Posted by Tom Johnson at Blogcritics

MTV's coverage of Live8 was abominable. I knew something was wrong when I checked both VH-1 and MTV, both of which were airing Live8, and found that they were both showing the same footage. Um, hello? There's 10 countries and 100 artists involved in this event. You don't think maybe you could have had MTV show, say, the most popular acts from this side of the Atlantic and VH-1 cover everything happening in Europe? (And yes, I'm disregarding the fact that non-US and non-European nations took part in this. Just go with me on this, okay?) Why not take advantage of your multitude of channels (we get not only MTV and VH-1 (I'm pretty sure everyone who gets one gets the other,) MTV2, and on the digital channels we also get MTV-Hits and VH-1 Classic)? Why not utilize ALL of those to maximize the coverage? It's not like it would hurt any of those channels' profits to follow this for 10 hours.

But that's not all - MTV just couldn't air a complete performance. No, they had to interrupt with commercials, and if it wasn't commercials, it was their inane hosts that interrupted both with voiceovers and cutaways. I'm really glad I wasn't around when the reunited Pink Floyd took the stage, as MTV decided to pull the same crap over them. It's one thing to interrupt, say, the Black Eyed Peas' performance but another entirely to interrupt what is likely the biggest reunion rock will ever witness (the Beatles and the Who being impossible to reunite in their most famous forms.) Not that it comes as a surprise to anyone, but music is about as far from MTV's mind as is possible.

It's probably pretty easy to see why they did this: so they can sell it later on. Not only that, but AOL users who subscribed to the coverage got preferential treatment and saw the show unedited, or some approximation thereof, from what I read. I can understand that, I guess, although I do think there's something distinctly disgusting about this giant human-suffering relief effort being used to excessively profit the broadcasters. But it's pretty obvious that how MTV/et al. and, later, ABC's two-hour edit was intended solely to be able to repackage the event and sell it on CD and DVD later. What's worse, we'll likely get only one performance from each act, as is usually the case, which means that only a very, very few of the people who tuned in actually got to see the historic Pink Floyd reunion. It's as if MTV wasn't even aware that Roger Waters had pretty much spat upon any suggestion that the band would reunite someday, that this was one of those things that people said could very well never happen. And then it did, but from the way the coverage was handled, it was as if Pink Floyd were an everyday band that toured year in and year out, had never done anything of particular signficance, and was just "there." It was three songs, MTV, couldn't you have handled 20 minutes without interrupting the music?

And this wasn't a normal Pink Floyd performance, either - this was a stripped down, bare-bones Floyd, something music fans haven't seen since the seventies. Nick Mason, Richard Wright, and David Gilmore were joined by Roger Waters and only a couple of other musicians necessary to render the music - no backup singers, no percussionists, no extraneous keyboard players, guitarists, or other non-band members. It was raw, something we haven't heard from Floyd since, well, again, the seventies. Luckily, if you're privy to the ways of Bit Torrent, you can sign up for The Trader's Den where downloads of the entire three-song performance are flying at unbelieveable speeds. It may be the only way we'll ever experience the entire thing.

What I found disappointing was the lie:

"We don't want your money, we just want your voice" ...or some-such claim.

Does anyone remember Live-Aid? They aired the MUSIC as comprehensively as possible on all the networks.

I am totally disqusted by how Live8 turned out to be nothing more than a marketing stunt for the RIAA artists.

They probably did it so those dirty rotten stinking 12 year old pirates didnt' record the show and put it out over the internet. I've never watched those aid shows.

Forget what this is about, kids? Telling the G8 leaders to get off their asses and stop the starvation? I don't care if you saw the show or not--the important thing is, did you sign the petition?

petition??

Wow. You mean you haven't figured out that if you want to see it without drivel you'll have to buy the DVD? (Which will probably gather as much money for the cause as the Bay City Rollers have collected in royalties.)

"It was three songs, MTV, couldn't you have handled 20 minutes without interrupting the music?"

For Pink Floyd or McCartney with Townshend and Daltry? They're not on the charts. It's not hip-hop or rap. No one can possibly be interested in what those old hippy geezers are doing.

I hear ya. Nobody except *us* old geezers, and we don't buy any of the dung they put out now, anyway.

We need internet initiative referendum petitions...not these fake things that do nothing.

Live8 is a good thing, atleast i gets people thinking, but too many flaws in the way it was done. To me it's like they said oh only these 8 can do something and your powerless.

Well, did you email MTV and complain?

I don't have cable or satellite (Springsteen's view: 57 Channels And There's Nothin' On) so I can't complain. I'm a bit curious about Pink Floyd, though. It'd be nice to get that torrent.

