• Original purpose: ‘Music Television’

• Plays music videos 25/7, guided by VJs
o Original MTV channel no longer plays music video 24/7
o Other MTV channels such as MTV Hits and MTV Jams still do

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• Impacted the music industry and popular culture – it commercialised music and helped artists to gain and hold their celebrity status. These musical ventures helped the rise of the ‘Big 4’ of the music industry as they produced and distributed content through various platforms – MTV being one of them and the most popular at the time
o Popularised the concept of VJs [Video Jockey]
     - An announcer who introduces/plays videos on television (music channels)
     - They became somewhat celebrities as the public became familiar with their faces on screen
     - They would also inform the audience of music news, interviews, concert dates and promotions. The heavy rotation also helped towards the proliferation of music.
     - ‘Guest VJs’ – musicians would take over the channel and host it for an hour, they would choose their favourite music videos. These people become trend setters for members of the public as they influence its audiences as they become familiar with the certain music videos played. This also helps to boost album sales as they are publicised more. 
o Introduced the idea of a dedicated video based outlet for music
o Artists and fans found a new way to promote and receive music news