MTV Revived Music Industry, Author Says

Love it or hate it, MTV, the rock music channel on some cable TV systems, revolutionized and resurrected the music industry from a recession in the early 1980s, according to a recent book by a Bowling Green State University sociology professor.

“Let’s face it. Performers have to be visual. A key to getting on MTV is how do they (groups) look,” R. Serge Denisoff said in a recent interview.

“For groups that don’t want to do videos, well, that’s the kiss of death. Last year, 94% of the groups releasing records had an accompanying clip, which means you have to have one.”

Denisoff’s book, “Inside MTV,” examines the world of cable-casting and the evolution of MTV and looks at some of its competitors. He also describes strategies, personalities, promotions and contents that put MTV on the road to a dominant position in television viewing.

The station made its debut with little fanfare Aug. 1, 1981, with an estimated 100,000 subscribers. It now reaches more than 40 million residences.

With success, the station’s original concept has been lost in 7 years of transmitting, Denisoff said. Initially, MTV showed only music clips. Now it sponsors contests, transmits game shows and carries advertising. “They earn over $100 million a year in ads alone,” he said. “Only sports comes that close.”

MTV is a powerful tool for recording artists. It would be difficult for a band or artist to be successful without a clip on MTV, Denisoff said.

And few can dispute the trend-setting station’s impact on contemporary film, fashion and radio, he said.

For rock fans, a song’s lyrics and message are transformed into short video plays, leaving nothing to the imagination.

While MTV did not create the concept of style over substance in rock music, it made it more acceptable. Rock fans became more concerned about the color of a star’s socks than the artist’s music or message.

And while the teen-age rebellion that once fueled rock ‘n’ roll died in the late 1950s, some critics contend that MTV had made the music, even the more raucous heavy metal, feel less threatening.

Denisoff began researching his book in 1983 and said he got little cooperation from the station.

“The secrecy was the fact that the media, in part, did not pay a heck of a lot of attention to them between 1981 through early 1983, because they were not in New York and Los Angeles,” he said. “Before then, they were kind of out there in Tulsa, Okla., Peoria, Ill., but they weren’t on in the major places.

“So because of that, they kind of see us as, ‘Now that we’ve made it, we don’t really need people in the press.’ ”

John Lack developed the idea of fusing rock music and television in 1980, Denisoff said. He presented it to Warner-Amex Entertainment and was given $20 million to develop the station.

MTV is the third major breakthrough in music broadcasting, the first since the late 1960s. “Top 40” radio was initiated in the 1950s, and FM radio, which played “free form” or progressive rock ‘n’ roll, molded music exposure before MTV.

Before MTV, the music business was in a depression. Denisoff said industry revenues climbed from $5.6 billion in the early 1980s to $8.3 billion last year. He said MTV rekindled interest that was lost in the late 1970s in the waning days of the disco craze.

The station makes it easier for established performers to get more air play. It also makes it more difficult for up-and-coming groups.

“Getting a clip on MTV is as difficult as it is for radio, which makes it tough for a new artist,” Denisoff said.

“They have a committee that meets once a week, and they review the clips that have come in. If you’re a name group, no problem. If you’re marginal and they have the space, you might get some play. If you’re not, most of the time you’re out.”