“AMTV” Makes Me Wonder If The Recession Will Be A Not-Entirely-Bad Thing For Music Videos
The second episode of MTV’s attempt to bring the music video back to some of its programming hours, AMTV, aired in the wee hours of this morning. The six hours cut a relatively wide swath across the pop world, blending new clips (“If You Seek Amy” and “I Love College,” both of which were aired in full and as snippets) with vintage videos (“Let’s Go Crazy,” that really long live clip of “In Your Eyes”), a few pieces from MTV’s live-performance vault (mostly stuff from recent Spring Break trips, although the programmers did sneak in Jay-Z and the Roots performing “Big Pimpin” on MTV Unplugged), and bumpers with music that all but gave away the network’s demographic intentions (“Just Can’t Get Enough,” “Hangin’ Tough”).
The all-music programming, and the slightly lackluster commercials filling up the dead zones, made me think that the softening ad market might well result in music videos being more attractive to the network’s bottom-line-focused network executives than they were in the go-go bubble era. After all, those droids on The Hills get paid a lot for their cud-chewing and moon-facing, and who has money to burn on that sort of stuff these days? Anyhoo, below is the AMTV playlist from this morning’s effort—and note the cruel bit where whatever vengeful person programming the thing puts “Vogue” right after “Poker Face,” as if to say, “See what the problem is here, America?”
Prince & The Revolution, “Let’s Go Crazy” Britney Spears, “If You Seek Amy” Lil Wayne, “Prom Queen”
[ad break]
Weezer, “H*** Pipe” (their censoring, not mine) Kelly Clarkson, “My Life Would Suck Without You” A.R. Rahman feat. Nicole Scherzinger, “Jai Ho”
[ad break, ended by bumper that samples 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up”]
Chester French, “She Loves Everybody” OutKast, “Ms. Jackson” Electrik Red, “So Good” (truncated)
[ad break with, I am not lying, an ad for one of those “must increase our bust” exercise doohickeys]
T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake, “Dead & Gone” TLC, “Creep” Flo Rida, “Right Round (live @ MTV Spring Break)”
[ad break]
Shiny Toy Guns, “Ghost Town” The Ting Tings, “That’s Not My Name” Peter Gabriel, “In Your Eyes” Kelly Clarkson, “My Life Would Suck Without You” (snippet)
[ad break]
Kings Of Leon, “Use Somebody” Asher Roth, “I Love College” (snippet) Eminem, “My Name Is”
[ad break]
Lady Gaga, “Poker Face” Madonna, “Vogue” Britney Spears, “If You Seek Amy”
[ad break]
Jay-Z, “Big Pimpin’ (from MTV Unplugged) Kid Cudi, “Day N’ Nite” Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake, “Love Sex Magic”
[ad break]
Jim Jones feat. Bree Beauty, “Na Na Nana Na Na (live at MTV Spring Break)” Pearl Jam, “Alive” Kelly Clarkson, “My Life Would Suck Without You” (snippet) Kings Of Leon, “Use Somebody” (snippet)
[ad break]
Duran Duran, “The Reflex” Chester French, “She Loves Everybody” (snippet) Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, “Kiss Me Thru The Phone”
[ad break]
Beyonce, “Halo” Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under The Bridge” The-Dream feat. Mariah Carey, “My Love”
[ad break]
Pink, “Sober” (snippet) Jamie Foxx, “Blame It” (snippet) Michael Jackson, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”
[ad break]
Kid Cudi, “Day N’ Nite (from MTV Spring Break)” Lil Wayne, “Prom Queen” Pink, “Please Don’t Leave Me”
[ad break]
Jamie Foxx, “Blame It” Shakira, “Obsession (Tango)” The White Tie Affair, “Candle (Sick And Tired)”
[ad break]
Missy Elliott, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” Electrik Red, “So Good” T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake, “Dead And Gone”
[ad break]
The Ting Tings, “That’s Not My Name” Franz Ferdinand, “No You Girls”
[ad break]
Flo Rida, “Right Round (live at MTV Spring Break)” Akon feat. Colby O’Donis and Kardinal Offishall, “Beautiful” Depeche Mode, “People Are People” Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West and Ne-Yo, “Knock You Down”
[ad break feat. an Andy Samberg/Kevin Seal spot???]
Foo Fighers, “Learn To Fly” Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake, “Love Sex Magic”
[ad break]
Kid Cudi, “Day N’ Nite (from MTV Spring Break)” Britney Spears, “If You Seek Amy” Bow Wow feat. Johnta Austin, “You Can Get It All”
[ad break]
The Strokes, “Last Nite” The-Dream feat. Mariah Carey, “My Love”
[ad break]
Jim Jones feat. Bree Beauty, “Na Na Nana Na Na (live at MTV Spring Break)” Linkin Park, “One Step Closer” Chester French, “She Loves Everybody”
[ad break]
Asher Roth, “I Love College” Pearl Jam, “Jeremy” Miley Cyrus, “The Climb”
[ad break]
Eminem, “The Way I Am” Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Zero”
[ad break]
The All-American Rejects, “Gives You Hell (live at MTV Spring Break)” Green Day, “Holiday”
[ad break]
Beyonce, “Halo”
AMTV [mtvmusic.com]
