Did MTV destroy "Rock and Roll"?

[XIbanez4lifeX]

Did MTV contribute to the end or declining popularity of Rock and Roll?

[fenderx55]

no, but they contributed to the ever-lowering of standards.

[AxtoOx]

Maybe if they actually played some videos they would have some influence, but all I see anymore is "Reality TV".
I had to live through the Disco era, nothing could damage Rock and Roll more than that except maybe a large asteroid hitting the earth. I may still have my Death Before Disco shirt around somewhere.

[6-3-2]

Rock and Roll is still in full force, so no MTV has nothing to do with it. I'm sorry, but what a silly thing to say, Rock and Roll is far from being gone, in fact I think it's becoming more popular by the day.

Top Grossing Tours of 2005:
1. U2
2. The Eagles
3. Neil Diamond
4. Kenny Chesney
5. Paul McCartney
6. Rod Stewart
7. Elton John
8. The Dave Matthews Band
9. Jimmy Buffett
10. Green Day

http://www.nme.com/news/u2/21758

There's a whole lot of rock in there.

If anything MTV made people go out and find their own music, which is always better than letting someone tell you what to buy.

[theshadow2001]

I don't thinks so in the early days MTV used to play lots of good old rock n roll.

Then the music played migrated more towards RnB Pop Rap etc. But I think that this was as a result of the changing tastes of the public. Obvioulsy for financial reason MTV is going to play whats popular with the majority of people.

So I think that it's the MTV viewers that destroyed rock n roll not MTV itself.

Anyway I cant remember the last time I saw a music Video on MTV just Bam Marjera, Dirty Sanchez, Pimp my ride etc. This obviously generates more money than playing music. MTV are just going with what the viewers want

BTW I only get the UK mtv not MTV2 or any of the other alternitives.

[6-3-2]

Only good one is VH1 Classic, absolutely love that channel. Sometimes it gets bogged down in Van Halen, but who else is going to play The Smiths or Siouxsie and The Banshees or The Jam? Well to my knowledge no one.

[Snarf]

Have you turned on MTV2 recently? Lots of what people consider "rock" is on there. Unfortunately, it's all wrist-slashing whiny teenagers. Give me Def Leppard, Heart, and Ratt any day over that crap. I'm disappointed that "rock" is moving toward pretty boys wearing black eyeliner, but oh well. I'll just ignore it and listen to my Spyro Gyra and Yanni.

[AxtoOx]

My cable system doesn't get MTV2, do they actually play videos?

[NewWaveBasser]

Between the excessive ridiculous hair metal of the 80s and the anti-glamour suicidal tendency of grunge in the 90s... now THAT was the Rock killer.

That, and also the Madonna phenomenon. After that, music was never the $$$ame...

[Against Will]

Rock becoming a commodity is what destroyed/is destroying rock and roll.

MTV was an accomplice in it, but it was far from the perp.

[Kelly Lee]

Rock-n-Roll is not dead and it will not die!

Yes, MTV sucks. Whats new? Has it hurt rock-n-roll? No Way! MTV has never been that influential IMO. MTV only influences the mindless few that have no clue what they like.

BTW, I am referring to MTV as a whole.

[Woodchuck]

If it's dead, MTV had nothing to do with it. Those BritNSyncBackstreetJLo cd's ain't selling themselves!

[ras1983]

Have you watched the movie 'Almost Famous'? There is a character that hits the nail on the head when it comes to the downfall of rock'n'roll... it is the record companies that are destroying rock'n'roll. its much cheaper for them to sign people like the idol contestants than it is to keep producing for a big name band/act that will likely demand much more money.

Here in australia we have it worse than most when it comes to the majority of our local music. it seems that the radio stations only want to play singers who are ex-soap opera stars and have little to no talent.

[bigtexashonk]

While I voted "yes" I don't think MTV has completely destroyed R&R. Before the advent of music videos, people carried around their own music videos in their own heads of what the song meant to them instead of the pre-digested corporatized one size fits all version. I personally think when each song and it's intepretation was yours alone, the songs tended to mean more and we probably will hold them in our memories more fondly.

Doesn't mean there still isn't some good new music out there (although for me I have to look a lot harder for it these days), it just may not make the same impression on each of us as it used to.

[bucephylus]

I can't vote on this, because it actually misses the point.

MTV started as a great idea - to bring popular music in video format to the tube. For a while, it was OK, sometimes even pretty good - a new paradigm. However, artists are complicated and expensive to deal with. The Music Business (oxymoron) folks figured out that they could get control of the whole presentation because TV is so mind numbingly hypnotic. Profit was maximized by manufacturing "artists" and then discarding them immediately. Gradually, MTV moved first to rap, and then to bikini contests on the Florida beaches. I mean, music sells, but sex sells better. Now, they have wholly thrown out any allusion to musical content and become the teenage soap opera channel.

VH-1 has done the same thing.

I'm sure both are more profitable than they were under the original business plan.

Popular music is a rolling stone, taking on various new aspects that each generation brings to it. It needs a forum for interaction. "Rock" doesn't exist by itself, but in context with everything else. It is social commentary in performed arts; with a long, deep, and diverse heritage to draw from.

The problem is that nothing has moved in to fill the void left by the now teen soap opera companies. For the moment, the younger generation doesn't have sufficient commercial interest to build the financial model.

MTV is just a business, nothing more. They are not some kind of public institution for preservation of the arts. The younger folks need to build a new business demand before the situation will change. My sense is that there are some rumblings in this direction. I am seeing younger bands more actively in the rehearsal studios; and I think that is a good sign.

Meanwhile, it falls to the rest of us to keep the art form alive - it's a labor of love. We are paying dues. That's not a bad thing.

[Mike N]

MTV sucks, and they managed to drag VH1 down the tubes with them.

I've heard about MTV2 and VH1 classics, but never seen either. My cable provider wants even more $ for those "premium" channels. Like I don't pay enough already for 70 channels of nothing.

Originally Posted by fenderx55@yahoo

no, but they contributed to the ever-lowering of standards.

Huge +1 there.

[MikeyFingers]

They didn't destroy anything. They just drew attention away from the good music and pushed the bad stuff into the spotlight, thereby stupifying a generation of impressionably teens.

[Bushfire]

You want real rock, you gotta go searching for it, nothing (almost) that makes it on to music television (I don't have MTV down here, but the local equivalent I assume is much of a muchness) Is any good. Rock isn't dead, just not in the public eye as much, and the stuff that is, is usually pop rock or (the new kind, not the classic stuff) punk.

[Tbirdbassist]

I dont blame MTV for the decline of talent in Rock and Roll.

I blame them for not showing/talking about more bands. What the majority like, they accomodate for, but I wish it didnt mean shutting down all music video play.

MTV2 shows a lot more videos, but last time I watched (I dont have direct TV anymore), It had a few non music shows happening.

I think the "good rock" (and all its many branches IE metal and others...)started to become less popular around 2002. WHich is when bands like Simple Plan and Sum 41 and the like starting popping up and made that, Horrid IMO, pop-punk/emo music popular.

Something I noticed though, is that a lot of people are like Zombies, they see one thing, watch it fade, and hook on to the next. I hate it, and there are very few open minded people around these days who are willing to branch out from the mainstream, and it sucks...

[KeithBMI]

MTV destroyed good music.

Rock and Roll is still here, but It'll never be as good as the 60's and 70's.