“Why doesn’t MTV play music videos anymore” is right up there with “rock ‘n’ roll hasn’t been good since the 1960s” and “ketchup is superior to barbeque sauce” for statements that make me want to pick out my ears and eyes with one of Madonna’s cone bras. 5 Second Films’ Brian Firenzi and Maria Del Carmen evidently feel the same way, and they recorded a video explaining why MTV has gone from “Jersey Shore” to Jersey Shore.
In short: it’s our f*cking fault. And even if MTV did air videos (which would be dumb because, YouTube), they wouldn’t feature “cool,” yet largely unknown artists like Beach House or Titus Andronicus; they’d pick the Justin Biebers and Katy Perrys of the world, over and over and over again. It’s tough to fault them, too: MTV knows what they’re doing; they’re a successful company, and are meeting the demands of the market, which wants more 16 and Pregnant and less Tame Impala. (For what it’s worth, Awkward. is pretty great.) But better let Firenzi explain it by seeing your nostalgia for Sisqo videos on TRL, and wiping his bum bum song with it.