Video killed the video star

When someone told me about that, my initial reaction was “People still watch MTV?” I know, shocking isn’t it? To think that what used to be the greatest channel available on basic cable has been turned into a landscape of reality TV and bad music. I understand that there might be some people around here that think Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but after watching five seconds of “We Can’t Stop”, I’m going to have to disagree with them.

Let’s face it: the overall quality of music television has been sharply declining since the mid-90’s with the introduction of the Backstreet Boys, and I’m pretty sure that the decline won’t be stopping soon. Like I said earlier, it’s mostly crappy reality TV, give or take a few music videos throughout the day, but that doesn’t change the fact that MTV has been turned into a feeding frenzy of pop culture geared toward teenagers who think that “swag” and “#YOLO” belong in the dictionary.

When I was a kid growing up with two older sisters in their teens, I was virtually forced to watch MTV for most of my childhood. The experience has tainted me for all eternity. My little five-year-old mind couldn’t process all the poorly made CGI music videos starring Britney Spears and a bunch of other ‘N Sync knockoffs that no one remembers. The only thing I could find solace in were the repeats of Beavis and Butthead (speaking of which, bringing back Beavis and Butthead for a new season is probably the only good idea MTV has had in the last decade.)

However, it has been getting worse. Every year they try to shove some new teen idol in our faces and try to get us to enjoy their work. I will admit, I respected Justin Bieber near the genesis of his career because he gained fame by doing his own thing on YouTube. But then Usher came along and turned him into another pretty face for teenage girls to enjoy. Now he is trying to be some sort of bad boy by peeing in mop buckets and yelling about President Bill Clinton.

The same can be said for Miley Cyrus, except I never respected her at all. Right now her dad is probably sitting on his couch tending to his Achy Breaky Heart. Hannah Montana came out when I was about 14 and by that time I had learned that most Disney shows suck, and still do. Don’t believe me? Go look up “Dog With a Blog” and be ready to cry yourself to sleep, because your hope for the human race will be dead.

As a self-proclaimed audiophile, it is sad to see that the art of a good music video has been slowly dying for the past decade. Luckily, Daft Punk tried to save it by making a music video for “Lose Yourself to Dance”, but strayed off the path as soon as they made Pharrel the center of attention.

If big record companies want people to keep listening, they need to pull their heads out their rears and get back to what they were doing in the 80’s: good music videos that everyone can enjoy. Quit marketing to one demographic. Music is a universal thing and should appeal to everyone, not just idiotic youths.