They say U2 were good, also.

Here's the problem:

1. He turned on MTV wanting to see intelligent coverage.

2. He expected to see music on mtv.

I think these actions speak for themselves.

It's like turning on the news expecting to see G.W. bush extolling the virtues of abortion.

http://one.org/

Here, comp, at the risk of getting fussed at again. This wasn't just a concert. Now, I'll be quiet...happy 4th, everybody.

Floyd Torrent is on torrentreactor.net

Here, here, well written & totally agree with you Tom. A media circus messing up what we really wanted to see & hear, the music. Yes the 'we don't want your money' idea rings hollow when the DVD's will be in the shops by Christmas or sooner. I'm sure they will be packaged with large stickers pointing to the donation for each one sold (still making me uncomfortable for some reason)

Everytime we saw something good it was snatched away or interrupted, whilst anything dull & barely passable was on for as long as we could stand it. We missed the Floyd, by that time we were bored witless.

Yes we signed the petition, yes it's good that change may be on the way. But as for watching great music I'd rather watch my local pub band, a better view & sound.

The Floyd set was amazing. BBC UK aired what they could of the more popular concerts on digital TV. You could switch between 4 channels. Main channel was Hyde Park. Other channel was Philly. Other channel was Eden Project with ethnic concerts and I think the other was playing a few hours behind so you could catch what you missed (Although I am sure it could have had another country?).

Anyhow there were no interruptions whatsoever. BBC is not commercial TV and is also not American

Thank you....like I said, I didn't care whether anyone watched or not, but it mobilizes a lot of otherwise immobile people to put their names out there and be counted. I don't care much for Bono, but in this I'm with him 100%. Last I heard there were a quarter of a million signatures. And I'm still sending out the link to everybody I can think of. Whether it makes any difference to the G8 or not is not the point. Time to stand up and say enough is enough. Aw, sorry, said I'd shut up, didn't I? I never could before, either.

thanks shadowmom. I wasn't aware of it. though the pictures of Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks made me want to exit the page, I'll put tape over my screen and read it.

I think you will find that the sigs are in the multiple millions. I was watching it count up and the last I recalll was 28 million but I am sure it was a lot more than that.

I still can't. I swear I saw Valenti on tv, and the MPAA was one of the sponsors, but after I got over the sick feeling, I realized even the people we can't stand will rush to put their names and faces out there for a cause of this magnitude. Forget the people and remember the children. And send the message. I've been trying to find an update all day, but they don't seem to be posting anything. If you see anything else, please update it!

"1. He turned on MTV wanting to see intelligent coverage."

...not exactly, I was able to determine what was happening via normal channel surfing.

"2. He expected to see music on mtv."

...music on eMTv? You gotta be kidding.



I am all behind Geldoff's intent. %100. But I am just sick that it was hijacked by the RIAA/MPAA.

Screw them, Shmoo. They are a vehicle. If the G8 get the message, and it's as huge as I hope it will be, it'll be worth it. A lot of the musicians (in my opinion, although some of you may disagree) really are sincere. Some are just getting free press, but in this case the message is what's most important. Something has to break through those 8 thick heads. Crossing my fingers, hoping Bob G. can deliver--if he can, he's doing a very good thing.

"Wow. You mean you haven't figured out that if you want to see it without drivel you'll have to buy the DVD?"

Wrong!

And?

Mroop, did you sign?

Live8 has had several incidents related to money trouble - the worst being that in some of the cities, the organisers ordered all the local charities to stop their fund-collecting effots for the time the concert attendies were around. Officially, this is because they were worried any other charities would detract from their message. I suspect they didn't want attendies bothered by the infamous chuggers. Then there is the eBay incident - the organisers are entirely to blame for this, for failing to anticipate the problem, and later confounding it by refusing eBays donation.

Though tickets were free, there does seem to be a lot of income from other areas. The sponsor logos were prominent, the broadcasters much have paid a lot, and the DVDs will surely add a lot more.

G8 has a problem that few polititions can handle: Whose interests are more important, those of their own countries or of others? Reducing the third world debt is one thing, but it effectively makes the rich countries slightly poorer. A difficult situation.

Unfortunately, in the face of good intentions, it's all a bit pointless. The only thing that will raise Africa from poverty is a reform of government. African nations are poor because there is no free market economy. Brutal dictatorships and monarchies intentionally keep the populace poor in order to control them. The last time we sent aid to the starving, it was either seized by the army or left to rot on the docks. The people who needed it never got it. I don't see any sense in sending money to inflate the coffers of Robert Mugabe and his ilk.

Sadly, I agree quite a bit with your sentiment SuitablyTwisted...

