Myspace in your space
Facebook is a new place
Dip divin’ socializin’
I’ll be out in cyber space
Google is my professor
Wikipedia checker
Checkin my account
Loggin in and loggin out
Baby I want it..
Now!
As The Black Eyed Peas clever band have noticed... we are the NOW generation. I am as much NOW as I can be. I am a material girl longing for endless zeros on my bank account. I am a facebook addict - the 'being on-line' temptation seems irresistible to me. I know what defines the person I am in the eyes of NOW GENERATION. NOW GENERATION is exposed to the perfect matches. How could Fergie and her lovely guys forget about the most essential part?
It's MUSIC.
We are the 'music-conscious' generation.
Let's assume that you're a trip-hop fan. You love Portishead, Hooverphonic, Massive Attack, Tricky, Lamb, etc. Your thoughts are pleasantly flowing while listening to this kind of music. You're the type of demanding listener. Focused. You receive the telephatic message from the artist. His vision in your mind. Yeah, that seems mystic.
And now. It's natural that you want to share this feeling. Lying on your bed, looking at the ceilling with this thrill in you chest when you find out again how much these lyrics reflect your life.Yeah, it's already under your skin.
So, you take your cute boyfriend's Ipod in your hand in order to check if he shares your passion.
Imagine your disilusionment when you encounter such ambitious masterpieces :
Don't worry. There is a way to avoid such unforgivable mistakes in the nearest future.
We are the NOW generation. We look for the perfect matches.
Just log in at www.last.fm - the web site which creates your music profile by scrobbling the tunes that you have listened to on your PC and mp3player. Not only does this great tool specify your music taste but also suggests new artists that suit your taste.
Finally, last.fm provides you with PERFECT MATCHES. You are now able to find your 'music soulmate' ! Isn't it terrific?
Music defines your identity.Don't you hesitate to share it!
Remember the old saying?
Never frown; you never know when someone's falling in love with your smile
Let's update it.
Scrobble your Itunes, you never know when someone's falling in love with the melodies in your head.
Sunday. In most cases it is a free-of-any-important-work day and an excellent excuse to lie down in front of a TV watching ‘some good stuff.’ If you expect (naively) to watch ‘some good stuff’ on MTV channel, then you will be not prepared (and therefore more prone to it) for the crap, that this music television is offering us (as the break between the ads). I’ll present you a short guide of the most idiotic, brainless, and, at the same time, the most popular shows appearing currently on MTV:
1) My Own… - To this program people come with mental disorders (in love with a famous singer) who pick their ideal ‘sweetheart’ (ideal - namely Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Doda, etc) from the bunch of unknown youngsters resembling him/her (in about 0,01%). What is really funny is that they absolutely believe that this Chinese boyis almost like P. Diddy and this little chubby girl is a next Ciara. But (!) it is not that easy to pick one lover – the participants have to go through different competitions, show their videos (where they explain what is so special about them), and finally sing something. While the first parts are almost bearable, the last one is a rape for your ears and eyes. If you like going to extremes, this show is for you.
2) Date My Mom. – An ideal show for desperate singles who search for their new never lasting love by sending their mothers on the date instead of themselves. It is a show for different nationalities and orientation, the only rule is: your mother has to be more crazy than you are. Actually, after watching one episode I got the impression that it was the mothers that were desperately looking for a new date, rather than their children. Anyway – in both cases the image of a child-mother relation got twisted – you can no longer tell who is more mature.
3) A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila. – Tila Tequila (a famous individual of whom you have never heard before) is rich and ‘beautiful,’ and desperately looks for romantic love (she’s bisexual). So she invites (or I should rather say that MTV invites) a group of men and women to her house, and organizes competitions that would help her to pick the right man/woman. Every week the elimination takes place where she has to eliminate one girl and one boy (“Obviously, you are not in love with me!”) and where the rest is drinking tequila shots. And the prize for the winner is.. simply Tila Tequila.
