Regionalni centar za talente Beograd1- Zemun

MTV-HISTORY AND INFLUENCE ON POPULAR CULTURE

MTV-ISTORJIAT I UTICAJ NA POPULARNU KULTURU

Autor: Maa aija I razred Zemunske gimnazije

Mentor: Vesna Popadi, professor engleskog jezika

CONTENT
1................................................................ Abstract
2................................................................Introduction
3................................................................Artists that became famous thanks to MTV
4................................................................All MTV VMAs ever
8................................................................The development of other TV channels within MTV
9................................................................Show programs on MTV then and now
10..............................................................Conclusion
11..............................................................Bibliography

ABSTRACT
MTV was the first ever music television that broadcasted only music videos and shows. Up until
its creation music fans relied only on their ears but thanks to MTV they could watch their
favorite musicians on TV. It started working on 1st of August in 1981 in New York, USA. The fist
video ever played was by the Buggles and its called Video killed the radio star. From that
moment forward musicians started investing a lot of money for their songs to be turned into a
video and broadcasted on television. Their fans were now able to watch their performances on
television and find out about new and upcoming songs, videos and albums. MTV is owned by the
Viacom music and entertainment group that also owns a lot of other channels and some of them
are MTV2, MTV live, MTV u and VH1 who were developed thanks to MTV. MTV2 and MTV
live are sort of an alternative for MTV who has changed a lot over the years especially in the
beginning of the 21st century. They now broadcast mostly teenage reality shows, comedies and
serial documentaries about teenagers and have almost forgotten about the real purpose of MTV:
playing music videos. MTV still broadcasts music videos but a in a small amount and mostly at
night while MTV2 and MTV live still do MTVs real job. MTV also broadcasts and hosts a lot of
video music awards that have been held since 1984. Thanks to them and MTV itself a lot of new
artists have been discovered and became famous which changed their lives.

APSTRAKT
MTV je prva ikada muzika televizija koja je putala samo muzike spotove i emisije. Sve do
njenog postanka, fanovi su koristili samo ui, ali zahvaljujui MTV-u sada su mogli gledati svoje
omiljene muziare na TV-u. MTV je poeo sa radom 1.8.1981. godine u Njujorku, SAD. Prvi
video ikad emitovan bio je Video killed the Radio star I izvodja jebend po imenu The
Buggles. Od momenta putanja prvog spota muziari su poeli da ulau veliku koliinu novca za
pretvaranje njihovih pesama u muzike videe i njihovo emitovanje na televiziji. Njihovi fanovi su
mogli gledati njihove nastupe I saznati o novim pesmama, spotovima I albumima. MTV je pod
vlasnitvom kompanije Viacom music and entertainment group koja dri jo dosta kanala meu
kojima su MTV2, MTV live, MTVu I Vh1 koji su se razvili zahvaljujui MTV-u. MTV2 I
MTV live su napravljeni kao zamena za MTV koji se promenio dosta tokom godina pogotovo
poetkom 21.veka. MTV sada emituje uglavnom tinejderske rijaliti emisije, komedije I serijske
dokumentarce o tinejderima I gotovo je zaboravljena prava svrha ove televizije: putanje
muzikih spotova. MTV I dalje puta muzike videe ali u malom broju I uglavnom nou dok
MTV2 I MTV live rade MTV-jev pravi posao. MTV emituje I organizuje veliki broj dodela
muzikih nagrada ije emitovanje je poelo 1984. Zahvaljujui njima, a I samom MTV-u puno
novih muziara je otkriveno I postalo poznato to im je umnogome promenilo ivote.