However,

"the 'only' thing that will raise Africa"

(underline the word "only")

is NOT completely accurate. The G8 leaders could and SHOULD do something about it all... they should do things TWORDS allowance of self-reliance of the African peoples.

The G8 nations (or, even more accurately, the G8 corporations) HAVE been standing on the necks of the poor.

"Self reliance" is all fine and dandy, but people can only have effective "self reliance" on a level playing field.

I signed the petition. I'm still waiting for the online rebroadcast of Snow Patrol. AOL seems to be just showing select segments

This from Mark Caro at the Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ericzorn/weblog/archives/2005/07/i_dont_want_my.html

FMTV! *

Having MTV as the country’s main rock (and rap, etc.) network is akin to having the Fox Channel as the official network of the Sierra Club.

I mean, could MTV show any more contempt for the music that originally gave the network its reason to exist?

I watched Live Aid 20 years ago, and here’s what I remember: performances.

I tried watching Live 8 on Saturday, here’s mainly what I saw: airhead VJ’s interrupting every performance with their insipid, insulting banter. And the performances themselves were directed so incompetently, with so little feel for the music being played, that you’d have thought the control booth had been taken over by a monkey who’d just escaped a Ritalin drug trial.

I don’t have much use for what Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey now call “The Who,� but if you’re going to show them performing “Won’t Get Fooled Again,� it’s rock ‘n’ roll blasphemy to cut away mid-song before Daltrey’s climactic scream.

But instead of hearing Daltrey bark out the ever-prophetic line “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,� we were affronted by some ninnies telling us how awesome the Who had been, even as the band continued playing in the background before the inevitable cut to commercials.

If MTV were honest, it would have billed the event as Pre-Digested 8, because the network was maddeningly averse to showing most of the bands live. It was as if MTV were auditioning to get the TV rights to the next Olympics.

The assumption, perhaps born of 20-plus years of hyperactive editing, seemed to be that hearing complete songs, played live, wasn’t what viewers expected from an all-day, multi-city live concert. Just seeing montages of famous faces, presented in the network’s patented quick-cut style, would be enough.

The assumption, really, was that the audience doesn’t care about music. Promoting the air personalities and cashing in on the typical heavy load of commercials—for what was, mind you, a charitable, consciousness-raising event—were the corporate priorities.

I can’t say that the Live 8 line-up of past-their-prime classic rockers and less distinguished up-and-comers particularly inspired me, though I would’ve liked to hear more from Green Day than their cover of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.� But I admit I checked my cynicism at the door and was genuinely eager to hear Pink Floyd, with bassist/songwriter Roger Waters back in the fold, perform together for the first time in more than 20 years.

And miracle of miracles, MTV actually showed the reunion live, as it was unfolding in London. Sure, the years had taken their toll—on Waters’ burnt-out husk of a voice especially—but I didn’t care.

These guys, who had hated each other for so long, were making beautiful music together, and I’ll be a sucker for that cliche every time. And it was beautiful -- Waters and Gilmour trading vocals on “Comfortably Numb,� the music building in majesty and drama, Gilmour’s titanic guitar solo on the horizon, a lump working its way up my throat...

ARRRRRRGHHH! THOSE $#@#!! DON’T BREAK IN TO TELL US HOW GREAT AND HISTORIC THE PINK FLOYD REUNION WAS! THEY’RE STILL PLAYING! RIGHT BEHIND YOU! YOU #$%^&*$@’S!!!

As my wife restrained me from hurling toddler footwear at the TV set (you use what’s handy), the grinning idiots yammered on and on before MTV actually returned to “Comfortably Numb� for a bit of the guitar solo. Then...CUT! Commercials.

No song ending. No band reaction shot as they finished their first set together in decades. No audience response. Just mood-breaking, soul-killing MTV business as usual.

The shows still had hours to go, but for me, Live 8 was indeed history.

I did download a BBC video of "Sgt Pepper" from the Guardian. The BBC had more, but Windows Media Player or RealPlayer required, so I didn't see any of them. I was amused to hear that Universal started selling it within 45 minutes of the end of the show.

In this case, kill the messenger. Keep the message. From what I understand tonight, Dubya has pledged to double the amount of aid--but it is so pitiful compared to what other countries are pledging. Sure doesn't help our standing in the eyes of the world. But then, I guess you can't afford a war and a major relief effort at the same time. Cheapskate.

gdZiemann said: "I did download a BBC video of "Sgt Pepper" from the Guardian."

Why would you do that?

They were RIAA artists. Do not purchase their crap. Do not download their crap. Do not even listen to their crap.

Isn't that what you have been preaching?