Dairenn
Recording Artist
I kinda feel as though I grew up during a brief "golden era" of music on television not just because MTV debut shortly after I was born, but because even ordinary television stations would play syndicated music video shows (Friday Night Videos on NBC, In Concert on ABC, frequently simulcast on ABC-owned Radio Stations like 95.5 KLOS and KABC 7 in Los Angeles, Richard Blade, Heavy Harv's brilliant "Monster Rock" show.). There would be all-night music video shows that would sometimes run for hours.
But then something weird happened, MTV started running less and less music--so much less they had to invent MTV 2, then MTV 3! Then VH-1, then VH-1 Classic! CMT was cool, but they got bought by MTV so there had to be a GAC. But on free TV, Friday Night Videos became "Friday Night with Carson Daily" sometime in the mid-90s (I recall "Don't Speak" by No Doubt was one of the last videos played on the original FNV). Richard Blade and "Heavy" Harv faded away years earlier. And what we have now pale in comparison. American Idol, The X Factor, America's Got Talent, The Voice--they're all recycled versions of Star Search, but worse...
With the weapy sob-story reality show component to make it (pardon the expression) "chick friendly." And I'm fine with documentaries for those who care, but have we gotten to the point in this YouTube generation that the only way to break a new artist is with a live vocal performance of someone with "a story"? How about good music? If all of the bands I like had to be judged by the current criteria of being an artist worth signing and promoting, they'd have never been signed.
So, in a way I feel lucky but I also feel sorry for today's 13, 14, and 15 year olds discovering music for the first time--mostly via what they see on TV, just like when I was that age--and getting this nonsense. Unless they're lucky enough to have a cool mom or dad with a great music collection, and they end up checking it out to discover all the past greats, or the end up going to college and get exposed to all the stuff on the Internet you don't hear on the radio. But by far, most new music is discovered by what gets put on television and it used to be that there was hours of music of all kinds and it wasn't all in the format of The Gong Show.
What say you folks? I'm sure we've got a few fans of these shows on here and I don't mean to disrespect you if you like them, but I really do want an alternative and more variety. Not just more of the same.
But then something weird happened, MTV started running less and less music--so much less they had to invent MTV 2, then MTV 3! Then VH-1, then VH-1 Classic! CMT was cool, but they got bought by MTV so there had to be a GAC. But on free TV, Friday Night Videos became "Friday Night with Carson Daily" sometime in the mid-90s (I recall "Don't Speak" by No Doubt was one of the last videos played on the original FNV). Richard Blade and "Heavy" Harv faded away years earlier. And what we have now pale in comparison. American Idol, The X Factor, America's Got Talent, The Voice--they're all recycled versions of Star Search, but worse...
With the weapy sob-story reality show component to make it (pardon the expression) "chick friendly." And I'm fine with documentaries for those who care, but have we gotten to the point in this YouTube generation that the only way to break a new artist is with a live vocal performance of someone with "a story"? How about good music? If all of the bands I like had to be judged by the current criteria of being an artist worth signing and promoting, they'd have never been signed.
So, in a way I feel lucky but I also feel sorry for today's 13, 14, and 15 year olds discovering music for the first time--mostly via what they see on TV, just like when I was that age--and getting this nonsense. Unless they're lucky enough to have a cool mom or dad with a great music collection, and they end up checking it out to discover all the past greats, or the end up going to college and get exposed to all the stuff on the Internet you don't hear on the radio. But by far, most new music is discovered by what gets put on television and it used to be that there was hours of music of all kinds and it wasn't all in the format of The Gong Show.
What say you folks? I'm sure we've got a few fans of these shows on here and I don't mean to disrespect you if you like them, but I really do want an alternative and more variety. Not just more of the same.