4) My Super Sweet Sixteen. – If your parents are wealthy and have no idea what to do with their money and golden credit cards (how many ponies can you simply have?) then call MTV and ask them to film your birthday party – preferably your Sweet Sixteen. Spend all you daddy’s cash on ponies, cars, pink dress, dresses for your friends, the most expensive hairdresser in the whole USA, and, most importantly, for your PARTY (with fairy tales, with Moulin Rouge motif, with go-go dancers, with famous singers and with the most expensive gifts ever). “My party is the best!” if not – you do not count in this world.
But the winner is..
5) Jersey Shore. – What isa recipe for the most famous TV show? Pick 4 girls and 4 boys and send them to the house in Jersey where they can party all the time, and document every day of their visit. After one season (3 months) of their stay you get as much spicy and controversial moments as you wish. So what you get is drinking, drinking, sex, partying, kissing, sex, drinking and so on. Sometimes they go to work, but it is the most boring stuff (not suitable for the MTV) and can spoil the whole show. In the end they have all became celebrities, guests on important parties and they earn money just because they can. For nothing.
Everyone knowns that MTV is no more music television. Everybody also claims that it feeds us stupid shows and went away from its' first mission. But did anybody interested what does MTV really lack? I know you didn't , so I did the work for you. Not so long time ago -- yesterday evening I sat down in front of TV, prepared a huge doze of patience and chips, took a pencil in my hand and prepared a short list of what makes me going postal :
1. The Journalism Unfortunately, today's MTV program does not base on any kind of journalism. I wonder when was the last time when I saw anybody who works in there. Maybe those people do not want to confess that this is their job? I really feel like somebody is sitting on the other side of the glass monitor and plays music that even he is not interested in. Some kind of robot. Anyway, MTV offers no more programs about music, no interviews or even artists plans. You will not get a chance to find out if your favorite band prepares new album, but you will definitely see them smoking joint during the party. This is not a journalism, this is bullshit. Such type of "news" could be found in any bolivars magazine. But the big media should be based on the work of journalists -- looking for information, trying find everything the audience wants, preparing authorized information. There are even less and less shows where even presenters are needed. This television seems to become more and more impersonal.
2. The only one perfect kind of music MTV plays the only right kind of music – music for the masses. During two hours of watching video clips, I was not able to see anything that I wouldn’t had known before. Pop, electronic, rap (?!), pop, electronic, rap. It offers verynarrow range of music, though it claims to hit the youth target. Someone on the other side seems to forget that there are more than three kinds of music. And MTV- as a channel offering the boarding of music horizons, should especially promote new music movements (for example Trip Hop). It is getting more and more closed and makes the potential viewer more and more bored. 3. Reality shows I do not understand what is going on with this trend. Really. I suppose that such TV shows bring the solution for people with problems, the psychoanalysis is out!. Examples: Are you looking for a friend? No problem, join Paris Hilton's My New BFF. No one wants to party with you? Jersey Shore! Do you feel alone in live? A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila or –so greedy— A Shot at Love with the Ikki Twins. Reality shows are just a waste of time and waste of words, so no comments.
Results? Impersonality, the boredom and peeping are not a formula for a success. These are my really subjective feelings of what MTV lacks. Do you agree with me? Or maybe do you found something different? Write, I will gladly argue : )
I truly despise what happened to MTV. Do I really have to explain this? Squeezing remote control in my hand, I was quite sure that with turning on the TV I would encounter Justin Bieber singing ‘baby’ , ‘I love you’, ‘I need you’ and other ambitious lyrics with his girl-like sounding voice and shiny lip-gloss on his juicy lips.At least, I expected to see Lady Gaga showing off in her brand new meat suit. OK, I would just watch any video clip –read it like this- ‘artists’ smoking weed, driving the most exclusive cars, plastic but sexy girls having more exposed than covered doing ‘naughty things’... Uhm. Don’t forget about “Yo, Nygga” in the background.
