MuchMusic (vs. MTV?): Blbrd Mar 9/91 / CanCon; Cdn music/culture? (LONG)
Henry Lee
The following is a Billboard article with a general basic description of
Canada's music video network, MuchMusic. The article has been copied
verbatim without permission. Numeric "notes" are followed by personal
additions and/or corrections.
==============================================================================
From BILLBOARD March 9, 1991 --- MUSIC VIDEO page 63
MUSIC VIDEO page 63
"MuchMusic Is Much Different (Canadian Channel Charts Own Course)"
by Jim Bessman
NEW YORK --- Last year's first Canadian Music Video Awards gave a good
indication of the differences between MuchMusic, Canada's 24-hour satellite
music video channel, and its U.S. counterparts.
True, there was a live event telecast from Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 25 (1990).
But this only climaxed a three-week, cross-country train tour beginning in
Vancouver, British Columbia, during which a box-car-turned-studio became the
site for awards presentations at 13 stops along the way. Concerts and jams by
artists such as initial guests Jeff Healey, Crash Vegas, and members of
Blue Rodeo also staged for showing on the service. (1)
(1) : Also included were Barney Bentall, Paul Janz, The Northern Pikes,
Paul Laine, Mitsou, Celine Dion, Lee Aaron, etc.
Among other things, the awards journey hints at an emphasis on local activity
at the 6.5-year-old channel. This asset is readily apparent at MuchMusic's
Toronto walk-in "no-studio".
Located downtown on Queen Street West, MuchMusic's headquarters is a TV
facility without studios: its open office, hallway, lobby, rooftop, parking lot,
and outside sidewalks make up the sets.
"It's like `Mary Tyler Moore' for real," says director of music programming
John Martin, of the "real time/living movie" environment which goes out to
5.5 million cable homes.
"When our jocks are on TV, they're just walking around the office. And we're
live, live, live. That's a major difference between us and MTV. We don't
pretape our jocks and slot them in. In the middle of a program, we'll get
interrupted by a George Harrison walk-in, or Hall & Oates dancing on the desks.
When an artist is in town, they just walk in and they're on the air." (2)
(2) : This is not strictly true. They do pre-tape some slots because of
i/ special programming (CLIP TRIP, for example) or
ii/ VJ's are "hosting" their slots from DisneyWorld or the C.N.E., etc.
Co-founder, president, and executive producer Moses Znaimer likens the set
to an "`action' newsroom with a control-room panel and shooting stage in
between. It's hyperactive, interactive rock'n'roll theater, with a constant
flow of the public moving through the place, and 100 teens going nutsoid on
the other side of the glass. So it's got a whole different look and pace."
MuchMusic's programming is different, too.
"If MTV is radio with pictures," says Martin, "we're a music TV service ---
a TV network about music." Characterizing his service as an "amalgamation"
of VH-1, MTV, CMT, and BET, Martin claims not to differentiate between
music genres, that the best of R&B, country, metal, and other video formats
can get at least some play.
"We merge together the best videos in our programming," he says. A look at
the Feb. 8 video adds shows Stanley Clarke & George Duke's
"Mothership Connections," Sue Medley's "Maybe the Next Time," Poison's
"Ride the Wind," Queensryche's "Silent Lucidity," Paul Simon's "Proof," and
Tony!Toni!Tone!'s "It Never Rains (in Southern California)."
Martin notes, though, that the general playlist approaches a "mainstream
rock'n'roll station." For those genre music clips that do not cross over,
the channel offers numerous weekly specialized programming slots, such as
RapCity, the romance-slanted MushMusic, Soul In the City, and the
country-flavored Outlaws and Heroes.
Additionally, the channel --- which repeats and reshuffles its daily eight-hour
live block to fill out its schedule --- regularly presents concerts and
special-events programming. Its Big Ticket concert shoots have resulted in
Lou Reed and Ice-T home videos, and its camera crews have covered major music
moments from around the world.
Another special program is The (Labatt's) Blue Spotlight, a daily half-hour
slot devoted to a single artist, made up of promo clips and library material.
"We've compiled an enormous information base," says Martin. "We were able
to do a ska special when the English Beat reappeared, encompassing everything in
ska over the last 12 years. And we did a Bob Marley Day on the anniversary
of this death --- which I had covered for The New Music."
Here Martin refers to a still-running music video program that premiered
in the mid-70's on CityTV, Znaimer's indie station, which developed 15-20 hours
of music video programming each week before spinning off MuchMusic as a
separate programming entity.
MuchMusic itself has since spun off MusiquePlus, a French-language channel
equivalent with 1.5 million subscriber households in Quebec, which Znaimer
says is more French/European-influenced than its sister channel.
Of course, MuchMusic is more Canadian-influenced than U.S. equivalents, having
to meet regulations specifying 30% Canadian music programming. But that's
no problem, notes Martin, pointing to the artistic quality of such
Canadians as Healey, k.d. lang, Rush, Bryan Adams, and Jane Siberry.
To foster talent, MuchMusic sets aside 5% of its revenue to help fund
production of videos by domestic artists in a program called VideoFACT
(Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent). Indie artists submit storyboards and
detailed cost breakdowns and MuchMusic provides half of the production budget.
The clips can then be shown anywhere, not just on MuchMusic. Among the artists
who have been aided by the program are Healey, lang, and Siberry.
Martin says that a MuchMusic grant helped fund Siberry's early video
"Mimi on the Beach."
Znaimer says MuchMusic has some effect down below, too.
Citing America's backyard-satellite-dish owners, Znaimer reports a steady
stream of U.S. mail from discoverers of MuchMusic's "more mature and broader"
music video mix.
==============================================================================
Questions and comments are most welcomed
WITH RESPECT TO THE VARIOUS SUBJECT MATTER in the appropriate newsgroups.
* MuchMusic; MusiquePlus
* CityTV "The New Music"
* Canadian music
- "CanCon" : Canadian Content (regulations)
* Canadian culture
* Music Video
Please be careful in directing your responses to minimize bandwidth/crosstalk.
(re. something that should go into rec.music.video may not be appropriate
for soc.culture.canada, for example.)
Any further questions/comments may also be directed to me by e-mail at
the address below. Thank you for you cooperation.
Henry Lee <l...@physics.ubc.ca>
==============================================================================