I'll be examining MTV and its various channels around the world in relation to Rosalind Williams' essay “The Dream World of Consumerism” and her ideas of a passive dream world and consumer culture.
Discussion of Topic:
The cable network Music Television launched in America 1981 by (appropriately) playing the music video for “Video Killed the Radio Star” by British new wavers The Buggles. Since its inception, MTV has been the deciding media force of popular youth culture, pretty much dictating what will be hip for the masses. Through a steady stream of music videos and calculated wackiness, the network has captured the hearts (and wallets) of millions of youngsters and has quickly built their tiny American cable channel into a global youth culture empire.
MTV puts the viewer into a sort of passive consumer fantasy world, in which they are watching pure advertisement disguised as entertainment. This harkens back to the expositions and department stores of the 19th century, of which Williams calls, “a place where the audience is entertained by commodities, where selling is mingled with amusement.” (204) Instead of exotic silk blouses or ottomans, the product is the artist and their song, which is presented in a fantastical visual form for eased interaction with the viewer/buyer. The proliferation of this consumerist dream state might be thought of as a collective hypnosis under the guise of benign television entertainment, as the common grounds between people is based in images. This is a dream to the MTV corporation, as they rake in both ratings and advertising money. As Williams notes, “the passivity of the moviegoer is like that of the shopper - intellectual and physical passivity and emotional hyperactivity.” (215)
While globalization can unify countries and create common ties between them, it can also homogenize the world, trading any semblance of cultural heritage/identity for a shared interest. In studying globalization of popular culture, the expansion of MTV intrigues me because of what I notice as a regular viewer of MTV in the US. I see it homogenizing America, halting the number of bands on the popular radar to a minimum, giving airplay only to the select few that are perfectly willing/able to be manipulated for the highest profit margin. This gives kids the impression that there are only so many groups in existence, and that’s all they can listen to. I fear this will happen the world over. A study of the various MTV outlets around the globe could either solidify my fear, or give me hope for the future of the world’s youth. This is a risk I’m willing to take.
Methods:
I will look at MTV around the globe in relation to Rosalind Williams’ essay, the “Dream World of Mass Consumption.” My main avenue of research will be the Internet. Aside from the articles about MTV from scholars and colleagues, I’ll utilize the websites that MTV provides for nearly all of the regional outlets. While I realize that these are essentially propaganda for the network and contain distorted viewpoints, the sites will be useful in obtaining core information such as programming, charts, features, stats, etc...
Findings and Data:
Outside of Africa, MTV is now available nearly anywhere there’s a cable hookup. “MTV can be seen in 330 million households in 140 countries. MTV's international channels are MTV: Music Television (US), MTV Asia (Southeast Asia, Mandarin, China, India, Philippines and Korea), MTV Australia, MTV Brazil, MTV Europe, MTV Japan, MTV Latin America (Northern, Central & Southern) and MTV Russia. MTV Networks Europe, is Europe's most widely distributed cable and satellite network, and the continent's number one music television network, encompassing 16 individual music channels, including MTV (9 regionalized services; MTV UK & Ireland, MTV Central, MTV South, MTV Spain, MTV Nordic, MTVF, MTV NL, MTV European and MTV Polska), VH1 (3 services), MTV2, MTV Extra, MTV Base and VH1 Classic. MTV reaches more than 90 million households in Europe.” (http://www.mtve.com/nordic.asp?url=front.asp)
From what I can gather, the differences between its stations throughout the globe are only skin deep, though it is hard to tell as each channel’s website is in their native language. They play many of the same videos throughout the world, specifically with a focus on popular American videos. US MTV staples like Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit get as much airplay in Italy, China, or Brazil as they do here - which is to say they’re not exactly begging for airtime. The programming is mainly the same, with the standard being the live Top 10 countdown show / celebrity gawk-a-thon, known here as the ever-popular Total Request Live. Though sometimes under a different name, most often Select, it appears in some form on every outlet. Jackass and The Tom Green Show are also ubiquitous, which is no surprise as they are mostly physical comedy, which unlike the Real World, works in any language (then again, the Real World doesn’t even work in English).
MTV India seems to be more isolated from the rest of the channels, revolving mostly around their homegrown music scene and local artists rather than Western superstars. The programming is also different, except for the standard Select and the American show Love Line. Also, if their website is any indication of the TV channel, it is based more on fashion, sex/romance, and movies than music - perhaps it is more female oriented than other MTV stations. The website was one of the only ones in English, which threw me off a bit.
Most intriguingly, MTV Asia focuses 99% on American and British pop and rock, with nary an indication of interest in local music. The site, all in English, shows the greatest sign of globalization and Western influence/imperialism. Also, curiously the channel focuses more on music and less on fashion and reality television than any other MTV station. Also, the odd predominance of the Bee Gees can’t go unrecognized - they seem huge there (as do Bon Jovi, who seem to be really hot everywhere but America). Ironically, the channel I thought would be most different than MTV US is the most similar.
