Video Killed the Radiostar and MTV Killed Music This paper discusses the "fall of music." It deals with the overexploitaion of artists due to media such as MTV.

'Video Killed the Radio Star' and MTV Killed the Music

Music has been an art of expression since almost the beginning of time. For thousands of years, songs have been tools to share and cause emotion and to make people think. Recently music has become a for of rebellion. Legendary artists like John Lennon, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan use/used their lyrics as a way to challenge political issues. But now it seems that the only thing that musicians think about while writing an album is 'will it make MTV?'. Money seems to make even the music world go 'round today. There is a clear period in music history that shows the industrialization of music, or the beginning of the end as I call it. This period is between MTV and the current, when Brittney Spears has sold more copies than the Beatles. The change was and is tragic to music lovers.

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It can be traced to one major flaw that has been repeated time and time again: exploiting musicians instead of their music.

Since its first broadcast in 1981, MTV has grown to be the most beloved network for viewers age 15 to 19 (Ward, Stokes, Tucker 322). During this time, the network has focused less and less on music. There was a time when MTV played music videos. To be fair, there still is. However, now that time is called three in the morning. MTV fooled the world at first. People thought this would be a way to boost people's interest in music. They thought it would serve as another way to get their music heard. Instead music became a marketplace for "cool".

The first video MTV aired should have been a warning of what was to come. It was the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio...