Wednesday 15 January 2014

The launch of MTV and the American music industry of the 1980s.



Airing on August 1st 1981 saw the focus on music videos and news with 24-7 access. The 1980s saw the emergance of artists such as Madonna and Whitney Houston, who at the time were becoming very influential and powerful figures.

MTV acted as a platform for musicians to share their music and videos with the world. Michael Jackson's Thriller, that everyone knows, from 1983 was 14 minutes long and was aired twice every hour on MTV due to high demand from audiences. The channel saw the rise in black artists into music aired on television which was limited in the past.

The original tagline of the channel was "you'll never look at music the same way" showing the originality and direction that MTV was leading in the 80s. MTV paved the way for other channels integrating music into their shows and formats. HBO had 'Video Jukebox', NBC had 'Friday Night Videos' and the Disney Channel had 'D-TV' among many other exampes.

In 1984 MTV introduced the MTV music video awards which still stands today. Although the awards and MTV in general seem very different today the music industry would not of developed the same way if it wasn't for MTV in the 1980s. 

References:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/12-thrilling-facts-about-michael-jacksons-thriller-20131029

http://www.liketotally80s.com/80s-mtv.html

http://entertainment.time.com/2010/02/10/top-10-mtv-moments/slide/michael-jacksons-thriller-premieres/

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