Recently there was a fake video posted about why doesn’t MTV play videos anymore. (watch it here)  It’s a snarky response blaming the audiences for the programming change.  Though it’s fake and not really MTV’s response…you can’t take it too seriously.  But there is some glaring misguided reasoning that may or may not actually be true to why there’s no more videos.  First off, the fake CEO blames the generation of kids for stealing music.  And adds that’s there’s no promotional power behind a music video if kids aren’t purchasing the CDs.  Seems logical…it’s not.  Concerts are the true money makers for artists….and when a video is played…there’s also residual money the artist can earn.  Playing videos is very beneficial to the music industry.  That said…why the fuck does MTV care if people buy CDs, MP3s, or not?  MTV makes their money off advertising.  Not CD sales.

The CEO then goes on to blame product placement for making videos cheesy.  Horrible point considering product placement has been around since the dawn of TV…actually since the dawn of radio.  Soap operas were invented to sell soap.  True story.

He adds that they would be forced to play crap like Katy Perry, Bieber, etc…and not Nirvana, Pavement or REM.  And we’d complain.  That’s half right.

MTV used to make super stars.  They used to be trendsetters.  They used to break social barriers.  Michael Jackson was the first black artist on MTV at a time when black actors could be cast as leads on any other TV show…but MTV embraced him and changed the national social landscape. People watched MTV because they wanted to see what the future was.  MTV was the soundtrack to our lives.  MTV could call the shots and doesn’t need to be forced to play anything.  They chose to start playing pop because they were catering to the youth demographic.  The problem is when the youth demographic grows up…they no longer like what you’re playing and they move on.  Before…you were attractive to everyone…from parents to kids…now it’s a sliver of an audience that is as fickle as high maintenance prom queen after she gets a hair out of place.  Shows like Jersey Shore are train wrecks…and that works as in instant gratification…but does not hold up to repeat viewing.  No one cares eventually…even the youth demographic.  This happens when a new group comes in and rejects their predecessors.  Before MTV created an arsenal of music they could play…even if the video was 15 years old (like MJ, Madonna, or GNR) people still dug it.  And watched…young or old.  MTV decided to ignore the older demo (the demo who still buys music)…so honestly…it’s really their own faults.

In the 80s and 90s, nothing was cooler than MTV…now everything is.

Here are the 11 Best Bad Religion Songs of the 90s:

1. American Jesus (Recipe For Hate)
2. Better Off Dead (Stranger Than Fiction)
3. A Walk (The Gray Race)
4. Flat Earth Society (Against The Grain)
5. Skyscraper (Recipe For Hate)
6. Stranger Than Fiction (Stranger Than Fiction)
7. Punk Rock Song (The Gray Race)
8. Anesthesia (Against The Grain)
9. Empty Causes (The Gray Race)
10. Only Entertainment (Generator)
11. 21st Century Digital Boy (Against the Grain)