Allow Joy Electric's Music Videos To Air On TVU

As a Christian fan of music, there was a time when I was lost; having surrounded myself with the many musical endearments of my favorite genres, my ears were full, but there was a place deep in my heart that was hungry for something that would edify my spirit. Then TVU stepped into my life. For the past 5 years, TVU (A Spirit Communications-owned music television outlet, aired online 24/7, and televised via the Sky Angel satellite network) has been providing the world with great music: Be it rock, hip-hop, or teen pop, TVU has offered to music-lovers across the globe an outstanding alternative to the mainstream mainstays of the music industry, MTV, MTV2, and VH1. And in these past 5 years, they have achieved remarkable success, despite many financial setbacks. How is this made possible? By one brilliantly-conceived formula: The network itself is supported by it's viewers --- which means there are no commercials aired -- ever. But where the brilliance truly shines through is in how this formula differs from similar strategies employed by other publicly-supported networks.

Year after year, people send their money to support the TVU Music Television network simply because they are fantastic at what they do: whereas their competitors will air hours of non-music programming per day, it is a well-known fact among TVU's loyal fans that they only air music videos, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.


Much of TVU's success comes from giving the fans what they want, the way they want it.

In fact, the very nature of their top-rated show, a daily sixty-minute program called the Ten Most Wanted, seems to mirror the network's credo: Music fans log on to their website daily, and cast votes for their favorite video; the votes are tallied, and the top ten winners are then aired on television, thus giving the fans exactly what they asked for. It is this sort of dedication to the serving viewers' needs that has led many fans to believe that the "U" in TVU means just that --- music made by people like you, for YOU. Each day, Ten Most Wanted host Obadiah stands in front of a live television audience and reminds them that it is THEIR countdown, and the music that they see is decided by them, and only them. TVU Music Television has always been, and will likely continue to be, advertised as a music television network devoted to giving fans exactly what they want.


However...


Recently, though having considered myself a devoted fan this network since it's inception, I have discovered this is not entirely true; though this network claims that they will air any Christian music video upon the request of a fan, though there are live "VJ"s that broadcast from the studio daily, claiming in front of live cameras that they are taking requests, and will air whatever kind of Christian music the fans want to see, this is not the full truth. There are many musical genres that the youth of this generation listen to: not the least of which are rock, hip-hop, and electronica ( the latter of which seems to be banned from the network), but there are certain requests for certain Christian music videos that TVU refuses to fulfil, despite their persistent claims of being a completely viewer-devoted network.


On January 21st, 2005, I sent a letter to Michael Buckingham, General Manager of TVU Music Television. The letter, through many words, vented my frustrations with the network that I was experiencing, having sent several e-mails to their staff in previous weeks, requesting a certain video to be aired on the Ten Most Wanted. This video is for a song called "Song For All Time", and is the latest from Joy Electric, a synth-pop artist that is known to be quite popular among Christian fans of electronica. Several weeks had passed, and I had received no reply to any of these e-mails, save for an early notice from the Director of Music at TVU, Mrs. Nikki Cantu, that there were plans to air the video on the network "soon". On January 25th, I received a response from Mr. Buckingham in regards to the status of the video:




"Yes, we've had the Joy Electric video for a month or so now, I believe. It's
an interesting concept for a video, but it isn't likely to receive regular
rotation on TVU anytime soon because it is so quirky, both visually and
musically. It's a novelty video. We've considered using it as part of a
"bit" of some kind for the Ten Most Wanted, but haven't chosen to do as yet."



Interesting. A network that is devoted to giving the fans what they want to see, passes judgment upon a video before many of this artists' fans even get to see it. But later on, his letter became even more interesting. In response to another accusation that I had directed at the network in my e-mail, he wrote this:

Yes, the TMW is "your" countdown... But "your" is a collective word,
referring to our entire audience collectively. It becomes difficult to
single out "one" individual member of our audience and create an entire show
around them, personally. That would be rather unfair to the rest of our
audience, who also believes we're creating the show specifically for "them."
Therefore, we try to do a show which will appeal mostly to the largest
segments of our audience, and then occasionally, to smaller niches of our
audience such as yourself.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________


Mr. Buckingham, and all who work at the TVU Music Television network, therein lies the purpose of this petition. By your very words, Mr. Buckingham, you shine light upon an all-too awful truth: that this network, watched by many rock and hip-hop fans across the nation, is also watched by many fans of techno and dance, and, among other electronic groups, Joy Electric -- and you have no clue of this. TVU Music Television, you have always appeared to all to be about nothing but the fans; but your refusal to acknowledge a significant amount of your fanbase's musical tastes, instead branding them as a "niche", leaves the most die-hard of us cold. In the early days of TVU, music videos from popular electronic artists such as The Echoing Green and Joy Electric were not unheard of. If you would only broaden your horizons, not refuse us the music we claim we want, and not claim certain styles to be too "quirky" for us to enjoy, then there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that this network is indeed founded upon the very principles that it so claims to be.


All who have signed this petition are Joy Electric fans, and fans of electronic music, and are asking that not only this video be aired, but that electronic music itself should not be branded as being "quirky", and that it would be recognized that electronica is a genre of music that is increasingly gaining popularity with the youth of the world, and therefore, should not be ignored.