Iain W. Reeve, A&E Editor

hat in the heck happened to
\ \ Much Music? I remember
being a teenager in the mid-

late ’90s, slowly coming out of my
reclusive shell of Star Wars and Broadway
musicals to discover the wonderful world
of Canadian rock music. My guide
through all of this was “the nation’s music
station,” Much Music. Having spent some
time in the states during this era, and thus
being subjected to the horror that is MTV,
I grew to appreciate several things about
Much. It had a somewhat more laid back,
less professional, more down-to-earth
feeling. The VJs were awkward and intel-
ligent, different from MTV’s glossy 20
somethings, and were genuinely passion-
ate about good music. The programming

RPGS §=dld §=ENbEPHAINMENG
|

tended to consist of specialty shows, the
occasional special concert event or what-
not, and about 18 hours a day of
videoflow. And what a gorgeous thing it
was. You could sit for hours wondering
what they would play next, a perfect mix
of many genres, many levels of commer-
cial success. You had a stable mix of
big-name pop acts, useful for paying the
bills, but you also had a large number of
smaller bands or artists. Back in the day
Much acted as a vehicle for emerging
Canadian talent, bands like Moist,
Matthew Good Band, and the Tea Party
all got their big pushes on Much. It was
sometimes hard to stay tuned in for a
long time without seeing something you
didn’t like, but the variety was brilliant. Of
course, therein lies the problem.

Much Music has become just another
moneymaking beast for the record indus-
try. Programming has become less and
less oriented on actual music. There is
now two hours of actual videoflow
squished in between a variety of shows
like Top Tens, Countdown, and Much on
Demand. The sad truth though, is that all
of these shows play the same damned
videos; variety is dead. Why? Variety
makes people change the channel, chang-
ing the channel means we're not
maximizing profit, and since only profit
matters, variety be damned. Don’t buy it?
Let’s take a look at the genre-specific
shows Much plays.

Rapeity runs every weekday in two time
slots. Keep in mind the majority of what
is played on Rapcity is already in heavy

rotation. Compare this with shows which
focus on content less frequently played in
normal rotation, such as the Wedge, the
Punk Show, Loud, and Going Coastal, which
combine for three hours of content a
week. Still skeptical? Let’s look at The
Countdown. You'd be hard pressed to find
anything but sales stats and top-40 radio
play as a consideration for The Countdown.
I dare you to find five songs on there any
week that aren’t from albums that are, or
will soon go, gold or platinum. Would it
be so wrong to use the big show to push
some smaller bands? No, it wouldn’t, it’s
what you used to do. Throw in 800 reality
shows about pimping Ashley Simpson’s
ride in her crib while her sister prances
around like a moron with that hunk of

 

 

meat she calls a hubby, and things start to
feel really vacant. The only things more
vacant ate the gazes of the fresh-faced
VJs that have been replacing old
favourites. There is not one brain among
them all.

The name of the channel should be
changed from Much Music, to “shows
that don’t have all that Much to do with
Music.” It makes me feel really sad that I
prefer watching Much More Music, the
station designed for my parents.

But whatever. My plan: let the top-40
fans keep their Much. [ll start my own
music video station. With blackjack! And
hookers! In fact, forget the station!!

 

Douglas Word on the Street

Kat Code, OP Photographer

   

Agnes Kocylo and Rani Philip,
General Nursing students

“We both like going to the Canada
Day parade, and spending time with
our families and friends.”

16 | www.theotherpress.ca

   

Colin Miley,
Print Futures graduate

“My favourite way to celebrate
Canada Day is with a gigantic game
of street hockey, where you coat the
ball (and any member of the oppo-
site sex) in maple syrup. Then you
yell “go,” and you clap your sticks
together three times, and then it’s
game on.”

“What is your favourite way to celebrate
Canada Day?”

 

Rashid Ahmed, ESL student

“T like celebrating it at a friend’s
place with a bunch of other friends,
and staying up late having a good
time. Pll get my Canadian citizenship
soon, and that will make Canada
Day really special.”

Brandon Ferguson,

DSU Member at Large

“T like to start the day late with
some Hip ‘Fully Completely, enjoy a
leisurely two-four of Canadian, play
some street hockey, and have a bar-
beque with friends.”

June 8/2005