Including the MuchMusic Spotlight/Big Ticket and MuchMusic Countdown mailing lists Last Updated: February 26, 1999
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Table of Contents
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[1] What is....[1-1] MuchMusicMuchMusic is Canada's answer to MTV. A 24-hour music video station available only to Canadian viewers until summer 1994, MuchMusic and its affiliates can now be found broadcasting around the world. MuchMusic is owned by the CHUM broadcasting network and is based in Toronto, Ontario. Find MuchMusic at http://www.muchmusic.com/. ![[Back up]](images/back_up.gif){kind=small}
[1-2] MuchUSAMuchUSA is the American affiliate of MuchMusic. Except for a few programming differences, MuchUSA uses the same feed as MuchMusic. Specials which have been previously aired on MTV/VH1 will not similcast on MuchMusic and MuchUSA to avoid conflicts. Find MuchUSA at http://www.muchmusic.com/usa/.
[1-3] SpotlightThe Spotlight is a half-hour program featuring videos, interviews, and concert clips of the featured artist. Mutli-part Spotlights are not uncommon for those artists who have been releasing videos since before the beginning of time and therefore have many videos. A better description, borrowed from the MuchUSA website reads: "Tracing musical artists' careers from video beginnings to most recent output, the spotlight presents a historical review and intersperses pop clips with interviews for a complete summary drawn from our extensive library. The easiest way to discover a new artist or to catch a complete half-hour on your favorite."
[1-4] CountdownThe Countdown is MuchMusic's weekly look at 30 of the hottest videos of the past week. The popularity of a video is determined using a scientifically approved process. Almost, anyways. See section [5] for more details.
[1-5] The Big TicketThe Big Ticket features concerts, pre-taped more often than not. Usually it is a rebroadcast of a past performance, including concerts, and award shows. Past rebroadcasts have included the Unplugged series from MTV, as well as recorded footage from music festivals.
[1-6] The NewMusicFrom MuchMusic's website: Multi-award winning, critical and gutsy, The NewMusic presents music in a social, political and economic context. Armed with probing questions and an insider's irreverence, the NewMusic continues to change the face of music television and television music.
[1-7] Break ThisTo this day, I still have not seen a show of Break This since I don't get MuchUSA. As far as I can tell, it lies somewhere between the Spotlight and the NewMusic. Anyone with a better description can contact me and will be credited.
[2] Are MuchMusic and MuchUSA available in my area?MuchMusic and MuchUSA are not available over the air, but may be offered in cable packages by your local cable company. If you're in Canada and have extended cable service, chances are you can get MM. If you're not sure what cable package you have or need, contact your local cable company (in Canada, probably one of the following: Rogers, Shaw, Videotron).
[3] Do I mail you to request a video or Spotlight?Nope.
[4] ...OK, so who DO I mail then?For questions related to the Oldspot site, the Spotlight/Big Ticket mailing list or Countdown mailing list, contact us via the feedback page.
[5] What if I mail you anyways?If it's a question that I can answer, then I'll send you a reply. If you mail me with a question that I can't answer, then I'll forward it to the most appropriate address. If your mail is rude, arrogant, or just plain has nothing to do with anything, it gets ignored and tossed in the trash.
[6] How is popularity determined for the Countdown?MuchMusic's program committee decide the ranking of each video by looking at various charts from across the country, as well as sales, popularity, and quality of the video among other things.
[7] Where do the listings come from?[7-1] Where can I get the Spotlight Listings and Countdown Charts?You can get the listings and charts from several sources including Usenet news, email, and the World Wide Web.
[7-2] How can I get them sent to my mailbox?
[7-3] Where do you get the listings?Previously, I have gotten the listings from a variety of sources, including TV Guide, TV Times, and the MM website. MuchMusic now sends the listings to me directly, so I can pass them on to you quicker. MuchMusic has been extremely helpful, they've changed contacts several times, but the listings keep coming.
[8] Why did you put up the Oldspot pages when MM already has a site?My current month's spotlight page was merged with my MuchMusic Spotlight Listings Archive Site in January 1996 which means that you can now find the current month's Spotlight there. The MuchMusic Spotlight Listings Archive Site debuted half a year before CityInteractive went online. The MuchMusic Spotlight Listings Archive Site offers virtually all of the listings from July 1994 to present, hence the page's name. The Countdown Archives arrived in June 1998. Both sites at the Oldspot exist to complement the CityInteractive sites, rather than to compete.
[9] What happened to the Database of Links?At the time of discontinuation, the Database of Links was approaching 1500 links, each of which were being selected and verified by hand by yours truly. As you might expect, this was a tedious task which took days, even weeks to perform depending on the congestion of the Internet. Due to a lack of time to verify and select links, I made the difficult decision to exclude the Database of Links from the new site. Many people had come to depend on this database for their music links, these people I'd like to refer to UBL, the largest music database on the web. Though their links are not hand picked or verified, it should do the job.
[10] MuchMusic doesn't pay you? Why do you do it?I don't do it for Much, I'm doing it for the fans. I don't get paid by MM for doing this. I first started back in early 1993 when someone on rec.music.video asked who was in the Spotlight on a certain day. Having my TV Guide handy, I decided to post a response. Others asked the following week and it's become more of a habit than anything since. The Break This listings were added the week of 02/13/96, the Countdown list made its debut in summer of 1997 and the Countdown Archives were put online in June 1998.
[11] Can I get the addresses of the mailing list subscribers?No way. I have the only copy of these and it's not for public viewing. This is to respect the privacy of the members of the lists and to do my part against junk email. I know I hate unsolicited e-mail, so I will not help junk mailers (you know who you are) by distributing the subscriber lists.
[12] Where is the theme of theNewMusic from?MuchMusic has told me that the theme is an original composition. So if you've heard it at a club somewhere, it's probably a remix.
[13] What I do and what I don't doWhat I do:
[14]Acknowledgements(gotta give credit where credit is due)
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![[Oldspot]](images/button_oldspot.gif){kind=small}
![[Spotlight]](images/button_spot.gif){kind=small}
![[Countdown]](images/button_cd.gif){kind=small}
![[Feedback]](images/button_feedback.gif){kind=small}