What Killed the MuchMusic Star?✌️
- Kaley Evans
- Mar 30
- 12 min read
How an unknown broadcaster launched an all-music-video channel that became the Nation's Music Station, how technology dethroned it, and how corporate consolidation reduced it to just another station.
** EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second part of our two-part series. To refresh yourself, click here to go to Part 1 of What Killed The MuchMusic Star.
We last left off where MuchMusic managed to fend off one of its fiercest existential threats: Napster and the downloading culture that not only dominated much of the early 2000s but had already laid the foundation for the massive changes and disruptions to the once-predictable music industry. Steaming would eventually take centre-stage as the preferred solution to the rampant pirating of music, but no one would have guessed the ways in which it would democratize the music industry and everything within its orbit. But before streaming would enter the chat, MuchMusic had to face other existential threats.
Corporate Consolidation Era
The next chapter in MuchMusic’s story takes us away from the Technology Era of the early 2000s into their Corporate Consolidation Era of the mid-to-late 2000s and 2010s. Where technology wasn’t the only existential threat anymore – it now included competition from MTV themselves. All of this in the form of their own expansion into Canada.
Enter MTV
Having been the trailblazer when it came to a 24/7 music video channel, MTV Networks set their sights on claiming their share of the Canadian market. However, that plan would have to be slightly altered, largely when it came to licensing. As a means of avoiding competition between MuchMusic and MTV, the CRTC approved MTV’s programming licence in 2001 with its own set of restrictions. And because of this, MTV’s emergence would be more of a soft launch rather than the hard launch they originally had their sights set on. Since the CRTC already had given exclusive rights to MuchMusic as sole provider of music video programming, the licensing MTV received required them to license their brand to Craig Media -- who just happened to be Canada’s largest privately-held television broadcaster at that time – which they did so, but under the name MTV Canada. And what was the other restriction to the MTV’s licensing? Well, it mandated a maximum of 10% of their programming devoted to music videos, which was a minor victory for MuchMusic. But that minor victory was short lived when, in 2003, the last remaining half of the pioneering force behind MuchMusic, Moses Znaimer, departed CHUM amid speculation he was forced out. A claim that has never been substantiated.
Despite all of this, MuchMusic continued to defend its spot as top dog of the music video market in Canada. In 2003, they filed a complaint with the CRTC against MTV Canada alleging their programming exceeded the 10% maximum music video content, and contended MTV was now directly competing against them. The CRTC sided with MuchMusic, concluding MTV Canada had offered a music-based service rather than a broadly-based teen channel. A clear violation of their license. Interestingly enough though, the CRTC had also found MTV Canada had violated another condition of their license: having failed to meet their commitment of providing educational programming for teens. The result was the CRTC ordered Craig Media to comply with its broadcasting license.
Reality Check
Around the same time, in a bid to expand their presence and abide by their broadcast license, MTV Canada pivoted their programming to showcase reality-based shows that were largely produced in the US. In response to this, MuchMusic began their own push for reality programming with shows like Much in Your Space, Fandemonium, disband, and the already-established MuchMusic VJ Search. But because MuchMusic was bound to their strict licensing regulations – you know, the ones that allowed them to be the sole provider of music videos in Canada-- they were still mandated to distribute 20% of their daily programming dedicated to Canadian content and were limited in how much live or pre-recorded live concerts they could broadcast. But by the end of 2004, the music game had changed once again. CHUM, owner of MuchMusic, purchased Craig Media, which prompted MTV Networks to terminate their license agreement under a provision that allowed them to cancel should an ownership change occur.
But MTV’s departure from Canada wouldn’t last long. A year after CHUM purchased Craig Media, MTV Networks announced their return to Canada. And just like they did the first time they arrived in Canada, MTV used the license of another broadcaster. But this time, it was the license of a former CTV channel, TalkTV. Under this licence, the reincarnation of MTV Canada was required to uphold the requirements of TalkTV’s broadcast license of “documentary programming” with 68% of their programming dedicated to Canadian content, including a minimum of 71% on talk shows. This rendered MTV Canada to primarily broadcast scripted and reality-based shows.
Remember the other licensing restrictions we mentioned earlier? Well, with all the strict conditions MuchMusic was bound to, the CRTC had failed to include the internet in their licensing agreement when it was first established, largely because the internet wasn’t much of a thing when their license was first granted. This, well, this this created a lovely little loophole for CHUM, who now effectively owned both MuchMusic and the remnants of a once-was MTV Canada. A quick aside: those remnants would be later reincarnated as Razer after MTV Canada’s first departure. On the other hand, MTV Canada leveraged that same loophole to their own advantage by spreading their content across multiple platforms which included TV, their website, and even iTunes.
