit neatly into an existing niche, you can’t get a deal, and can’t get started. The record companies have homogenized the industry until everyone looks and sounds the same. They have created too large a pile of initial expense to give a group its start, to be able to try anything new or different. That’s why we’ve seen the creation of independent labels, and websites devoted to letting artists get their music directly to the consumer. Maybe some of the established, or long-lived groups in the industry, that function more-or-less autonomously have both the connections and the muscle to kick something like this off. I don’t know if they can, or if they even would want to. But let’s not hand one more unearned dime to the thieves and vultures perched in the record company skyscrapers.

BTW, Chris just recently posted this regarding indie music:

http://chris.pirillo.com/where-do-you-find-indie-music/

When I want to watch a music video, I go to YouTube and search for the official video. Some bands have their own channels. I open a new window (resized) to display the lyrics alongside if I haven’t heard the song enough to know it well.

I totally agree about MTV though. It’s sad that Music Television has abandoned music. Videos give me a glimpse into the band’s vision of their music.

[...] What happened to good old-fashioned music videos? [...]

Gadget Nut,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Well put!

I’ve heard little new music since the turn of the century worth listening to. Something else that’s sad is since the inception of the “classic rock” radio format in the late 80s it’s hard to get rock radio stations to play new content. Not only new bands, but new albums by established artists. The 90s did see some exceptions, like “Grunge”, but the 21st century does need an accessible way to bring creativity to the masses.

My personal example of the problem is Tom Petty’s solo album of 2007 “Highway Companion”. Local radio stations in the Denver area barely touched it, although it was a wonderful album. If I weren’t a big Heartbreakers fan I would have never known about it.

“Money for nothing, chicks for free” is all the business suits running media outlets care about these days!

Yeah. I really am going to miss music videos. No, they aren’t gone…yet. That’s the keyword. They should go either.l understand the album thing. I mean nowadays we have digital music services such as iTunes and Limewire, and that’s understandable why albums are going. But Music Videos are too cool to go. Seriously.

i think that its a sad truth that 80’s and 90s muisc is being slowly pushed aside by todays youth. i myself am 17 years old and i personally would choosse 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s music over the atrocius rap and folk music that is being passed around through sponsors like MTV, OR VH1. and honestly?, what the hell is BET all about?? its just a watered down exscuse for pig headed male rap artists to insilt and degrade wemon. video truely did kill the radio star.:{

What about MTV that is out of country? They are always playing music videos. It is starting to die out though but, I think it’s starting here in the US first then it’s going to hit the other countries next. I have always been a big fan of the old MTV