I love how he wouldn't drop it, was polite but firm in his stance and 100% right at the time MTV ignored black music.
this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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MTV ignored black music because most radio stations did. MTV was a big risk and the financiers weren't looking to take risks on pushing a new genre of music that wasn't mainstream with most audiences at that time.
That's a poor excuse that doesn't justify anything.
People have trouble criticizing things they like. Fact of the matter, America is racist and if you don’t cater to racist you run the risk of “outrage” and “scandal”. Listen to the Vanilla Ice interview where he’s asked if he thinks it’s weird that he’s the face of rap…
Woke is an insult somehow, but listen to how cringe these unaware people sound.
Or in 1981-83 when this conversation happened hip-hop really was underground and limited to a handful of cities. There really wasn’t a ton of interest there at he time so the for profit business known as MTV chased down profitability.
Why do you think MTV should have aired the videos Bowie was finding interesting compared to the ones the larger audience was interested in?
This isn’t Bowie really saying “MTV”, he’s talking to America. Blues? Let’s let the racist Clapton represent that. Rock and Roll? Why Elvis Presley! Rap? Ice-Ice Baby!
It isn’t that MTV is the first to do this, it’s a consistent pattern of Americans taking from a culture and then sanitizing and whitewashing it for their own profit. Of course we can always blame profits. I’m sure setting up concentrations camps is profitable too.
He's asking Mark Goodman, one of the first VJ's, why MTV isn't playing the videos he sees on this channel in NYC (very likely "Music Box" is the channel) that is largely black artists. He isn't talking to America as a whole as in 1983, when this interview likely took place as he's wearing the outfit from his "Modern Love" era, much of America wouldn't have cable TV available let alone MTV.
Your whole second paragraph makes no sense in the light of the facts mentioned above. Bowie is literally asking one of the faces of MTV why they aren't playing hip-hop artists at a time when hip hop was still kind of obscure.
Have you ever run a business before? You need to make money which at the time meant stadium rock and “Top 40” pop radio.
MTV was not started to provide access for smaller acts to break into the mainstream especially at a time when hiphop was very localized.
Part of the reason that New Wave became big in the early 80's is because New Wave bands came from more affluent beginnings, so those bands could afford to make music videos at a time when they were relatively rare.
It's true that groups like Duran Duran and the like were mostly comprised of public school brats whose affluent parents bought them the DX7s and Fairlights they wrote their hits on. However, music videos were funded by labels. They were basically commercials for the record.
They became commercials for the record over time, but there was a few years in the early 80's where labels didn't understand a music video's value.
I'd gamble a larger percentage of artists (whether music, acting, or painting) have affluent beginnings than the general population. It's easier to rise through the struggle of a high risk profession if you have a safety net.
I miss David so much. such a intelligent and thoughtful human being.
There was a documentary series on MAX, I think. It was amazing
No-one needs anyone, they don't even just pretend
I'm afraid of Americans
I'm afraid of the world
I'm afraid I can't help it
I'm afraid I can't
Scared to death by Prince?
Pearls were clutched