THE DEATH OF THE MUSIC VIDEO: WHAT’S NEXT?
When music was first being sold in a portable format, it was all about the radio single and having that one great song. Music then progressed into great singles and a great album, which was due in part to the success of the concept album and the artist using a record to tell a story.
In 1981, MTV changed it all with the advent of the music video. No longer was music about the song, but music was about the look.
On November 16th, 2008, MTV decided to cancel its long running music video countdown show, Total Request Live. TRL, as it was commonly known, featured the best in pop music and at its prime, was the beating heart of a thriving music business. To be on TRL was to be an instant star. Fans got to see their idols come to life in the form of a music video. From TRL’s inception in 1998, it became the catalyst for larger-than-life pop superstars to launch a career and rise to fame almost overnight - literally. From Britney Spears to Korn and Eminem, at the height of its success, if you were a pop musician and your videos weren’t on TRL, your career had ended before it even began.
Record sales were skyrocketing and with the initial release of a little music downloading program called Napster, TRL helped keep the music industry’s head above water. Millions of dollars were spent on flashy music videos by profitable record labels. A great video and a marketable appearance was more important than a great song. While album sales were still high, they were almost 100% driven by the machine that was TRL.
Music, just like your hair style and what jeans you are wearing at this moment, is cyclical. What is popular right now and the progressive marketing techniques used today will most likely not be used in 2018. But, what is happening at this very moment will undoubtedly happen again 20, 30, or 40 years from now.
As we sit here today in 2008, things have changed. Popular music as we know it has performed a 180 and is back to where it was 50, 60, 70 years ago. Music videos have all but died and the iPod has rejuvenated the importance of a great song. People are now acquiring their favorite music “a la carte” from a music downloading program. ITunes is the driving force behind an industry back at square one. A .99 cent song. An iTunes mix. Not just your favorite record, but your favorite songs. And here’s the kicker: all songs are the same price. Some shitty garage band from Des Moines, Iowa sells their latest single for .99 cents in the iTunes store alongside Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellowbrick Road” and The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”.
In a world where the music video has met its demise with the end of TRL and a computer program is the number one seller of music, what’s next?
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