INTRODUCTION
There have been few times in modern music history that an instant shift in how we listen to and
view music has occurred. However, the launch of MTV on August 1, 1981, was certainly one
such occurrence. Instantly, music fans were now listening with their eyes rather than relying
solely on their ears.
It was a pretty radical idea-a channel for teenagers, showing nothing but music videos. It was
such a radical idea that almost no one thought it would actually succeed, much less become a
force in the worlds of music, television, film, fashion, sports, and even politics. But it did work.
MTV became more than anyone had ever imagined.
From the very beginning of its work, MTV had a strong impact on the music industry in
America. It started out as a cable music television meant for playing only music videos,
especially rock music. A lot of music artists started investing money in the visual display of their
songs. The first music group that did that were the Buggles and their song called Video killed
the Radio star was the first music video ever broadcasted on television. The Buggles werent the
only band that got their fame thanks to MTV. A lot of other songs and artists got popular because
of their music videos that were broadcasted on this television such as Madonna, Britney Spears,
Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Nirvana, Green Day and many others Not only did MTV
change the lives of over a thousand musicians that were waiting to be discovered it also changed
the lives of their loyal fans who were now able to listen to and watch their favorite music groups
and artists. It became the main station where music fans all around the world could get informed
about new music videos, songs, albums and band tours, where they were able to explore the
world of popular music and culture. Among all that MTV became an important part of pop
culture in the 80s and 90s. Thanks to this television there was also a transformation from DJdisc jockey to VJ-video jockey. DJs used to play plain CDs and vinyl records in clubs and radio
stations until the appearance of VJs whose job was to play music videos on television and some
of them had their own TV shows where they would interview famous music stars and usually talk
about their upcoming videos and albums. The most famous VJs were Carson Daly, Abby Gennet
who was also a lead singer in the music group called SLUNT, Nick ZanoMTVs center is
currently in New York, USA. The program and broadcast of this television has changed a lot in
the past decade. Now MTV is more a television for teenage TV series, reality shows, and they
broadcast live footage from a lot of music awards and also host some of them. Even though
popular teenage TV shows have taken over, MTV still plays music videos but not as much as they
used to.

Picture 1: MTVs logo

ARTISTS THAT BECAME FAMOUS THANKS TO MTV

From the broadcast of the first music video to this day MTV has been changing the lives of
thousands of ambitious musicians, song writers and new artists by playing their music videos on
television. Thanks to MTV a big number of people have become famous and their songs have
gone viral all over the world. Back in the twentieth century people who became famous because
of their music videos are The Buggles, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Madonna,
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Peter Gabriel and many others. The Buggles are the group whose song
Video killed the Radio star was the first to be turned into a video and broadcasted on television.
It was written in 1977 Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley but was released in 1979.
As its name indicates the song is about the creation of music videos that have almost completely
replaced /killed the radio in the beginning. David Bowie is the man who won the first ever
Video vanguard music award and has become even more famous after his bestselling album
Lets dance, which he made for just for MTV I 1983, was broadcasted on MTV many times
especially the song with the same name and China girl. Lets dance is also considered to be
one of Bowies best albums. Michael Jackson first became famous when he was very young with
the band called Jackson five which he formed with his siblings. He later became even more
popular thanks to many of his music videos that were played on MTV but especially Thriller
which is in form of a short movie and is one of his most famous songs. Also because of the
Thriller video the Video Vanguard music award was renamed to Michael Jackson music
award. Britney Spears became popular in the early 90s by winning a lot of awards in the VMAs
including Video of the year award. Songs that usually won the VMAs were Baby one more
time, Toxic and Oops I did it again. Madonna became famous thanks to her songs Like a
virgin, Like a prayer and Vogue that also won a big number of video music awards. She was
also famous because she was a fashion icon in the 80s. In her music video called Vogue she
performed dressed up in a 18th century French costume looking specifically like Mary Antoinette.
Nirvana and Pearl Jam were the first alternative music groups from the 90s to make a
breakthrough in the VMAs while others werent known to much people. Nirvanas most famous
songs are Smells like teen spirit, Negative freak and Lithium. Pearl Jam won 4 awards
including Video of the year for their hit song Jeremy. Peter Gabriel crushed the competition
on the VMAs in 1987 with his mega hit Sledgehammer thanks to which he gained a lot of fame
in the 80s. Sledgehammer is one of his best songs and also helped him get discovered after MTV
broadcasted his music video.

