Creating Suckers for Consumption: MTV and Pop Culture

While some view the station as “illustrated radio” or an entertainment network for viewers’ pleasure, others more accurately consider it as an advertising enterprise that endorses products and promotes attitudes (O’Neil 12). Whether or not MTV critics agree with these “messages” that, the network sends out, it has become a huge franchise generating large profits and great popularity. MTV’s entertainment, commercialism, and messages satisfy and influence many types of viewers, giving us, the viewing audience, a better understanding of the immense popularity of Music Television (MTV). As the entertainment mogul, MTV jumpstarted careers and dictated nearly every move in pop-culture. Its “children” range from Madonna to Britney Spears.

Touring musicians connect with their listeners on a regular basis by putting on spectacular live acts. Regardless if you are an unsigned band or an emerging band on a successful label you have to decide how much conformity you are comfortable with. Videos like “Closer” are timeless and will always reflect the imagery of a dynamic band such as Nine Inch Nails naturally engineers. Industrial groups are not easy to market, but Nine Inch Nails is a testament that no matter if an album is independently released or has major label support platinum potential is possible. The best survival tool in the music industry is to be able to rely on well-written lyrics or a strong songwriting team to turn to.

Although earlier the videos were viewed in most cases as a way to generate “buzz”, the music videos of Michael Jackson were like a magnate that you couldn’t separate the song from the images of thriller. According to Rolling Stone Music, “The video cost half-a-million dollars at the time, it was the most expensive video ever made. But CBS Records wouldn't pay for a third video from Thriller, and MTV had a policy ... ... middle of paper ... ...the World” and “They don’t Care about Us” talks about making it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race. All of his albums had a great significance that talks about getting together without discriminating an individual of their background. According to the book Moon walk by Michael Jackson “I’ve always wanted to be able to tell stories, you know, stories that came from my soul.

I think that it would be fun to wear bellbottoms and crazy shirts, but I'm sure that I would get sick of it very quickly and go back to the way that I am used to living. First of all, the music industry would never allow for new disco acts to burst upon the scene. The music industry is what got the era going in the first place. Secondly, the United States government would never allow for such an era to occur again. The Disco Era will always play a very important role in the history of the United States and will forever live on in spirit.

The fad brought a surplus of money to MTV and gave a voice to the young controversial generation of the 80s. MTV: Music Television was an idea formed by various communication specialists. Majority of the acknowledgment for the making of MTV is given to Tom Freston, an entertainment industry executive, and Robert Pittman, an American businessman. The idea to create a station such as MTV was not one that would have been called random, or unrelated to the time period. This idea was more of a question of how to accomplish something as new as this.

Also you may have noticed TV is now just as much a source of music as radio, so you better be an attractive conformist if you want to be promoted as an artist in the business of pop music. MTV, without doubt, plays a major role in how generic popular music... ... middle of paper ... ...o sit down or stand up while we were playin', and I think the industry standard is you sit down." Then vary sarcastically he said; " You know that's the right way to do it because that's the way they do it on MTV." After the crowd's laughter dyed down, he gave giggle that implied MTV standards are a joke and said, " When you're playin' an acoustic instrument you gotta sit down." You've listened to me insult industry standards imposed by MTV and other music distribution corporations.

Although we share a common language that being commercial in nature, there still are the prejudices of society, issues of gender, and issues of race that we still share with our parents. From its conception over twenty years ago, MTVs format looked more like a radio station being broadcast over television showing video clips. After MTV had developed its foot print, it made an unknown into a star, the airings of videos were reduced, and more programs were being aired to help with becoming music television. Once MTV was recognized as a music television, they had no need to depend on record companies but more on music telev... ... middle of paper ... ... the spot “Generation Next”. At the same time sponsor ads are running, the host of the show is telling you to text your vote to a number.

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. Historically, MTV was created and first aired on television August 1, 1981. The first words spoken on the hit series were by one of MTV’s creators, John Lack: “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll. Because the network initially began as a program in which video jockeys aired free music videos, the first ever video to be shown was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. A few years later on September 14, 1984, MTV hosted its first ever Video Music Awards.

They were the original bad boy boy band. This type of band has been copied for decades. They influenced many bands like The Beatles did. They might not have been as popular as The Beatles, but they were definitely the second most important band in the British invasion era. Other bands such as The Kinks and The Who didn’t try to be like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones and just wanted to do their own thing and this worked out and they had great success in the United States.

To be a successful celebrity, staying relevant is vital for job security, this forces stars to up their game every year. Celebrities are always trying to shock their audiences and make big news stories to keep their names in the spotlight. Some have taken it too far, by stripping on stage, using explicit and suggestive language in every song or music video. I think celebrities should continue upping their game but not in an explicit way promoting unrealistic hypersexed images. They should focus on their tours, albums, TV shows, etc.