***UPDATE***
THE PLOT THICKENS...
After the train wreck that was last night's VMA's (more on that later), one of the things that stuck out, or didn't stick out at all, was the promised Daft Punk performance. Now, just to refresh your memory (or you can read the article below), earlier this month, Daft Punk was pulled from performing on the The Colbert Report by Viacom due to a scheduled appearance on the VMA's. The network owns MTV and The Colbert Report and stated a "conflict of interest" if they performed on both.
Fast forward to last night's award show and we were all left scratching our heads. Yes, Daft Punk made an appearance, but only to give an award out. The promised "surprise" didn't happen. Unless the duo giving out an award was the "surprise," then we've been cheated.
So, the question still remains: Why did Viacom pull Daft Punk from The Colbert Report? And if there was supposed to be a performance last night, where was it? Okay, they did premier their new video for "Lose Yourself To Dance," but that certainly didn't warrant being pulled from a TV appearance two weeks prior.
Oh, and another thing, and this is aimed directly at MTV: The glaringly obvious lack of electronic music talent at the show, in both nominations and award winners, is a kick in the teeth to all of the hard working peoople in our industry. It's particularly disheartening when the majority of the actual winners and performers got their "fresh lease of life" thanks to collaborating with them. Instead, MTV chose to allow people like Miley Cyrus sing about taking drugs while grossly sexualizing herself in front of a young audience (more of that later, too). Shame on you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you've probably heard by now, Daft Punk were a no show on last night's, "The Colbert Report."
Originally booked to appear on the show's music segment, "Colbchella", everything was going to plan until the eleventh hour when the show's producers were told that they didn't have the rights to have Daft Punk appear. The reasons for this are vague, but from what we understand, the network is owned by Viacom, who also own MTV and according to the network, Daft Punk have been booked to appear as "surprise" guests at the VMAs. The only reason for them to have been pulled is, maybe, a conflict of interest, but that seems a little odd.
The show's host, Stephen Colbert, said “Here’s the story: it’s a true story. We booked click and clack over here about a month ago. This network is owned by Viacom, which is also the owner of MTV. Apparently, Daft Punk are going to make a surprise appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards. Don’t tell anyone, because fun fact: no one told me until two hours ago.”
So here lies the question. Why would Viacom pull Daft Punk from a non music/EDM related show? It doesn't make sense. First of all, they're not even up for an award at the VMAs, which is crazy considering they've had the biggest selling single AND album of the year so far. Furthermore, the demographics of The Colbert Report are not that of MTV. Why would it be an issue to have Daft Punk appear on both of them?
The further you look in to it, the stranger it gets. The VMAs this year have a very noticeable absence of EDM related artists. Sure, some have been nominated in certain categories, but there's nothing that singles out the scene.
There is no "Best DJ" or "Best Electronic Artist" category, which is strange considering they are some of the highest paid and hardest working music artists in the music industry. You'd think in a year that has seen EDM being played on almost every commercial radio station and become the biggest music genre on the planet, MTV would give them a nod of the head. Looking deeper into it, the changes become more apparent. For example, the "Best Dance" category has been changed to "Best Choreography". I'm sorry, what?
So here's a question for you to think about. Is MTV beginning to turn their back on the EDM scene? Why, in an industry worth billions of dollars and with almost every notable music artist collaborating with a DJ or electronic dance music producer, does MTV not support and acknowledge the artist and scene responsible?
MTV -- Music Television! Remember those days? -- turned their back on music a long time ago when they turned the station into a round the clock reality TV marathon. They single handedly dumbed down a whole generation by making celebrities out of pregnant teenagers while at the same time made it seem acceptable to drop out of college and get drunk and sleep around in front of cameras. In doing this, the station's credibility when it comes to music was flushed down the toilet, so let's just hope that they don't do the same again by turning against the scene we all know and love.
So what is it MTV? Are you a friend or a foe?
Check out Stephen Colbert's response to the cancellation with his lipsync'd star-studded montage.
Stephen Colbert performs Get Lucky by Daft Punk by PayeTaChatte