MTV As It Once Was Is Officially Dead – And Pop Culture Is Worse For It

On August 1, 1981, a new cable television station calling itself MTV (which stood for Music TeleVision) debuted, playing its first ever music video: The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." The cheeky choice of song proved absolutely prophetic, as did the network ID animation depicting an astronaut planting an MTV flag on the moon. Over the next 20-odd years, the channel came to dominate pop culture and heavily influence the music industry. The concept of MTV felt unique at the time, but in retrospect, it seems simply natural. It eschewed the live performances that musicians had been doing as part of variety shows since the Ed Sullivan days and instead played the studio-recorded album tracks from the artists along with visual accompaniment. The executive behind the network, Robert W. Pittman, had already tested the format in the late 1970s with a local NYC show titled "Album Tracks," as had former Monkees member Michael Nesmith with a series dubbed "PopClips" (which only lasted one season in 1980).

Yet, MTV ended up going far beyond the simple idea of catering to young people by, essentially, turning the radio into television. It became a creative breeding ground for everything from new and established musicians to up and coming filmmakers, and it even pioneered some TV trends of its own. 44 years later, MTV is shutting down all of its music video channels across Europe, leaving only the flagship channel broadcasting (per the BBC). The main channel barely plays videos at all these days, having abandoned them in favor of reality television long ago. Given that the same thing has happened to the channel domestically, it can truly be said that MTV, as it once was, is officially dead ... and there's no doubt that pop culture is worse for its loss.

To be sure, MTV had a lot of issues. It helped birth reality television with "The Real World," reinforced bad stereotypes with "16 and Pregnant," and had many problems with censorship and discrimination by omission. Even when the channel pretended to be egalitarian (see: the cultural sham that was "Total Request Live"), it was really just serving the status quo. Yet, at its best, the channel managed to be impressively diverse and inventive, if for no better reason than a 24-hour broadcasting window demanded constant programming. It's important to state that the station's primary innovation, the music video, is no small feat by itself. What we take for granted now as a standard practice is largely thanks to MTV turning the music video into an institution, and this allowed it to become an important part of the artistic ecosystem.

When it comes to diversifying and expanding your artistic knowledge, there's never been a one-stop shop, but channels like MTV (again, at its peak) provided a great starting point. In addition to introducing the masses to artists they may've never heard of, the station allowed established names like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Weird Al Yankovic to experiment with the format and their own image. The sheer visibility of music videos as a medium also attracted big-name filmmakers and promising talent behind the camera. In addition to folks like Ridley Scott, William Friedkin, and Paul Thomas Anderson directing music videos, the medium launched the careers of big directors like Spike Jonze, David Fincher, Michel Gondry, Russell Mulcahy, and the Daniels. While music videos are still a way for an emerging artist to experiment and get work, their relatively tiny visibility means they're not as viable a way to break out anymore.

On the surface, it seems strange to lament the passing of MTV, given that the entire universe of music videos, old and new, is at our fingertips. This is a blessing in a general sense. (Take a back seat, Carson Daly; now I can play that Pulp video whenever I want!) Yet, the absence of curation and erosion of expertise plagues every aspect of art today. Algorithms only feed us things connected to what we're already watching or listening to. The element of discovery is now almost gone. The old avenues of radio and television have also been cut off due to their control by corporate interests, while the algorithms on YouTube, Spotify, and whatnot just keep you in the same bubble. Choice is a powerful thing, but everyone has their limits, and having total control over your intake can keep you in the dark.

This has done immeasurable damage to the music industry, which previously thrived on exposure and availability. Never mind the spotlight MTV gave to animation (with "Liquid Television" and "Beavis & Butthead" becoming watershed works in that medium); now, plain ol' musicians have to fight to be heard and seen, literally, with social media being their last resort. Sure, you can self-release an album on Apple Music or upload a video to YouTube, but will anyone know it's there? The powers that be have decided that they can make billions by overpricing concert tickets and selling 12 different limited editions of the same megastar's album. For those of us who watched music television to see and hear something new, it's enough to make you cry, "I want my MTV!" Maybe one day, in the depths of space, that Moonman will hear us.