By the time 2006 rolled around, MTV Canada included Canadian-produced shows to accompany the mostly-US produced reality shows. Shows like The Hills Aftershow, the forum-like show that followed the popular US-produced show The Hills, was shot in Canada and was intended to provide a discussion-like forum for its audience. “We knew that when the show ended on Monday nights, people were talking about it with their friends, so we decided to create a new show that would get young Canadians from coast to coast together to talk about it,” said Brad Schwartz, senior VP and general manager of MTV Canada. And this Brad Swartz guy? You’ll want to remember him for later.
Something Corporate
As MuchMusic celebrated these small victories, they were delivered what would be the fatal blow to their existence. This time, it wasn’t technology or direct competition – it was corporate consolidation. Shortly after MuchMusic’s triumph over MTV Canada as the sole provider of music videos, CHUM was acquired by Bell Globemedia (later known as CTVglobemedia, followed by Bell) in 2007. This now placed both MuchMusic and MTV Canada under the same corporate umbrella, and this was considered the beginning of the end for MuchMusic. As Steve Kerzner, who voiced the foul-mouthed sock puppet VJ Ed the Sock, referred to the new culture of MuchMusic under its new corporate owner “…it became more corporate.” Rick Campanelli furthers Kerzner’s sentiment, “It was becoming less about the music and the bands.” And according to many long-time MuchMusic employees, a corporate eraser was taken to the pioneering work of Moses Znaimer. “At the very end, CTV started clearing out libraries and rooms in the building. I saw many of Moses’ mementos has been taken…including master tapes of shows he had developed….”, explained Michael Haydon, former senior producer, creative services for MuchMusic.
But aside from the corporate takeover of MuchMusic and its long-standing history, it’s been long contended by long-time employees that the CRTC also had a role to play in its demise by effectively prevented it from evolving its content, like allowing it to broadcast more of the reality-based programming MTV Canada was permitted to show. MuchMusic was also prevented from adapting to the technological changes and viewer habits of the time, which had also shifted to match the increased prevalence and popularity of the internet. What was once considered a blessing the have the majority stake of music videos was quickly becoming MuchMusic’s curse when technologies and viewer habits changed.
Remember, the internet was an entity the CRTC hadn’t considered when they first issued MuchMusic their license. With the rise of music downloads and the popularity of reality-based shows like The Osbournes, Jackass, and The Hills, it was evident reality TV had also taken off. And MuchMusic was struggling to keep up. But despite MTV Canada and MuchMusic now sharing the same corporate owner, it was MTV Canada who had the license to broadcast more reality shows than MuchMusic. Long-time employees believe had MuchMusic been allowed to adapt their programming to include more reality-based shows, they would have been able to keep the channel and local broadcasting going. And those long-time employees aren’t off the mark with that. The CRTC permitted corporations, such as CTVglobemedia, to purchase smaller broadcasters, such as CHUM. As Michael Williams, former VJ from 1984-1993, explains, “[CTVglobemedia,] buying MuchMusic [and] all the radio stations…not good for the country [because] if the government had not given those licenses…they would have probably created another two dozen media companies… [and] put more money into the system.” And by 2006, CTVglobemedia began layoffs that would ensue for the preceding two years. Hayden recalls, “…hundreds of us became efficiencies. The entire staff of MuchMoreMusic {MuchMusic’s softer-toned sister station] was gathered and told they were no longer needed. It was very dehumanizing and quite traumatic.”
As the corporate takeover of MuchMusic became more entrenched, many employees who remained on were instructed to make it look more like MTV in both aesthetic and in programming. “In the program director’s office, there was a TV constantly running MTV. And every time you went in there… ‘Why can’t we do shows like that?’”, remembers Kerzner. This would mark the shift away from the unique charm MuchMusic had cultivated and honed over the course of its two decade run as top dog music channel in Canada.
By the time 2008 rolled around, MuchMusic was now known as Much MTV Group. And the name wasn’t the only thing that had changed: a new senior VP and general manager of MuchMusic had emerged, and that person was Brad Schwartz, former senior VP and general manager of MTV Canada. Remember him from earlier? Under his leadership, some of MuchMusic’s original shows, like The Wedge (alternative and indie music) and RapCity (hip hop), were once again revived. But as MuchMusic’s audience of Gen X and mostly Millennials had seemingly outgrown them, their programming adapted to include a focus on youth-oriented drama shows from the US, like Pretty Little Liars and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. These shows seemingly permeated into Canadian programming – a stark contrast to the initial intention of the CRTC with licensing as a means to preserve Canadian culture from the absorption of American culture.
And by 2009, MuchMusic’s programming was predominantly geared towards the teens and tweens, marking its departure as Canada’s homegrown all-music channel to one where music was more of a quota for their CRTC license than for the love of music. Where a once-24/7 music channel was reduced to merely one hour of music a day just to meet the criteria of their license, the rest of the schedule was filled with scripted programming. A far departure from the uniqueness and charm MuchMusic was once known for.
