Mtv's Influence on Popular Culture

One popular aspect of music was born in 1982 and had forever changed the look of music and the 1980s as a whole, and that is Music Television, now a days know as MTV. What once started off as a 30 minute television show on Nickelodeon called “Pop Clips” turned into a multi-million dollar network. The show had influenced the youth of the1980s and pop culture in general, showing clips of popular songs that were seen as vulgar, and explicit. Teenagers loved it, while parents despised it. MTV also showcased rising singers and bands, and made them the musical icons of their time, such as Madonna and Michael Jackson.

Pop culture, what does this term even mean? It seems to be a word that contains subjects of media, social structure, and society as a whole. According to the dictionary, pop culture is defined as “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people”. In the society we live in today, we are constantly surrounded by pop culture, either that is with television, magazines, different sources of social media and/or exposure to others. Due to pop culture being such a dominant contribution into our world today, it has effected many parts of society. The domination of social media has created idealistic views that are stressed upon female adolescents in particular. Upon media’s influence, traditional tactics and work have been modified in order to keep up with our technology oriented society. This alters the schools and education systems. Through the use of television, social media and other means of pop culture, serious study is necessary due to the negative effects it has on the younger generation and the effects it has for their futures.

MTV galloped through the '80s as a factor of musical taste, style and fashion. During the early '80s, the network helped introduce an entire stable of new music stars.

Today popular culture has a substantial effect on our lives. It can affect what we wear, what music we listen to, or even how we behave. Many people decide what clothes to buy depending on what is in style or what celebrities are wearing. The same happens when people choose what movies to see or what music to download. While pop culture may seem harmless, it exposes people of all ages to sex, drugs, and violence. Children and teenagers all over the world are watching these shows or listening to these types of music. They take what they hear or see and develop bad habits or make poor decisions. Popular culture including movies, music, and franchises mostly has a negative effect on countries who import it.

Over the years, MTV has had an impact on our generation, but also on our parents’ generation. A lot of

Search: how pop culture affects teens / how does 1980’s affect. In the 1980’s, the popularity of pop music skyrocketed. With the help of newly developed compact discs and the rise of the popular music channel MTV, pop stars such as Michael Jackson rose to fame in the quickly

MTV also shapes the customer culture, as consumers starting to get used to the fact that it is not the song that the performance sells, and that there is more to the song than music itself. MTV's live concert broadcast was also a huge promotion breakthrough for the artists as well, as it broadcasted not only videos of recorded music, but also live music on television. All in all, MTV did bring a huge impact on both publicity and sales to their record.

MTV, formally known as Music Television, is one of the most viewed networks on television today. Roughly thirty-three years old, it has changed the American culture drastically in more than just one way. Specifically targeting teens and young adults, the MTV network provides all of the most up to date gossip on celebrities, highlights the latest fashion trends, promotes versified lifestyles, and defines the music industry of our generation. However, this so-called “idolized network” has not always been this way. The American culture has been affected by MTV through the creation of the network, the transformation from simply just music television to inappropriate reality shows, and the promotion of inappropriate content.

The creation of TV stations dedicated to music helped usher in the transformation of the way people enjoyed their favorite bands, singers, and songs. MTV became a place where anyone could potentially become the next star and it was a place where many stars who are still famous today got their first

One example why today’s youth is being hooked on media is the TV channel, Adult Swim, which is the nightly block for the channel that most kids watch during the day, Cartoon Network. I can say, from personal experience, that Adult Swim is the first broadcaster to truly embrace the digital platform of the internet. When we look back on some of our most cherished forms of media content from our childhood, we don't just think about the music or the laughs or the rest of the emotions that they evoked. We cherish these films, TV shows, and bands because of their ability to capture the spirit of our youth. Not everyone looks back on The Beatles and wonders what the 60’s were like or you don’t look over The Breakfast Club without constantly thinking

Music has been a way for those who felt disenfranchised and disillusioned to offend, break away from their parents and be very, very cool. From Elvis' hip-wiggle to the pot-smoking Beatles, from Kurt Cobain's hoarse screams to Rage Against the Machine's "fuck you I won't do what you tell me" -- youth have been able to claim something that is their own and not their parents'. The influence of music on young people is as strong as it ever was, and since MTV is offered as part of a basic cable package, its influence is hard to ignore in our televised culture. Around the world, 70 million households have access to MTV and the channel prides itself on being the most popular station amongst the 12 – 24 year old demographic (Hay sc.8). MTV's chairman of the board emphasized the extent of MTV's influence over adolescents, "At MTV we don't just shoot for the fourteen year olds-- we own them" (Duff sc.6). And if that doesn't sound a tad frightening, listen to this: "Hey moms, it's too late! Your kid's had his head in that Walkman for a long time now. You have no idea how deep we're in your house. We're sitting right there at your dinner table and you don't even know it." That was Ice-T, a renowned rap-artist, verbalizing what may be many parent's worst nightmare (Duff sc.6).

As America headed into the 1980s, two decades of social and political upheaval have left the nation rattled and the economy weakened. The Iran hostage crisis shook America's confidence and many looked for a new kind of leader to steer the country into the new decade. Ronald Reagan led America into a new era of prosperity leaving the soul-searching of the 60s and 70s behind. The nation was ready to enjoy itself and with plenty of new toys to play like VCRs and video games, Americans spent more time at home and soon something called cable TV would make it even harder to leave the living room. With the new innovation of the TV, one of the ideas for a channel was a marriage between music and television. This new idea for a channel devoted to something called music videos would end up revolutionizing and often scandalizing an industry that had no choice but to embrace the fact that music in the 1980s had to have a face with videos. By having these music videos, they would change the way we look at music and the way we look at the world. This cutting- edge idea was a new medium perfectly suited to a new generation and that idea was called, MTV. This leads to the question: How did MTV influence pop culture of the 1980’s? This topic is worthy of investigation because the coming of MTV has had a significant impact on the way people see pop culture. Before researching the topic, the writer had limited knowledge on MTV and only knew about the music itself. In the paper, the writer was

Popular culture can be defined as “The knowledge of current or up-to-date events. It can refer to music, television, film, sports, and anything in the public domain.” (reference.com.n.d.). MTV operates globally and one may argue that MTV shapes their audience tastes however in present times the public has vast options and therefore can easily dictate by choosing the channel that best suits their tastes and wants. MTV’s power to adapt to change has worked to their advantage as they have been able to capture their target audience throughout their existence.

One of the biggest challenges for MTV was the controversial content that it is used to show on their normal channel and regarding this the main difference they had to adapt. The sexuality, use of alcohol, politic criticism and religion criticism are some of the main characteristics of MTV on other countries that are not as conservative as Arabs. With these characteristics MTV has achieved success through the Western hemisphere, be- cause the black humor they use is normal among the youngsters and instead of feeling sensible with these, they see it in a humorous way. But, in the Arab community they still conserve the traditional values supported by their culture. In an effort to adopt the strategy of “Think Globally, Act Locally” MTVN (Music Television Networks) executives made it a point to learn the cultures and make shows that relate to the cultures as op- pose to exporting the American culture. In order to achieve this goal the channel adopted a decentralized

Popular culture is generally believed to be comprised of a variety of elements. For example, popular culture covers the most contemporary and instant aspects of our lives. These aspects can often show the characteristics of rapid change, especially in today’s highly technological and informative world in which, people are highly influenced by the universal media. Certain standards of behaviour and common beliefs are reflected in pop culture. Because of its cohesion, pop culture both influences and reflects people’s daily life. Moreover, brands can reach iconic pop status. However, these aspects are not constant and may change rapidly. (Abbott and Sapsford, 1987).