Ypulse Quote: Reflecting On The End Of 'TRL'
Posted by anastasia on 09-18-2008Since MTV's Top 20 Video Countdown shaped my teen years in a much more profound way than MTV's "Total Request Live," I thought I would share an insightful reflection from the editors of The Daily Trojan, USC's newspaper.
At its core, TRL wasn't really about the videos. It was about the packaging of pop culture personalities. But whether it was really us or the music marketing masterminds driving the charts, we felt we had a say on which stars rose to the top. Herein lies the roots of our iChoose generation.
Now we turn another page in pop culture history. TMZ and Perez have replaced TRL and Carson. Now, we look to the sidebar on the iTunes store as the barometer for what's hot. The charts are determined by downloads, not call-ins and shout-outs.
At first glance, it might seem as if we just grew up and graduated to the watercooler where boy bands and pop princesses no longer make the cut for appropriate conversation starters. But TRL losing its cultural relevance is about more than just our changing tastes. The Internet has taken the iChoose movement to new levels. We no longer need TRL as a vehicle for our generation's self-expression. We post on our blogs, blast songs through our ringtones and congregate with like-minded fans on social networking sites. The VJ's central authority on all things cool has dissipated along with Carson Daly's waistline.
Categorized under: TV
