MTV Cuts ‘Music Television’ From Iconic Logo

When MTV beamed itself into our television sets for the first time on the 1st of August 1981, it blew the music world wide open, adding an extra dimension to music and changing how we chose to accept and absorb our rockstars. It changed the game, changed the kids, changed the planet. The MTV logo has become as much as a globally recognised symbol for American capitalism through consumption as Coca-Cola and McDonalds.

Of course, MTV has changed with the game over the years. Now you’ll be lucky to see a music video on the channel unless it’s being reported on by their showbiz news report. Today Music TV is a slick and saccharine home for semi fictionalised reality tv shows, featuring the air headed children of the first MTV generation and their idols.

So the corporation has decided to stop pretending it’s even remotely interested in music anymore, and drop the words ‘Music Television’ from under the iconic logo. Considering there’s probably not a person under 40 on the planet that doesn’t recognise that MTV stepped out of that game years ago, it’s still a sad day. Yes, they still broadcast their spinoff genre specific stations like MTV Base etc.., but as a home to new popular music of all genres, one that raised a generation of music fans on a diet of popular youth explosions like Hip Hop and Grunge, that had the power to shape the youth consciousness through their playlists (for good or bad), we’ll never see it’s like again.

The MTV logo itself, whatever it represents in these hollow days, is still cause for celebration. It was the first major logo to eschew a corporate colour, so that it could change with the times, with its subject matter, daily if (and was often) necessary. You can read the story of the MTV logo by the guy who helped design it, Frank Olinsky, at his site RIGHT HERE.

So to salute what was the most significant development in modern music since the electrification of the guitar, here’s a little video produced to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of MTV to transport you back to better times.