MTV VMAs are about the look and not the music

Do you remember when MTV used to be about the music? I don’t. Granted, I’m 21 and have grown up through the Teen Mom, Jersey Shore, reality show phase, I hardly remember a time when MTV used to actually be about the music.

As the Video Music Awards [VMAs] are approaching, it makes me laugh. People say that the VMAs are the only time of the year that MTV actually cares about music. I disagree. I don’t think the VMAs focus on the music. They focus on the video.

The performances at the VMAs aren’t even about the music. It is about the entertainment value. Would it be boring to watch Taylor Swift sing ‘Never Ever Getting Back Together’ not changing costumes or running around the stage? Maybe. But, to say the show is about the music is a misrepresentation.

Now I understand, it is called the Video Music Awards and it obviously needs to be more about the art in the videos than the sounds within. However, without music, those videos wouldn’t exist. And the videos themselves are called Music Videos so shouldn’t it be the MVA’s?

Maybe I just miss the days of Total Request Live with Carson Daley where they would count down the best music videos. Or maybe I miss when music videos weren’t ten minutes long and called “art.”

Compare TLC’s ‘Waterfalls’ video to Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’ video. In order to tell the story of what the song ‘Waterfalls’ was about, TLC could use acting while the music still played. Lady Gaga had parts of the video that no music played and that it was just her talking.

I would say that ‘Waterfalls’ showed more art than Lady Gaga’s video. They were creative enough to fit stories into the songs without having to add long bits of dialogue.

Sometimes the music videos take away from what the song is about. That is not to say that all recent music videos do that. Demi Lovato’s ‘Skyscraper’ focused on the music and her emotions rather than sex appeal or overstating her “message.”

Maybe it isn’t MTV’s fault that the entertainment world is hiding their music with auto tune and crazy videos. Maybe times are changing and I just don’t like it. Maybe people care more about Snooki and Teen Moms than they do about music or actual talent. MTV is marketing to what people want and that is smart business even if it dumbs us all down.

The VMAs are not about music so we should stop kidding ourselves. Watch the ‘Waterfalls’ and ‘Telephone’ video below and tell me which one you think is more creative.

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