That is what my generation understands as “having something to do with music. And then… I pushed the button. MTV Polska. To my surprise, I came across unusual picture. A couple of intelligent people sitting on the couch and examining boys (is it a job interview?)- Why do you think you should date my daughter? - -Cuz, Iev tha biggest penis inda world, bitch- Mother’s reaction - genuine smile.
What the hell is this?
The program called ‘Parental Control’. The parents, dissatisfied with their beloved child’s girlfriend/boyfriend, organize a casting for a brand new ‘boo’ and arrange a date to convince their son/daughter that she/he may be involved with someone way much better.
This is the music for my ears.
Quite confused , I turn off the TV and open the door to greet my guest, a 34-year old 'audiophile' Bartłomiej D. who’s going to acquaint me with his memories of MTV from the times when I used to be wrapped in swaddling clothes.
M: I suppose you know that I have no recollections of MTV’s beginnings , so tell me how it all started.
B. D. : It was about ’90 or ’91…just when the cable television started to gain its popularity in Poland. But, as you should know, it all started in the glorious country of America in 1981. MTV Europe “was born” in UK, as far as I remember, in 1987. Hm.. then your generation appeared and everything started to get worse.
M: Thanks. Let’s move on to reminiscences. What was “the normal” MTV like?
I remember that I had my Saturday evenings reserved for the charts, the so -called ' European Top 20’.
I assume that it does not sound like MTV to you- 20 brilliant songs one at a time. Furthermore, imagine what was the mainstream then – Pearl Jam, Nirvana, U2, R.E.M, Green Day, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers…
What I personally liked the most was the Paul King’s program with alternative music at 11.30 P.M.
He presented the alternative genre from the U.S., U.K. and Europe. It was unique and special, you couldn’t have heard such music anywhere else…even on the radio.
There was also extremely gripping live series called “MTV’s Most Wanted” by Ray Cokes.
It was a kind of talk show with over a dozen people as the audience arranged in a cozy room. Not only was Ray chatting about THE MUSIC and the bands but also he played brand new video clips, sometimes long before the single could be heard on the radio. He had a great taste as a VJ (video jockey). He was also exceedingly entertaining as a presenter- he answered the viewer’s calls in the studio , he organized some contests and he even arranged some live performances by e.g. Radiohead.
M: And then in 1996…
B.D.: In 1996 MTV started to lose its prestige. It was a gradual fall determined by many factors.
1. The exchange of the old VJs. 2. The appearance of rival stations such as e.g. VIVA resulting in the reality shows’ heyday 3.The birth of the INTERNET.
MTV used to be the first-hand source of the information about the brand new singles, bands, gigs and festivals. It was like this- you heard it on MTV , you loved it, you went to the market and bought a cassette or CD. Now you can just …“google” it.
M: How would you describe MTV nowadays in two words?
B.D. : Massive Television
M: The painful truth.Now, let’s talk about yourself. What is 'audiophilia' all about?
B.D.: To simplify, we can divide the 'audiophiles' into 2 groups.The first group are hobbyists who seek high quality audio reproduction, in other words, who try to find the closest to the real instrument’s sound imitation via the special high-end audio electronics. The members of this group are ready to spend fortune on preamplifiers, digital-to-analog converters, amplifiers, etc. They’re shopaholics just like the women in the shopping centers with that exception that the' audiophiles' want to reach the perfection of… the sound.
M: The second group…
B.D:… are the people who care much for the kind of music they listen to. Apart from that they tend to pick up the differences in sounding of various pieces of audio equipment, but on the contrary to the first group they're keen on listening to and feeling the music as a whole- not paying attention to particular instruments.
M: Deducing that you’re in the second group, what bands/singers would you recommend as an 'audiophile'?
B.D.: Piotr Rubik (laugh). There was nothing worth mentioning since the times of Ich Troje (laugh)
M: What was the best music that you found on MTV?
B.D.: I remember when the Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” appeared in the charts for the first time. I was amazed. It was at the grey end of the charts, however, I decided to share my predictions with my friends at secondary school …. They were quite skeptic, but I knew that this band was going to be legendary… and in fact, it was! After a couple of weeks it reached the top and stayed there for a long time…
M: Commercial music?