Stream For Me, Baby
Enter 2011 and the rise of streaming services that changed the way music was consumed yet again. From 2011 until 2015, multiple streaming services battled it out for market supremacy, with Spotify coming out as the clear winner. Having shot onto the scene in 2006, Spotify touted themselves as a solution to the rampant music pirating during the early-to-mid 2000s. Up until that point, iTunes was top dog in the digital music scape until Spotify’s emergence dethroned them. And in a similar fashion to what iTunes did, Spotify was doing the same a decade later by providing a niche for those music consumers who weren’t as inclined to purchase a song for $1.29 on iTunes but who were inclined to spend $9.99 a month for access to theirs full library of music.
So, what does Spotify have to do with MuchMusic? Well, it largely has to do with yet another shift in the music industry. Touted as the solution to the rampant music pirating reincarnations post-Napster –- think KaZaa, KaZaa lite, BearShare and Limewires who all came onto the scene –- streaming not only emerged onto the scene, it also changed the way the music industry had conducted business and generated profit for decades. And this time, the focus shifted away from singles and onto playlists -- similar to the shift away from albums and onto singles that occurred only a decade before all thanks to downloading. All of this had a massive impact on what was left of MuchMusic’s original viewers. Where viewers used to tune into MuchMusic shows to discover new bands, they could simply discover them on a Spotify playlist or hear it on a tv show and stream it on Spotify.
Undoubtably Spotify’s emergence onto the scene was yet another hole in MuchMusic’s sinking ship. But that same year, Bell (formerly CTVglobemedia) began fresh new rounds of layoffs that reduced the MuchMusic staff to a mere skeletal crew. From there, MuchMusic rebranded to just Much with a more simplistic aesthetic to its logo. By removing “music” from their logo, Much fully began its journey into scripted youth content and the channel became a place where music was more a of a brand expression than the content experience it was once known for. That ‘content experience’ -- the essence of what Much was -- had grown up just like its original Gen X and Millennial viewers had. And just when you thought the staffing couldn’t be reduced any further, enter in 2014 and 2015, when even more staff were laid off and Much quietly died. As David Kines recalls, “I don’t know if you can pin the end of MuchMusic on Brad Schartz, but under his watch, they basically turned it into a MTV channel.”
And Kines isn’t far from the mark with that: the arc MuchMusic created for itself, from its inception in ’84, rose steadily until its peak at the end of the ‘90s, followed by its slow decent as the threats of MTV and technology entered the picture, only to sink sharply once the corporate conglomerates took over. Swartz, on the other hand, maintains the demise of MuchMusic was due to societal changes in music and entertainment consumption. “It became obvious that music videos were just not a linear product anymore: a music video in the credits of Pretty Little Liars was going to get a lot more people watching it than scheduling an hour of music videos.” And Swartz isn’t wrong either. As the internet became more mainstream and more entities played the same product as Much, they did it better by making it on demand and online – something that Much was restricted to by their licence. But the story doesn’t end there.
Resurrected From The Dead
In 2021, a mere 6 years after the death of Much, Bell Media announced its resurrection once again from the dead, but not in the same reincarnation. According to their press release, Bell Media stated this resurrection will not be televised, but rather, only available on TikTok - signalling a new technological collaboration. Dubbed as a “content-driven digital first network”, this relaunch of Much is in response to the growing audience on social media platforms, mainly Gen Z and younger. But don’t expect to see any music videos on their TikTok. Much advised it will offer “interesting, fun content” with a Canadian take on pop culture, including music. With established artists like Jason Derulo telling Rolling Stone Magazine in June 2021, he pivoted his revenue earnings away from live shows -- traditionally the main stay of an artists’ earnings -- to almost entirely relying on revenue from paid promotions on TikTok, this seems to signal a new direction to music promotion.
Another notable change to this Much resurrection? According to Bell Media, the VJs are “creators that speak directly to Gen Z and younger Millennials”. Instead of being music enthusiasts like their audience back in the good ol’ days of MuchMusic, the new crop of VJs are influencers sourced from social media platforms, which signals a new integration between television and social media -- a marriage between a once-existential threat and a once-restriction for the music channel. David Krikst, head of Much, has publicly stated the relaunch will stay true to its early days, including a complete revamp of the old MuchMusic space at 299 Queen Street West.
MuchMusic’s downfall occurred during a time of decline in both music and journalism. When live venues were shutting down, newspapers gutted of their music coverage, alt (alternative) weeklies dying, and music outlets were struggling. Sound a little too familiar? That’s because just as that was used to describe the mass transitions and consolidations of the 2000s into the 2010s within music and journalism, the same can be said to describe the current themes and trends within music and journalism today. But this time? Well, this time, we have nostalgia on our side. The generations who were raised on the glory days of MuchMusic have all grown up – some with kids who now get the chance to get acquainted with this cultural icon just as their parents did -- but they have not outgrown the music channel that introduced them to new bands, gave a stage to Canadian artists, connected music lovers, and defined generations growing up. MuchMusic truly accomplished what it originally set out to do: connect a nation through music and culture to become The Nation’s Music Station.
Sources –
4. Recording Industry Association of America
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