Article on the Music Press at Mediaknowall: http://www.mediaknowall.com/Popular%20Music/popmusicpress.html

The Music Press
The music press are vitally important sites of institutional support for the industry. And of course they themselves would not exist unless they were constantly fed new bands. The music press are part of a very distinctive genre of magazine publishing - they are largely aimed at young males, and have an easily identifiable linguistic style, part slang, part hyperbole, part folk poetry and all drenched in irony, whether intended or not.
You will find the main online versions of the music magazines here:

• NME
• Q
• Rolling Stone
• Vibe
• The Wire
• Mojo

Also check out www.rocksbackpages.com, an online library of the great and the glorified in music journalism.
Despite their posturing, all these magazines are mainstream, part of the institution of music, dependent on the major record companies for their content and advertising. For a more critical and independent view of music you should check out the underground music press:

• Alternative Press Online
• Pause/Record online

Articles

• From Weekly To Weakly - The Guardian's dissection of what is wrong with the music press.
• Quick - smash up a hotel room - The Guardian (again, hooray!) blaming the decline of the music press on the decline in quality of rock stars.

The definitive film about the music press is, of course, Almost Famous (2000), about director Cameron Crowe's teenage experiences with Rolling Stone. The rather messy (but it does have Eddie Izzard in it) Velvet Goldmine (1998) traverses similar territory.

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Music Television
Pop music has promoted itself through performance on TV since its inception. Elvis Presley became a pop star after his first TV performance in 1956, the Beatles broke America by appearing on Ed Sullivan, and The Sex Pistols cursed their way into a nation's hearts by swearing at Bill Grundy. During the 1960s & 1070s it was commonplace for bands to record themselves performing a hit, the resultant promotional film to be shown on TV in the absence of a live performance. However, it was not until 1975, when Queen released a dramatically different short film to promote their epic single Bohemian Rhapsody that the music video as we know it was born. Bohemian Rhapsody spent 9 weeks at Number 1, and 17 weeks on the chart altogether. Everyone else took note, and by the early 1980s many bands were producing short films to go with their songs, although they were very basic by today's standards.
I Want My
In 1981, MTV was launched in the US as a music-only channel (yes kids, I know it's hard to believe it now) dedicated to the ceaseless rotation of music videos. As a commercial idea, it was either genius (music videos were supplied free by the record company, and MTV reaped all the profits) or folly (who was going to PAY to watch what were essentially extended TVCs for songs?). Commercial genius won out. Thanks largely to the creative efforts of artists such as Michael Jackson & Madonna, and their record companies who were prepared to foot the bill for extravagant 'must see' videos, MTV went from 2.1 million subscribers in 1981 to 25.8 million by the end of 1985. MTV Europe and Australia followed in 1987 and now MTV is available pretty much everywhere you can buy a Big Mac. Which is pretty much everywhere.
These days MTV is often criticised for not playing music videos, and instead concentrating on a bland blend of youth programming, reality TV, comedy, lifestyle shows and retrospectives of the artists it made famous 15 years ago. Aside from music, MTV numbers The Real World, Beavis & Butthead, Jackass, Tom Green, Daria, The Osbournes, lesbian soap Undressed, movies Election, The Real Kings of Comedy, Varsity Blues and Save The Last Dance amongst its contributions to popular culture. These days it is divided into MTV (mainstream, target audience teens & twenties, lots of dating & lifestyle shows and stuff about Spring Break), MTV2 (harder edged, same target audience, more emphasis on music than lifestyle) and VH1 (the so-called 'big brother', aimed at music fans 25+ who have outgrown Carson Daly).

• MTV Homepage
• MTV Through The Years - a timeline of important events in MTV's history
• Wikipedia Entry on MTV - "an icon of crass commercialism"

Love it or hate it, MTV is a force to be reckoned with. It can be held responsible for the global prevalence of stars such as Britney, Madonna, Eminem, Justin & Co who can gain fans in parts of the world they will never ever bother visiting on a promotional tour (hello from Hong Kong). No need to perform - just send a video. And perhaps some Unplugged footage. MTV is not known for its eclectic and broad-based playlists, and rotates the same videos over and over again (when it bothers to show any). It is accused in many quarters of dumbing down pop music as a result, promoting unimaginative videos which appeal to the lowest common denominators of booty and...um... more booty that minds no language barrier. MTV is also accused of promoting hegemonic stereotypes, and of ramming corporate values down the throats of its young, impressionable viewers - it has a large income from advertising, positioning itself as one of the few channels that can reach the notoriously fickle youth market. Such is its dominance over music promotion however, that it is a brave band (Radiohead, Pearl Jam) who refuses to make a music video or do the MTV Access All Areas dance.

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