B.D.: Armin van Buuren …hm… we don’t have time to enumerate… just turn on the MTV.
M : Now... take me on a worthwile voyage to the old MTV. I want to hear that MUSIC.
B.D. : Here you are.
And for those who want spend more time investigating the music of the old good times when the mainstream was somewhat closer to the alternative ... Check this out! BANDS: The Cure, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Mazzy Star, Catherine Wheel, Jesus and Mary Chain, Pavement, The Smiths, PJ Harvey, Smashing Pumpkins, Faith No More, Sonic Youth, The Breeders, Pixies, etc.
What would happen if you add too much glitter to your fancy party outfit? It'd probably spoil the whole effect and you'd look like a christmas tree decoration. What would happen if you eat the two whole chocolate cheesecakes? Your level of sugar in blood would instantly increase and you'd probably feel sick. It is what exactly has happened to MTV of our times - it's all glitter and shiny, but at the same time it's sugary and makes you want to throw up.
I remember the times when I used to sit with my sister in front of tv and watch really good music videos on MTV. But those times are gone and since there are more dumb tv series and reality shows, the word - MTV - has stopped to be an abbreviation for music television, but started to mean a tv filled with all that 'junk' shows - you name it. Several years ago the era of popular television has started and actually, we did have to wait long for the company to change its logo. Los Angeles Times posted an article informing that it's not surprising that this week the 29-year-old network bowed to the inevitable and finally scraped the legend "Music Television" off its corporate logo (Feb. 13, 2010).
At first I found it ironic that they decided so willingly to cut off the part of the logo that was an integral piece of a MTV community for all these years (actually it has been created on August 1, 1981!) But then we learn from Under Consideration site that MTV realized being 'music television' was too limiting," and "MTV is not about music anymore, and its new logo dispenses with the hindering description of 'Music Television'.
To cut the story short - what happened with the missing part of the logo? It has probably landed in the trash icon on a desktop of a skilled IT expert who had tested his talent of using CTRL+X command. But let's face it, with the moment of the decision, MTV was already missing the sense of music television. Was it a commercial manipulation or just a need for changes (one logo for 29 years? come on, everyone could have got bored with it), now it does not matter.
The visual example of this inevitable change you can see at the top of this blog. Actually I borrowed this image from one of the multitude of blogs, which are commeting the MTV phenomena. It occurs to me that there are a lot of disappointed MTV lovers, who (for the sake of their brains' good) have stopped to watch it. They skip this sugary shows (often sexually offensive and brutal) and substitute MTV with their mp3 players or various music videos that they can watch on the Internet.
the MTV logo looks like an old friend who just got unflattering plastic surgery, one tuck and one pull too many that have left a memory of what used to be there.* And none of the known stiches would be useful here.
1981: Music. "Just say no"- anti drug campaign produced by Ronald Reagan's administration. Music.Spots promoting the union of youth subcultures.Music. Music. Once again, music.
2010: A teenager asking girl's mom if her daughter kisses well. A group of people who are ready to do just everything in order to become Paris Hilton's new best friend. Three men insolently judging five women's bodies. Few couples risking their relashionships for money. Oh, and there is a song somewhere in between, no way!
Sounds familiar?
Yep, it's a really short history of MTV's programm changes. In almost 30 years time, it altered its' purposes
dramatically. Being the most powerful channel around the globe (departments on each continent,in more than 40 countries!), it consciously creates fashion, trends and lifestyle. The question is -- what values does it bring?
Have you ever wondered, what happened to MTV? Why there is less and less music? Why it became so vulgar? Are programms such as Date My Mom or Gay, Straight or Taken? really what the young people want to see? And why does it promote such things? Is it profitable? Finally, is MTV still a TV?
If your answer is yes -- this blog is for you!
We created this virtual place for our American Culture class project. We will try to asnwer those question, wondering what is hidden beneath the label of Music Television.
Hope you will enjoy it and take part in our discussion :)