Picture 2: The Buggles

Picture 3: David Bowies Lets dance

Madonnas Like a virgin

ALL MTV VMAS (VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS) EVER:

1. The first VMAs ever were in 1984 when Madonna performed Like a virgin. Cindy
Lauper won Best female artist for Girls just want to have fun while David Bowie and
The Beatles won the first ever Video Vanguard awards
2. In 1985 Don Hanley was awarded four Moonmen awards including Video of the year
award for his hit song The boys of summer
3. In 1986 a Norwegian band called A-ha won six awards including the Viewers choice
award for their song Take on me. Money for nothing by Dire straits also won two
awards including Video of the year award.
4. 1987 was the year of fame and glory for Peter Gabriel who holds the record for the most
Moonmen awards won in one night. Not only did he win 10 Moonmen he also won the
Video Vanguard award for Sledgehammer.
5. In 1988 Michael Jackson appeared on the VMAs for the first time with his performance of
Bad and he also won the Video Vanguard award.
6. In 1989 Paula Abdul won four awards and turned out the most notable performance of the
night. She sang her hits: Straight Up, Cold Hearted, and Forever Your Girl. Also
Madonna won the Viewer's Choice Award for her "Like a Prayer" video.
7. Madonna won three technical awards and performed Vogue with her dance crew dressed
up in 18th century French theme bearing resemblance to Mary Antoinette while Janet
Jackson won the Video Vanguard award in 1990.
8. A great change at the 8th annual video music awards happened in 1991. Video Vanguard
award was renamed to Michael Jackson video award for turning music videos into,
what Jackson called short movies such as Thriller. The same evening Prince and The
New Power Generation performed Get off.
9. In 1992 the famous music group Nirvana was supposed to play at the 9th annual VMAs.
MTV requested from the band to play their big hit Smells like teen spirit, but instead
Nirvana chose to play the song Rape me. The MTV comity thought that the song was
quite inappropriate for the traditional ceremony so they let the band choose between
Smells like teen spirit and Lithium which is also a big hit. In the end Nirvana Lithium
and Guns n roses won an award for best cinematography for November rain.
10. The biggest winner of the VMA awards in 1993 was Pearl jam with their music video
Jeremy that won 4 awards. Madonna and Peter Gabriel won two awards that night and
Madonna also performed Bye, bye, baby.

11. R.E.M. was for the second time in their career the biggest winner of the night in 1994.
They won 4 technical awards for Everybody hurts with close follow up group Aerosmith
who which won two awards for their video Crying
12. Weezer and TLC both took home 4 awards after the VMAs in 1995. TLC won two main
awards: The Viewers choice award and Video of the year award. For their video
Waterfalls while Weezer won the Best direction award and Breakthrough video for
their music video Buddy Holly. Siblings Michael and Janet Jackson took home three
Moonmen for Scream.
13. In 1996 Smashing pumpkins won 6 out of 8 awards they were nominated for including
Video of the year award for Tonight, tonight. They also won one Moonmen award for
Best alternate video. Also a Canadian singer Alanis Morissette won three awards for her
video Ironic.
14. American singer Beck won five Moonmen at the VMAs in 1997 closely followed by
British jazz band Jamiroquai that won 4 award including Video of the year award. The
same night The Prodigy won both American and European Viewers choice award.
15. Madonna was the most successful winner of the 1998 awards with the total of six wins.
She won five awards including Video of the year and Best female video award for her
video Ray of light and only one win for Frozen. Madonna was followed by Will Smith
and The Prodigy with them both winning two awards each.
16. In 1999 Britney Spears performed Baby one more time and then NSYNC sang their
song Tearing up my heart. The Backstreet boys won Viewers choice award that night.
17. Britney Spears appeared the second year in a row on the video music awards in 2000
performing her hot single OopsI did it again followed up with N Sync who sang their
hit single Bye, Bye, Bye. Dr. Dre won an award for Best rap video for his song Forgot
about Dre featuring Eminem who won Video of the year award for his video The real
Slim Shady.
18. The VMAs in 2001 started off with a surprise appearance of Michael Jackson. After this
Britney Spears performed Im a slave 4 you. Fatboy Slim took home that evening 6
Moonmen awards for his Weapon of choice music video.
19. The lead performer and winner of the awards in 2002 was Eminem who won 4
Moonmen including Video of the year and Best rep video award for his Without me
music video. Justin Timberlake also performed his soon to be hit single Like I love you.

