MTV's first two hours reveals a cable network devoted to white artists

Nerdist

In celebration of MTV's 40th anniversary, a video showing the first two hours of MTV that was posted to YouTube last year has been making the rounds. "What does that video tell us about the music industry at the dawn of the MTV era? A whole lot," says Eric Diaz. "In those two hours, we see zero black artists, or any POC musicians really. It is a steady stream of white rockers. And we see dozens of male artists, and maybe five women. There’s Pat Benatar, Stevie Nicks, Juice Newton, the Pretenders, and maybe one more. And again, all white ladies. MTV big wigs used the anti-disco backlash of just two years prior as justification for not playing diverse artists, and catering only to white (racist) audiences."