MTV Brazil: musical repertoire and construction of a televised youth (1990)

Abstract

Objective/context: this article analyzes the construction of youth representations through the musical repertoire produced by MTV Brasil in its first year. The objective is to understand the musical segments most explored by the broadcaster during this period, as well as how to articulate their protagonism in the transformation of the “youth music” category, with a singular impact on Brazilian youth culture. mtv was a television channel aimed at young audiences, which started in the United States in 1981 and arrived in Brazil in 1990 through Grupo Abril, a national media conglomerate. The broadcast on Brazilian soil is based on the American format, showing musical videos from artists and specific musical segments, with a strong attraction for consumption in this sector of the population. Methodology: considering music as a social marker, this study analyzes the specific repertoire of musical segments and artists produced by the broadcaster as a means of identification. Therefore, an examination based on the first musical videos by Brazilian artists produced by the broadcaster and broadcast in its first year is proposed. Originality: the level of importance of certain media or media programs in the constitution of the identities of social agents, especially in the development of juvenile identities in the recent past, is only a little analyzed. Conclusions: it can be concluded that MTV operated as a musical authority for young people, acting as a curator of what they should consume to perform their youthful condition, acting as an artificer of youth. The broadcaster was based on its initial repertoire among a group of artists linked to rock music, with a strong influence on the recording industry in the 1990s and a decisive impact on Brazilian youth.