Rant: MTV

♩♪♫♩ I want my M - T - V. ♩♪♫♩ - The classic line that introduces Dire Straits' 80's rocker, "Money for Nothing," says it all. Or does it?

MTV Then

Born in the 80s, MTV presented programming that more closely related to its name, Music Television. MTV played nearly non-stop music videos. They played Charlie Daniels along side Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, and Def Leppard. Genres only existed in the form of programming. They had played classic videos from the 70's as well as "headbangers ball," a late night program for metal lovers.

MTV Now

Now, however, MTV seems to have abandoned music in favor of monotonously moronic mischief making. Of course, this is not to say MTV has no music at all but that the majority of the programming is not about music anymore.

What Changed

While I find much of what passes for music on MTV today deplorable, it is an understandable and necessary part of doing business. True, some of the other programming MTV offers also falls under this same consideration but not the majority of it and—THAT— is the problem. MTV programming is now mostly reality TV featuring college students behaving badly, and this only because they are on television.

At it's inception, the station knew its target demographic, their tastes and their styles, and it delivered! In a way, they still do. But, the station also seems to have lost its perspective. Music TeleVision has sold out to Meat-head TeleVision.