Muchmusic versus Musique Plus

My return to London gave me the opportunity to catch up on some of my anglophone TV viewing--an opportunity I've not let go to waste. At the top of my viewing priority list was good ol' MuchMusic. For those of you unfamiliar with the Great White North's pop culture, MuchMusic is our distinctly Canadian version of MTV. Actually, that may not really be accurate. Since MTV has morphed into some sort of haven for reality TV and no longer plays music videos, I guess MuchMusic is more of an MTV2.

At any rate, Much is the flagship station of the CHUM Limited media empire and over its 20-some odd year history, it's become a significant influence on mainstream music in Canada. The original appeal of the station came from its underproduced, seat-of-the-pants style of broadcasting. People would walk through the shots, one would see staff working at their desks. Heck, former VJ Erica Ehm got her start on-air because of viewer response. One of the VJs had walked by the reception desk where Erica was manning the phones and the rest is Canadian broadcast history.

Now around the same time, Québec launched its own francophone music channel: Musique Plus. I had been under the impression that the Powers at CHUM ran the show there, too, but apparently they only control 50% of it. They ran with the same general formula as their English language sister station, but are naturally more concerned with giving music in Québec the attention it lacks in the rest of Canada. I've spent a considerable amount of time watching both channels, but I've come to the conclusion that I prefer the Québécois incarnation.

The easiest way for me to illustrate this is to take a quick look at the MuchMusic VJ Search and contrast that with how Musique Plus did theirs. It seems to me that Much has gone a bit too far this time. In years past, they've run contests to replace their on-air talent--usually in the form of an afternoon game show sort of thing, but this time they're running a 10 week audition process that can only be described as a bastard lovechild conceived during a reality TV orgy. They take 10 final contestants, throw them in a luxury penthouse in downtown Toronto and then send them off on "challenges" that are meant to simulate working conditions. Then they're brought back and assessed on their performance. One by one, they're picked off until we're left with the final candidate.

Watching this drivel made me ill. The set looks like a cross between American Idol and the Apprentice. Then they bring in so-called experts like Robin Black, Kardinal Offishall, former VJ Steve Anthony and some other chick to reduce these folks to quivering masses in front of the Canadian viewing public, à la Simon Cowell. It's tired, it's unoriginal and totally unnecessary. I seriously doubt that a VJ gets paid enough to put up with this nonsense, especially since the majority of the current roster of VJs, like Leah Miller, didn't have to jump through hoops like this! Sarah Taylor got picked out of the audience of Much On Demand for crying out loud! I just hope these guys are getting paid for their time and effort, if not then Much has been getting a whole lot of free labour.

Now let's switch gears and look at the VJ Search, Québécois-style. The folks down at Musique Plus know their audience and know their role in Québec pop culture. They're the voice of Québécois youth, so they left the power in the hands of the viewers. They had a series of contestants host episodes of Plus Sur Commande with the existing cohost and let the public vote on who they liked. That makes good sense to me.

Much's approach to the VJ search is pretty much exactly what I would expect out of a Toronto-based station. Rather than be original, they choose to recycle American garbage. It's a weak concept developed in a wannabe American city with an inferiority complex, desperately hoping to be mentioned in the same breath as New York and Los Angeles. Good luck with that. Meanwhile, Musique Plus takes a more practical approach and manages to maintain the sort of spirit and energy that made the original MuchMusic popular in the first place. I think Much could learn something from their Québécois counterparts. Of course, that's just my opinion... til next time!