20. In 2003 Video of the year award won multiple artist such as Missy Eliot for her Work
it, Johnny Cash for Hurt, Eminem for Love yourself, John Mayer for Your body is a
wonderland, Justin Timberlake and Cry me a river.
21. In 2004 Video of the year award went to OutKast for Hey ya!, Britney Spears for
Toxic and Jay-Z for 99 problems. This years VMAs unlike any other had no host.
22. The biggest winner of the video music awards in 2005 was Green day taking home seven
awards including Best group video, Best rock video, Video of the year and Viewers
choice awards for their hit video Boulevard of broken dreams. Green day wasnt the
only music group who took home Video of the year award that evening. That award also
got into the hand of Coldplay for Speed of sound, Snoop Dog for Drop it like its hot,
Gwen Stefani won the award for her song Hollaback Girl and Kanye West also tribute
with his song Jesus walks.
23. The first time viewers were able to vote for all performances categories was on the
VMAs in 2006, but the artistic categories were still chosen by industry professionals like
in previous years. The Video of the year award went to Shakira for her video Hips dont
lie, Red Hot Chili Peppers for their hit song called Dani California, Panic! at the disco
for I write sins not tragedies and to Madonna for Hung up. The Best new artist award
went to Avenged sevenfold for Bat country.
24. In 2007 Rihanna took the biggest number of award including Video of the year award
which also went to Beyonc for Irreplaceable, Justin Timberlake for What comes
aroundGoes around, to Justice for D.A.N.C.E., Amy Winehouse for her hit single
Rehab and to Kanye West for Stronger.
25. Britney Spears again won the most awards on the VMAs in 2008 for her song Piece of
me that also won the Best pop video and Video of the year award which was also
given to Chris Brown for Forever, Jonas brothers for Burning up and to the Ting tings
for Shut up and let me go. The Best new artist award went to Tokio hotel for Ready,
set, go, Miley Cyrus for 7 things, Katy Perry for her mega hit single I kissed a girl and
to Jordin Sparks for No air.
26. In 2009 over 9 million people watched the show which was the biggest appearance yet.
Janet Jackson sang Thriller, Bad, Smooth criminal and Scream as a tribute to her
brother Michael. Beyonc, Lady Gaga and Green day each won three awards which was
the biggest number of wins that evening. Also honorable mentions of the event are
Eminem and Kanye west who both won Video of the year award.

27. In 2010 Lady Gaga became the artist with the biggest number of nominations in one night
in the VMAs history with 13 nominations. Two of her songs both got nominated for
Video of the year and Bad romance won seven separate awards. Eminem, Florence and
the machine, Thirty seconds to Mars and B.o.B also won the Video of the year award
and many other that evening.
28. In 2011 Katy Perry won the most nominations (10) and awards (3) followed up by Adele
who also won three awards but less nominations. Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Bruno
Mars, Chris Brown, Adele, Pitbull, Ne -Yo, Beyonc and Lil Wayne performed that
evening and there was also a dance tribute to Britney Spears with the songs Baby one
more time, Toxic, Me against the music, (You drive me)Crazy, Circus, Hold it
against me, Im a slave 4 u and Till the world ends. This is considered to be one of the
longest tributes on the VMAs.
29. One Direction was the biggest winner of the 2012 VMAs winning their three
nominations, including Best New Artist, and Rihanna went on to win Video of the Year.
Both M.I.A. and Chris Brown won two awards each. This was the least watched show
since 2007 with 6.1 million viewers. The performance of the evening belonged to
Rihanna, Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean, One Direction, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Green day,
Alicia Keys, Nicky Minaj and Taylor Swift.
30. The opening of the show in 2013 was given to Miley Cyrus with her song We cant stop
which got negative reactions of the critics and the fans. Justin Timberlake gave a 15
minute performance which was the most watched performance of the night. He also gave
a long speech leading up to his acceptance speech or the Michael Jackson Vanguard
video award. Not only did he win the Michael Jackson video award, Justin Timberlake
also won the Video of the year award for his hit song Mirrors. This is one of his
biggest triumphs on the VMAs. This award also went into the hands pf Bruno Mars for
Locked out of Heaven, Taylor Swift for I knew you were trouble and Robin Thicke for
Blurred lines.
31. The show in 2014 was also opened with a lot of artists like the previous one. Ariana
Grande, Niki Minaj, Jessie J, Taylor Swift, Usher, Maroon 5, Sam Smith, Rita Ora, Iggy
Azalea, 5 Second of Summer and Beyonc performed that evening. Beyonc had the
longest performance of the night with twelve songs including her big hits such as XO,
Drunk in love and Mine. Beyonc and Iggy Azalea had the most nominations, Both of
them had 8 nominations and Eminem was following them with 7 nominations. Beyonc
won the Michael Jackson Vanguard video award followed by a 16 minute Medley.

