Written by 4:00 am Audiophile • 8 Comments

This Kid Asks Me, “What is MTV?”

Jerry Del Colliano sees need for industry change…


AR-MTV450.jpgIt’s 2011 and I’ve survived the hell of giving birth to two online magazines about audio and video three weeks before the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, I’ve weathered the Great Recession and changes to Google’s algorithms and a tough market to sell ads in despite an improving economy, and I thought I deserved something nice for my efforts (outside of a stroke or heart attack). What I found that I liked was an artist’s proof of Andy Warhol’s Moonwalk. It is a print on fancy paper using diamond dust and is pretty fantastic. I didn’t spend crazy money on the piece, but it has pretty good provenance, although it isn’t estate stamped or signed like the edition prints. Nevertheless, it is going to look pretty cool in my hallway next to a big, colorful Damien Hirst “Spot” print on the accompany wall.

AR-Lehman450.jpgThe Warhol print showed up packed fantastically, and I immediately took it to the local framer with whom I have a very good working relationship. When I walked in the door, there was a guy about my age accompanied by a teenaged boy. They had a number of hockey-related memorabilia prints that they wanted reprinted, including a vintage photo of the Edmonton Oilers. As a huge hockey fan, having grown up in Philadelphia in the 1980s, I shared that the Oilers pretty much ruined my childhood (1984 and 1987 Stanley Cups specifically) and they laughed. I did some schtick with the kid, who had an outrageously dark tan for February, even by California standards. I asked him if he wanted to see my print, which was being opened in the back. He did.

AR-DamineHirstQuene450.jpgBefore we went to the back of the frame shop, I offered this young man a bet if his father would allow it. I said “Kid, if you can tell me the significance of the imagery of this piece of art and its relationship to TV history, I’ll give you $20.” His dad authorized the no-downside bet and we all went to the back. The kid came back out front and the dad said, “you get one chance at this.” (Tough dad.) The kid started in about how technology changed the world starting with the moon landing, which was compelling but completely wrong. I asked the dad to tell us and he said, “The moonwalk was used to promote MTV.” The kid looked at us both and sincerely asked, “What is MTV?” 

What is MTV?! Oh, I don’t know, maybe the most important thing to ever happen to music pretty much ever? For a generation, no band could be successful without music videos played on this television channel. But you know what? That generation isn’t this kid’s generation.

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They don’t watch MTV. They don’t watch “Money for Nothing” videos. They have no idea what it’s like to sit in front of a VHS deck for hours on end with the Record light flashing, finger over the pause button, waiting for the extended cut of “Thriller” to air.

They don’t watch Beavis and Butthead (too bad for them… heh heh). If they know MTV for anything, it’s as a reality TV-focused network (which they also pioneered). YouTube and a few other legit sites, on the other hand, offer his generation access to music videos and access to musical content that is pretty much unlimited and on demand. We pull videos for content here at AudiophileReview.com and HomeTheaterReview.com all the time, and often I will see that an official video for a classic song has 10,000,000 or more plays. Some, like this gem from Psy, have broken the 1,000,000,000 mark.

AR-B&WSpeakers450.jpgI harp on the issues that the audiophile hobby has, and demographics are perhaps the biggest. Walk with me at an AXPONA or Rocky Mountain Audio Fest show and bet me on how many non-hotel 4K or 8K TVs we will see in the demo rooms? I will take the under on five and I will win. Yet, Generation Z gets their content via video monitors and online streaming and content sites. How many pairs of wireless headphones will you see in an entire hotel ballroom full of sexy cans? I will bet you another $100 that the over-under is safe at under five. How many pairs of wireless speakers will you see at one of these audiophile shows? Again, I might be less safe with this bet (Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo, Kanto, RBH) but I might still take the under at five. 

AR-BluesBros450.jpgChange is needed in the audiophile hobby. The elders need to bring the younger, music loving generation into the fold in ways that they can understand. These kids are simply used to consuming media differently and don’t have nostalgic feelings about retro technologies, be it low-resolution, low dynamics vinyl, silver discs of any kind, or anything we loved from our past. They are fully comfortable with the idea of disruptive technology changing the world and fast. And they don’t care what bodies get left by the side of the road as a result. I am not sure how much more proof we need than hearing the honest, heart-felt question of, “What is MTV?” from a Generation Z youth. Point well made, son.

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