I had trouble navigating through the foreign text of the MTV China site, though I did catch a few Britney’s and Christina’s in there. The China division seems rather different from the Western ones - even more visually oriented, with nearly every human image altered to look computer animated. Also, there’s more of an emphasis on the VJ and their personality, as opposed to the artist - though I did take note of a singer named Faith whom I take to be the Chinese Britney Spears (assuming she’s not a digital creation). MTV Japan features a pretty even balance of Western rock/hip hop and Japanese pop music. Overall, their station seems comparatively underdeveloped, but that is undoubtedly because of its young age. Similarly, MTV Brazil and MTV Latin America also feature an even mix of local and Anglo artists. MTV Germany and MTV France seem to be the most progressive of all the international channels, with more of an emphasis on artful European dance music, and shows that emphasize audio/video mixing and dance culture.
Again, if the website is any indication of the aesthetic of the regional MTV channel, then they are all very similar. The sites all feature a rather comparable busy, yet sleek design aesthetic that showcase retro-digital fonts, angular, robotic visuals, and smarmy headlines/captions (of those I could read.)
Tellingly, it is only the Western artists featured on MTV US or UK that are featured anywhere else in the world. There are no non-MTV promoted western artists to be found anywhere, so its concluded that the information flow is constricted to the few bands MTV global wants the world to see. Also, while an American artist can pop up on any MTV station in the world, MTV US is devoutly American, so this is the rare case where give but don’t take, and of course, American imperialism at its best.
Conclusions:
Williams states that by 1900, tools were no longer the focus of the expositions, but the things they made - the products. I contend that the same can be said about MTV. When the network first started, the videos were “tools,” simply a means to give a visual to the music. As the format was very fresh, the emphasis was on the technology/idea of the video rather than the star. As the world was familiarized with videos and record companies realized the profit possibilities of what is essentially a 3-4 minute commercial, the video merely became an advertising medium, and the emphasis shifted towards the product. Simon Philo, a lecturer in American Studies at the University of Derby, UK, adds, “ In fact, what could be more beautifully and so completely capitalistic than a whole channel that programmes commercials between the commercials? The bottom line is that music videos are advertisements for an artist's - and by extension a record company's - CDs, tapes, and records.” (http://members.tripod.com/~warlight/PHILO.html) None of this is to say that the video world is completely lacking in artistic intent/achievement, but the vast majority are simply business cards, or what Maurice Talmeyr would call “the submission of truth, of coherence, of taste, of all other considerations to the ends of business.” (Williams, 202)
Global MTV is much like the early department stores Williams discusses, in which exotic decors and chaos/ repetition are used to numb the viewer into a fantasy world of merchandise. MTV’s videos often take place (or appear to) in far-off locales with unobtainable vehicles/jewelry/clothing/arm-candy, and are repeated ad nauseum so the faithful the viewer is lulled into a hypno-consumer dream state, in which he is programmed to lust after the Bentley’s, name brand clothes, champagnes etc... flaunted on the screen. Even though a Bentley is obviously way out of the average viewer’s reach, a notion of materialism is instilled by the fetishistic treatment of the video object. All of this is intertwined with hyperkinetic, bright, flashing graphics (reminiscent of the packaging of household cleaning items/grocery goods) helping to solidify the exotic/chaotic schema that entices the viewer to remain right where he is for a few more hours, and when he finally gets up to rush out and buy that new Weezer album.
The exotic locales are used to place the video star out of the ordinary, to give a sense of extraordinary flight/escape, in much the same way an American video is popular in China. What I wonder is, with American and British pop videos so prevalent throughout the world, what image of their respective countries are these videos portraying? What image of exotic escape are they selling? Whereas a hip hop video is distinctly “American, ” how does a Britney Spears or Backstreet Boys video differ from an Eastern video, aside from an American star/production values? Are they purposefully made homogeneous for increased accessibility in the global marketplace, or is there something distinctly American about them that I am missing? And why not try out a Japanese pop star in America? I’m not sure, but it seems to me that so far, the globalization of videos has had its limits. While America is more than willing to push its product on the world market, it won’t accept anything but homegrown - whereas other countries like Germany, France, and Brazil are embracing an aggressively multi-cultural approach. Whereas MTV Asia is strictly Anglo-pop, MTV India sticks mainly to their Indian entertainment heritage. The only really congruent trends in MTV’s global marketplace are American pop stars, live celebrity/video countdown shows, Bon Jovi, and an incredibly small range of music is being offered to the world by MTV, and its really a shame. Here’s for aggressive competition in the very near future.
References:
Williams, Rosalind, "The Dream World of Mass Consumption," Rethinking Popular Culture, Mukerji, C; Schudson, M; ed. Berkeley, California, University of California Press, 1991: (198-235)
Barros, Laura, ed. “MTV - Around The World” http://www.jmk.su.se/global00/laura/projects/mtvworld.htm
Philo, Simon. “Getting Dumber and Dumber: MTV's Global Footprint” http://members.tripod.com/~warlight/PHILO.html
MTV Europe: About http://www.mtve.com/nordic.asp?url=front.asp
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