It was with great sadness today that I heard the news that CTV has canceled long-running Much Music program “The New Music.” I’m sad on a base level because it’s been on for my entire life — literally. It is 29 years old and I’m months shy of that myself and it’s always provided a faithful barometer of what’s cool and interesting in music.
But I’m more disappointed becuase it was truly one of the last real entertainment journalism shows on Canadian television and probably the last music journalism show (on cable at least) of its kind. In its wake we’re left with endless musician-focused reality shows (I wanna work for Diddy!!!), barely any time dedicated to music videos themselves and “Much On Demand”, which features a news segment with five seconds of Britney news and not much else.
Some of my sadness is nostalgia, but most of it is disappointment in the downfall of an Canadian icon, and what passes for entertainment news in general on television today. It’s pretty brutal — I saw a bit of Entertainment Tonight Canada the other night and in their “news” segment, they actually said “… and Ryan Gosling worked out this week in a pink shirt!” The New Music was a nice reprieve. It has ignited the careers of so many of Canada’s respected journalists and the programming was always current and on-point, the bands chosen with care, and the interviews thoughtful, well-researched and well executed. It was all the best parts of print journalism brought to life.
Goodbye, New Music. We will really, really miss you.
PHOTO: Steve Isaacs photostream, Flickr Creative Commons
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
It’s so true. I can’t believe CTVGlobeMedia got rid of “The New Music”. I learned about so much through that show. /Sigh. Memories.