Youtube Killed The Video Star

I'm going to hearken back to the blog posted by Hutch a while back about the state of music today. Not music in particular, because if you look hard enough there is some good things going on. Hutch pretty much nailed it dead-on that American Idol is pretty much sucking the life out of the music industry so nothing further needs said about that. Instead, I'm going to focus more on the video side of things, a medium that my generation has found to be as necessary as our elders deemed FM radio.

First of all, let me get off my chest what I had originally intended to post about today - that is why I feel that PBS is the number one music channel on television today. On a given day, you can alternate between MTV, MTV2, VH1, and Fuse all day and not see one single music video. Not that that is a bad thing because there are only a few that I would consider viewable, but that is not my point. Just flipping around on the remote though when I want to see some music (notice how freely that phrase rolled off of my 80's-reared tongue?) I always tend to land on either PBS, or for you DirecTV subscribers Channel 101. PBS never fails to put out some high-quality programming beginning with the iconic Austin City Limits. You might have to stay up later than you'd like on a Saturday night, but it's usually worth it. Then, mix in biographical documentaries on Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Woodstock, etc. with live performances by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, etc. & you have quite the nice, little package. DirecTV's 101 always shows live performances by bands on the cutting edge (The Bravery, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age) or those that you had wished you'd seen in their hey-day (R.E.M., The Cure, Tom Petty). Therefore, the absence of actual music on MTV or VH1 is not actually missed, even though the occasional Rock Honors special I'll catch on VH1 (The Who July 17th, y'all!). I also will not pay extra each month just to have VH1 Classic 1) because it's against my principles to pay extra for something I believe should be included in the value of the $50 +/mo. I pay already & 2) I'd be sorely addicted & drop out of society altogether.

So, back on track...the real reason I believe MTV & VH1 have shifted their programming to the intellectually stimulating reality shtick like A Shot of Love w/ Tila Tequila & I Love New York is because the Internet (namely youtube) has taken over as being the vehicle record companies want to utilize to promote their artists. Why? Because it's cheap, that's why!! I hardly believe there are any payola scandals that will come down on youtube - it's a free site for crying out loud. Record companies don't have to spend a dime to get these videos out there. In a sense, it's quite refreshing as Corporate America has literally been flushed from the music business. Realistically, I know that will never happen, but at least with the Internet people get to pick & choose what they seek, not be force fed the next N*Sync or Mariah Carey video that comes along.

The sentimental side of me does look back at the 80's a laugh a little though. I was a country kid so I didn't have cable TV at my house growing up. Yeah, mom & dad got a satellite & paved my basketball court AFTER I graduated high school...but I'm not bitter. Kids in my situation that wanted to keep up with the "townies" raced home after school to catch the video show on Channel 10 (the one with Julie Ivory from Columbus. Anyone...?). We also stayed up late on Friday nights to watch NBC's Friday Night Videos. I, being the organized collector that I am, utilized the other great invention of the 80's - the VCR - to catalog & record for posterity the bands & songs I thought were great at the time. "Walk This Way," "Hot For Teacher," "Jump," "Smokin' In The Boy's Room," "Money For Nothing," & "Legs" were a few of my all-time favorites. I can remember painstakingly waiting on pins & needles for my favorite video to come on & snatch it with the remote control onto tape, then to watch over & over again. Kind of like going fishing, I guess. Of course, I also taped songs off the radio too back in the day before I got my Columbia House subscription - so I'm either very cheap or extremely resourceful. Gosh, how crappy has that company gotten by the way...oh well, I'll save that for another day.

You see, after watching these videos again just now is why I think youtube is such a great thing. Not only can I search these videos, but I can also see live performances of the greatest acts in the history of rock & roll at my whim. I'm just glad youtube wasn't around when I was a kid, or I'd still be living in my parent's basement! youtube forever, Tila Tequila NEVER!!! Now get outside & enjoy some fresh air....!