"MTV is a bit like Jesus". Yep, you heard it here first. That, I should explain, was the claim made by MTV UK VP Marketing James Scroggs at the outset of his keynote address to the MusicTank Think Tank on the future of music television in London last night. He continued: "Everyone needs a bit of Jesus in their life, everyone needs a bit of MTV". Scroggs' point, I think, was that people like having trusted institutions that provide guidance and a communal hub, which bring some order to the chaos - the chaos of life at large in Jesus' case, the chaos of all things music with MTV.
Scroggs was trying to convince people that MTV was [a] still relevant in and [b] responding well to the multi-channel, multi-device, online, on demand world that young music consumers now live in. While accepting that MTV, as a massive global institution, may at times be slow to adapt to the new challenges and opportunities of the mad world of digital, he argued that the music TV conglom's web, download and mobile initiatives demonstrated the broadcaster was still an innovator, while adding that an established company like MTV had to be careful not to jump on every new online bandwagon, but rather to invest in those which have longevity, and which are supported by the music industry.
And, while MTV is perhaps not as cool as it once was, and while it continues to face new competition from all kinds of young pretenders, MTV is still a respected music brand, and when you have world wide web over flowing with a plethora of wannabe bands, producers and DJs, people will surely look to such brands even more for guidance on where the good stuff is.
Which is all fab and groovy for MTV, but what about music television in general? With traditional broadcasters only willing to programme X-Factor style music shows in prime time, with an ever increasing number of music services continuing to fragment already niche audiences, and with younger consumers using online, mobile or TV services as and when required, without offering much loyalty to any of them, what does the future hold for the makers of music television?
"Traditional broadcasters are worrying about all these changes", The Tube creator and now WhizzKid chief Malcolm Gerrie observed, "And MTV seemed to be worrying in the same way the BBC and ITV worried about them back in the early eighties. But they are the only people worrying. This is a most incredible time. I'd say it is the most exciting time ever for people making content - there are so many fantastic opportunities out there".
Gerrie's overall optimism was shared by many at the Think Tank, Scroggs included, though there are so many opportunities, the music TV domain, as with the download space, is also a very risky place to be. Who knows which of the new digital content platforms will succeed in the long term, or how they will impact on mainstream and niche TV services? And then there's the fact that many traditional and new services ultimately rely on advertising for primary funding. "Advertising has funded so much content over the years", Beep Marketing's Helen Keegan observed, "but viewers are becoming more adept at ignoring the ads. And if advertising is less effective, advertisers will make less money available for content".
Which means that the overall conclusion is upbeat but, arguably, not that satisfactory - "this is a very exciting time, with so many new opportunities, but no one really knows which of the exciting opportunities will pay off in the long term". Perhaps the best solution is Ministry Of Sound TV's Assia Grazioli-Venier's suggestion - "this is an exciting time, but we should be working together to take advantage of the opportunities new technologies allow" - or, in Scroggs' words, "There are no right answers yet regarding the future of music television, but if we work together perhaps we can ask the right questions".