Music Television: Modern Phenomenon or Passing Fad? Essay

As consumers in today’s entertainment business, we don’t really think and evaluate about how a person or item captures our attention. Critics use media literacy to effectively evaluate how a celebrity can take hold of a consumer's time and energy. PartyNextDoor is one of many celebrities who manage to take some of the music business’ audience for himself. In order for a consumer to understand how he has done this, they must use the five tools of media literacy which is description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and engagement.

Media is everywhere, it became a part of our life. We are exposed to thousands of ad messages every day and it's hard to imagine how it would feel to live without them constantly surrounding us. Today we see ads in print publications, TV commercials, emails, on different products, massively scattered in sport venues, and it’s even spreading into public spaces. In his documentary, Morgan Spurlock delivered a fascinating satire of the process of placing products into movies and tried to delve into the nature of advertising in our society.

Furthermore, the author dwells into mediated popular culture which pertains specifically to movies, TV, songs, and advertisements along with the way they communicate

Many teens in every generation seek to separate themselves from their parents. One way of creating that separation is by embracing different music. For the first time, teens had large amounts of disposable income that could be spent on entertainment designed specifically for them. Also, the new mass media meant that teens across the country could hear the same music broadcast or watch the same television shows. This brought a rise of an independent youth culture that was separate from adult culture. The new youth culture became an independent market for the entertainment and advertising

Product placement in music videos is quite a fruitful source of money for artists who approve it. The content of many commercial pop songs, the imagery displayed in music videos and the conspicuous consumption apparent in the lifestyles of pop stars all reinforce the idea that mass consumption will lead to happiness.

“MTV has a long history of reflecting the lives of our viewers with compelling reality stories," says Tony DiSanto, MTV's president of programming. The program’s featured girls come from rural Mid-Western or Southern states, usually from small, working-class towns, in attempt to appeal to teenage girls of the same background. The implicit message at the

The media chooses to portray and sell sex, violence, drama and role models because it appeals to teenagers’ biological and evolutionary instincts. The excessive amounts of sex hormones being produced in teenagers boosts libido causing displays of eroticism to be very alluring. Scenes of action or violence release adrenaline and endorphins for emotional stimulation and teen idols like NSYNC and Edward Cullen portray the ideal mate for many girls. The music presented is mostly homogenous and simple to promote familiarity and emotional response. Had these businesses tried to sell celibacy, indifference and pariahs, their profits would have declined.

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.

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

Music Television gave a generation a voice. With the awakening of MTV, 1983 was a golden age for music television. The inception of hip-hop music videos caused wardrobe to be an important part of an artists “armor”. Rappers used outfits for promotional purposes. Certain outfits would be worn in pictures, performance, and

Popular culture has an undeniable influence on how society perceives itself. When examining mass culture, one must keep in mind the equilibrium between how much we, as a society, affect the way popular culture is constructed and to what extent popular culture influences the way we view ourselves and shapes our ideologies. An aspect of popular culture that may serve to greatly exemplify this theory of society as both the affecter and the affected is the genre of magazines targeted at young women. Though these publications are targeted as the representation of our society’s adolescent females, they actually have a great influence over the ways in which teens view and construct

While celebrities in commercials have less than two minutes to recite their lines, Youtubers have the ability to dedicate lengthy videos to describe why each product worked and why their audience should buy it — this unlimited amount of broadcasting time gives Youtubers the opportunity to share personal anecdotes to gain the trust of their viewers. Dulce Candy welcomes her viewers to trust her opinion by discussing her oral issues, as well the insecurities she faced going through adolescence with braces. In Jack Solomon’s essay “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising,” he asserts that the effectiveness of advertising can transform products into symbols of belonging and inclusiveness (Solomon 545). Although Solomon’s essay does not use Youtube as a lens to describe this method of marketing, Youtubers exemplify this tactic in many videos. When Dulce Candy shares her personal struggles with her viewers, she is acting as an inclusive friend, making her audience feel as if they belong on her channel. This inclusiveness that Solomon describes is what makes Youtube a successful marketing platform, because viewers have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with these Youtubers and feel as if they are truly connecting with the reviewers in a real relationship. In terms of marketing effectiveness, when Dulce Candy discusses how the

Music has played a vital role in human culture and evidence based on archaeological sites can date it back to prehistoric times. It can be traced through almost all civilizations in one form or another. As time has progressed so has the music and the influences it has on people. Music is an important part of popular culture throughout the world, but it is especially popular in the United States. The music industry here is, and has been, a multi-million dollar business that continues to play an important role in American popular culture. This is also a art form and business that is forever changing as the times and more importantly, technology changes. Technology has changed the way music is made as well as how it is produced,

MTV can be defined as “a cable and satellite television channel which broadcasts popular music and promotional music videos.” (oxforddictionaries.com.n.d.). Launched on August 1st 1981, MTV’s programme started out by helping musicians gain exposure through music videos. This helped TV audiences connect with music by new means. As MTV became more recognised, the network branched out by creating new means of entertainment. MTV has remained relevant by continuously adapting throughout its existence to meet their audience’s entertainment requirements. (International MTV and Globalisation).

Both MTV (Music Television) and BET (Black Entertainment Television) do not just play music videos. They also have interviews with musicians. This is another way for a musician to be recognized. Even if the audience doesn’t even hear a song from the musician being interviewed, they have still been introduced to the musician and the next time they are out buying CDs they may come across a CD from that musician and want to try it out. Shows dedicated to music also usually have a top ten countdown. To make it to the top ten countdown, the musician already has a lot of people listening to their music, but can still gain a lot more listeners. Just because it’s on the top ten doesn’t mean everyone has heard it, so if someone watching sees the video for the first time the musician may have gained another listener to buy the album.