The Power Behind Music Utopia MTV

by Melanie Espeland

MTV was the very first music television channel, a move that has captured the minds and remote controls of teens in 51 countries around the world since its launch in 1981. President Judy McGrath gave the staff of TEENSPEAK insight into the evolution of this phenomenon. Judy explained how MTV keeps evolving over the years, not just to keep viewer's interests, but because of her goal to be unique and beyond the present time.

Not only is there a music oasis channel, but a twin in the form of a website. Mtv.com was launched just a few years ago, and yet with all of its music competitors, such as sonicnet.com, etc. it has risen high into the Top 10 Music Sites chart. Yet, go-getter Judy, satisfied with this success, nonetheless wishes to further change and cultivate the site. "I want mtv.com to be more unusual, to be something new." People are currently working on creating a new exciting "something," but in the meantime, mtv.com is over par, having archives of information on almost every artist worth reading about and hearing.

On a similar note, I asked Judy if she envisioned artists publishing their work directly on the Internet, bypassing the record companies, directly billing the person who downloaded the music. "I really don't know," she said, "because the Internet is still very new. It's like my parents didn't know how to work my VCR, and now I don't know how to predict the use of the Internet. The Internet could virtually go in many directions," she added. It's difficult, therefore, to suggest what negative impact the Internet could have on the music industry right now. MTV is maintaining a diligent watchful eye to be prepared for change.