The End Of The 'TRL' Era
Posted by anastasia on 02-15-2007
The rumors are swirling around "TRL's" (MTV's Total Request Live) demise with the big question of why one of MTV may be pulling the plug on one of its flagship shows. My take on this is that it's the natural evolution or devolution of the countdown. There was a time it seemed where a) we actually watched music videos from start to finish on MTV and b) watched a VJ count down the top 20 videos. As MTV became more of a reality show channel and less of a music video channel, TRL was one of the few programs (I'm talking about the flagship channel) where you could still see music videos, although only in short snippets. It became more of a show for celebs to shill for their latest project, and for lucky screaming teens either on the street or in the studio to s"hout out" to their friends. And the top 10 videos were usually from the most mainstream commercial artists already getting tons of radio play.
I think that with the proliferation of music online — sites to discover new music, being able to get as niche as you want in terms of genre or mixing and mashing multiple genres, the notion of the most popular videos feels like a little bit dated, kind of like Rick Dees Weekly Top 40. It's just not at the cutting edge of music, which is where MTV needs to be with its music programming. In some ways I think VH1 improved upon the countdown formula with its niche or specific pop culture countdown shows. I also think TRL represented the rise of Britney and an era of sugary teen pop that has once again receded (believe me, it will be back again at some point). Maybe it's the war dragging on, but I think popular music appears to be shifting again to more singer/songwriter types and emo rock, which don't feel like they fit as well into the screaming teen throngs that create the original TRL vibe.
Why do you think the TRL era is ending?
Update: MTV denies "TRL" is ending, but maybe it should end…
February 15th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I think it's because the show pretty much blew chunks. So much so that it became a parody of itself. Plus, they never really found another Carson Daly to build some more brand loyalty.
I imagine that they'll re-launch some sort of countdown show just because people love to see a #1.
February 16th, 2007 at 6:02 am
I believe its just because the turn the music industry has made. There's less and less "Top 40" and more whatever people like and being able to listen to it whenever they want to. Superstardom is losing its cool. Back when TRL first came out, boy bands and rappers had that fame where they were featured in teen magazines and such and once it finally started dying out and the music industry started losing its hold and indie music started rising up, "famous" people started disappearing. I mean, there's a handful of groups that people know about now but I don't think there's tons of people going gaga over Fergie like people were over N'Sync.