‘Nobody Makes Money From Them’: With MTV Shutting Down, Is Music Video Under Threat? | music

TThe launch of MTV in 1981 heralded a new era in music. By showing music videos 24 hours a day, the television channel redefined artist marketing and launched the careers of artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna, whose public personas became inseparable from the catchy and often controversial clips they produced for play on the service.

Now, it appears that this chapter of music history is coming to a close, as MTV’s parent company Paramount announced last week that its five dedicated music channels in the UK – MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live – will stop broadcasting after 31 December. (Pioneer MTV, which broadcasts reality shows such as Catfish, The Hills and Geordie Shore, will remain in operation.)

For some, it represents the end of an era. Others, like musician Hannah Diamond, point out that era may have ended some time ago. “In the last few years, MTV has kind of changed [into] “It’s just a nostalgic memory. It hasn’t been part of the conversation for so long that it doesn’t really surprise me that they’re ending it,” she says. As an independent artist, she says, YouTube has always been the primary platform for music video releases.

The specific closure of the brand’s music platforms calls into question the place of music video in today’s industry, and whether the form still provides a viable outlet for expression and promotion. “Production companies aren’t ready” to invest as heavily in videos as they used to, says Jennifer Byrne, head of development at Academy Films — the iconic production company that launched the careers of filmmakers like Jonathan Glazer with their music video works — says. “They’re trying to spend this money on a lot more accomplishments than they had before,” she says, referring to the multiplicity of online video and social media platforms. “It was just one three-minute video. Now the question becomes: How can you reach all these different audiences and can you cut it 10 different ways?”

Video budgets are shrinking quickly, even for seemingly simple clips, says Iris Laws, a London-based director who has produced videos for British pop singers Pink Panthers and George Riley. “The number of times I come up with an idea that seems easy to me, and people say: ‘No, it’s going to cost £50 billion,'” she says. “I think it’s funny, because it’s in one house with four people. I don’t know what’s going on.”

Neither Laws nor Byrne believe the end of MTV will significantly impact music videos in general. In Luz’s opinion, videos are now less promotional tools than “means of communication and brands that make… [a viewer] “I want to buy the artist,” she says. “They’re just a facet of the musician’s ecosystem. Because of TikTok and the rise of independent artists, people are releasing music as soon as they’re done with it. So, the video is designed to convey that instant moment — where they’re in the moment — rather than creating a big buzz like it did 15 years ago.”

There are also still barriers to entry for young artists, Diamond says. “My music videos have been created through sheer luck, a vaccination or several years of working at one thing,” she says. “I became a musician in an era where artists don’t get the budget to make a music video unless they’re really big artists and have a big brand behind them that you think would be a worthwhile investment.”

Directors are feeling the pinch, too: “In the past, an artist would say, ‘I like what Glazer’s doing, I’ll talk to him,'” Byrne says. “Now, you’re promoting [to an artist] against [maybe] 10 different directors, and this is free labor on the director’s part, creating this amazing treatment. Additionally, she says, “Nobody makes money from these videos. Production companies don’t, but we still do them because they’re really important and a vital part of a director’s ability to find their own voice.”

Part of the problem, of course, is that content budgets must now extend to short-form videos as well. While TikTok videos can be shot “with a DSLR camera; guy with a guitar, dreaming, singing on a stool at a bar,” they can also be as creative and innovative as traditional videos, Luz says. “Content can be an additional aspect of [musician’s] “The world,” she says, citing her work with the band Confidence Man, which she says she “matches to their shows and music videos because they have fun with it.”

Despite everything, videos can still serve as a channel for directing films, says Byrne: “If you look at… [Everything Everywhere All at Once directors] “The Daniels started out in the music video world, then won an Oscar. Music videos still allow those unique personalities to shine and take risks,” she says.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount was looking for ways to revitalize the MTV brand, and Diamond says that given how fickle and volatile the industry is, it’s difficult to make any assumptions about the future of videos. “Who knew vinyl would make such a huge comeback, you know?” She says. Laws agrees: “It’s like an album – albums will never go away, and music videos are like punctuation marks on an album. They’ll always be there.”