32. Taylor Swift led the nominations on the VMAs in 2015 with a total of ten, followed by
Ed Sheeran, who had six. Another nominee, Kendrick Lamar, received four nominations
for his video Alright. The main performances of the show were by The Weekend, Justin
Bieber, Niki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Nick Jonas, Tori Kelly, Pharrell Williams, 21 pilots and
Miley Cyrus. Beyonc, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Kendrick Lamar won the most
awards including the Video of the year award.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER TV CHANNELS WITHIN MTV

The Viacom music and entertainment group that owns MTV also owns a lot of other channels
who got developed thanks to MTV and some of them are: MTV 2, MTV u, MTV hits, VH1 and
Spike.
MTV2: Its launch was on August 1st 1996 and it began broadcasting simply as M2. At first it
launched commercial-free music videos but then a shift happened both on MTV and M2 in the
early 2000s. The focus went from music videos to reality shows and serial documentaries mostly
about teenagers. Its slogan that goes perfectly with its logo showing a two headed dog with the
words MTV2 written on its body says: Mans best friend.
VH1 or Video Hits One is an American cable television network based in New York City. It
launched on January 1, 1985, in the old space of Turner Broadcasting System's short-lived Cable
Music Channel. The original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by
playing music videos focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music including such
musicians as Olivia Newton-John, Kenny Rogers, Carly Simon, Tina Turner, Elton John, Billy
Joel, Eric Clapton, Sting, Donna Summer, Rod Stewart and Fleetwood Mac, in hopes of
appealing to people aged 18 to 35, and possibly older. From the start, Video Hits One was
branded as an urban version of MTV. It played more jazz and R&B artists than MTV and had a
higher rotation of urban-contemporary performers.
MTV u was launched on the 20th of January 2004 and it was created for college student all over
the USA and the United Kingdom. Music videos played on the channel primarily consist of
offerings from the indie rock, pop punk and hip-hop genres, along with limited original
programming.

Picture 5: VH1s logo

Picture 6: MTV2s logo

SHOW PROGRAMS ON MTV THEN AND NOW

In the 80s and 90s MTV mostly broadcasted music shows and series such as: 12 angry viewers,
120 minutes, Alternative nation, Club MTV, Dial MTV, The Grind, Headbangers ball, Heavy
metal mania and I.R.S. record presents the Cutting edge. Now MTV broadcasts a small number
of music shows such as Clubland, MTV first, Music Feed and MTV Unplugged which is the only
music show that is still being played even though it was first broadcasted in 1989. The rest of the
music shows are new and their premiere dates go from 2009 to 2012. Today reality and comedy
series dominate in MTVs program list. Reality series are mostly for and about teenagers such as:
16 and pregnant, Teen mom OG, Teen mom 2, Catfish- The TV show, Follow the rules,
MTV suspect and Virgin territory. They were created between 2009 and 2016. MTV also
broadcasts comedy and scripted series. Comedy series are: Girl code, Greatest party story
ever, Middle of the night show, Ridiculousness. The scripted series are more popular in the
teenage world and some of them are Teen wolf, Scream, Faking it and Awkward.

Picture 7: Alternative nation

Picture 9: Teen wolf

Picture 8: MTV unplugged

Picture 10: 16 and pregnant

CONCLUSION
Even though the legendary video music television from the 80s and 90s has changed, a lot of
people still watch it. Young people mostly watch MTV because of the teenage reality and comedy
series. All though this music television has changed its purpose which is playing music videos to
broadcasting TV shows the true spirit of MTV still lives on in the people who have faithfully
followed their favorite artist on this television and in the people who have made MTV a better
and more watched television thanks to their songs and videos.

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