Video Killed the Radio Star

HOW MTV REVOLUTIONIZED THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND POP CULTURE Written by Alexandra Mack, Online Editorial Assistant Illustrated by Mac Gale, Staff Graphic Artist

The year is 1981. School is still a month away and you’ve outgrown your parentmandated bedtime. You’re sitting in front of the TV late at night, nonchalantly clicking through the channels on your brand-new cable box, when out of the corner of your eye, you see the clock change to midnight. You switch channels to see a man on the moon standing beside a flag— the whole screen flashes suddenly in vibrant colors, boldly displaying the letters "MTV". A mission controller speaks up, uttering words that would ultimately pave the way for a pop culture juggernaut to revolutionize the entertainment industry: “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.”

MTV, short for Music Television, made its debut on the small screen on August 1, 1981, kicking off the 24-hour music channel with the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.” This would prove to be a prophetic song choice within just a few years.

MTV was a cultural and commercial experiment; although music videos existed in some capacity prior to the creation of MTV, the term “music video” was virtually unheard of. The idea of a channel purely dedicated to airing music 24-hours a day didn’t appear profitable at the time, so many larger markets were hesitant to add the channel to their lineups, while record companies were doubtful about producing music videos for it. However, MTV paralleled the emergence of cable TV itself, and traditional broadcast networks began to face challenges with increased options for consumers. This is where MTV’s unorthodox, groundbreaking persona began to take shape, helping to bridge the gap between the music and film industries.1

Shortly after, MTV was picked up in every state, and what was once an option for musicians to create music videos became an expectation. As more households obtained access to cable and the channel became widely available, record sales boomed for featured artists and millions of dollars were spent on the production of commodified music videos. Every trend in the

¹ Adam Behr, “40 Years of MTV: the channel that shaped popular culture as we know it,” Salon, Aug. 14, 2021. ‘80s that was considered cool could be traced back to the phenomenon that was MTV.2

For much of the 1980s and ‘90s, MTV was a crucial determinant in the fate of an artist’s success, determining who rose to the top and who lagged behind. Artists that had their videos in rotation on MTV saw a spike in record sales, and the music video itself evolved into a vehicle through which the limits of creativity were surpassed and advances in technology were amplified.3 At the same time, the visual aspect of music increasingly became more significant, and the artists that recognized this significance were the ones who found the most success.

Michael Jackson was a pioneer in intersecting music and film, taking the concept of the music video to an entirely new level with the release of “Thriller.” The 13-minute cinematic

² Cameron Williams, “How MTV changed the world with its industry of cool,” SBS, Feb. 13, 2017. ³ Kansas State University, “Music Experts Share How MTV Killed The Radio Star And Changed Culture Forever 30 Years After Launch,” Newswise, June 21, 2011.

work became a cultural sensation; it was a spectacle that had people zombie-dancing every Halloween for the next 38 years, setting a precedent for the standards of music video production and certifying Jackson as a solo artist. His success opened doors for new artists such as Madonna—whose second album was able to dominate the charts due to the heavy rotation of “Like A Virgin” on MTV, challenging others to respond with their own movie-like videos, such as Prince’s “Purple Rain.” These musicians, amongst others, were pivotal in turning MTV’s purely rock-oriented origins into a more musically diverse platform.

MTV’s exponential increase in viewership and its ability to churn out megastars like clockwork soon turned it into a commodity that had big-name networks drooling over the possibility of adding the channel to their lineups. In 1985, media conglomerate Viacom purchased MTV for $667.5 million, taking on exclusive ownership of the channel. This business deal contradicted the channel’s rebellious persona and signified the end of an era.

The 24-hour stream of musical content was abandoned with this new ownership, replaced by blocks of music videos that were bundled by genre to fit a more traditional television format. Original television programming also started to be implemented into the channel’s daily lineup in the form of reality shows, talk shows and cartoons.

In its early days of voyaging into television programming, much of MTV’s content was still related to music. The most influential of all of these musical series is undoubtedly “Total Request Live.” Total Request Live, popularly dubbed “TRL,” debuted in 1998 and quickly became an imperative marketing tool for celebrities. Counting down the top 10 music videos of the day, TRL was the reason that many of the most popular musical acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s blew up. From punk performers and grunge groups to pop princesses and boy bands, the show helped a wide variety of turn-of-the-millennium musicians reach their commercial peaks.

Another outlet that gave artists the opportunity to make their presence known is the MTV Video Music Awards or VMAs. The VMAs is MTV’s annual awards show that premiered in 1984 and remains one of the most-watched awards shows today. The VMAs are about celebrating the best music videos of the year, bringing the concept of TRL to a live format, supplemented with Moonmen trophies that nod to the channel’s humble beginnings. Madonna’s giant wedding cake, Britney’s snake-turned-scarf, Gaga’s bleeding

abdomen and Miley’s infamous twerking are just a few examples of how one performance can revolutionize pop culture, and how MTV used the VMAs to carry on its legacy.

Despite the elimination of the musical aspect of “music television,” MTV never lost its ability to innovate beyond the accepted limits of programming. It has consistently been the source of shows and performances that “break the internet” and have lasting effects on society. For example, MTV is responsible for spearheading our current day infatuation with fringe artists over the mainstream, top-40 acts, allowing virtually unknown Soundcloud and TikTok artists to suddenly blow up.

MTV transformed our culture by being a defining influence on the identities of young people coming of age in the 1980s and ‘90s. Identities that, according to John O’Conner, a writer for the New York Times, consisted of “young adults struggling to establish a cultural niche for themselves, something that will distinguish them from the hippies

and baby boomers and yuppies of times past”—and it still continues to shape identities today.4 Although MTV is long past its golden age, its impact on pop culture, youth and the very nature of the music industry is everlasting, having redefined the terms of success for musicians and how music is consumed by listeners. ■

MTV is responsible for spearheading our current day infatuation with fringe artists over the mainstream, top-40 acts, allowing virtually unknown Soundcloud and TikTok artists to suddenly blow up.

⁴ John J. O’Connor, “Review/Television; On MTV, Talking About the MTV Generation,” New York Times, Nov. 6, 1991.