“We must constantly evolve to stay relevant”: Senior VP Kerry Taylor talks MTV’s new music strategy

MTV Australia will launch two new music channels on December 3: MTV Music, an Australian version of the UK’s number one music channel, and MTV Dance, the broadcaster’s first 24-hour channel to exclusively feature electronic, hip hop and R n’ B.

Kerry Taylor – Senior Vice President and General Manager of MTV for Viacom International Media Networks UK – is in Sydney for the launch of both channels, and for tonight’s MTV Summer event. She’ll also be speaking at tomorrow’s ARIA Week Masterclass. Before all that though, she exclusively caught up with TMN to chat about MTV’s new channels, the London centralisation of programming, and their global programming agenda.

Why do you think it’s so important for MTV to be launching a specialised dance channel in Australia at this time?

We’re launching MTV Dance in Australia from 3rd December, alongside a second new branded music network, MTV Music, because we think these services fill a gap for music fans and they will also be be more complementary to the other music channels on Foxtel.

I read a great quote from the Wall Street Journal recently – “Music’s centre of gravity is shifting again. Like rap and disco before it, the latest surge is electronic music.”  I think it’s fair to say that MTV has played a part in creating global superstars out of artists like David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia, and MTV Dance is going to be a great platform for Australians to get access to the next wave of EDM stars, as well as those who are breaking in hip hop and R n’B.

We’ve had fantastic success with these networks in other markets, particularly the UK. MTV Music has been the UK’s most popular dedicated music TV channel since it launched in 2011, while MTV Dance is enjoying its highest ratings since 2007 and so far this year has grown its audience amongst 16-34s in the UK by 16% year-on-year.

What’s been the early feedback regarding this move?

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. MTV Dance is providing a platform for electronic, hip hop and R n’B artists – genres we think are currently under-represented here. MTV Music brings a localised version of the UK’s #1 music channel to Australia, so that’s also been met with strong support. Overall, we’re confident that the recording industry will embrace these new channels and see them as significant platforms to connect with Australian music fans.

What has MTV learned from operating with festivals abroad that it can use in Australia to forge long lasting partnerships, like the Live Stage with festivals?

I think you learn from every experience and our goal is to always work with partners that want to connect with the MTV brand, its audiences and, of course, its global scale.  In Australia, the collaboration obviously needs to make sense for both partners but what we can bring to the table is experience and a heritage of both producing large-scale events and partnering with some of the biggest festivals around the world.  Dating back to MTV Europe’s first staged open air festival in Ibiza in 1999, to being broadcast partners for high profile events like Wireless Festival in the UK and Big Day Out, there’s a massive amount of experience and expertise that goes into structuring these partnerships and maximising the benefits for both parties.  When it’s right, they naturally keep going so we’ve got a great team in Sydney that will continue to explore these opportunities and see where they lead.

How important is it to MTVs global programming agenda to appeal to millennials and maintain its relevance with the youth market?

MTV is about youth… and we must constantly evolve to stay relevant. Staying relevant means: being talked about, being at the heart of global pop culture conversations; reflecting and celebrating young lives the world over; and, making our content available to view, share and talk about across all digital and social media platforms. We have to know youth audiences better than anyone else… that’s why we spend so much time talking to them – some 60,000 millennials have taken part in our research studies in the last 12 months.

What’s your background and how did you land at MTV?

I worked for a variety of media companies before I joined MTV, including the BBC, Star TV in Hong Kong and Virgin Media in the UK, where I was Director of Marketing for channels including Living TV, Bravo, Challenge and Trouble. I joined MTV UK in September 2007 as VP, Marketing and Creative and was promoted to become General Manager in 2010. I’m now also SVP, Youth and Music for MTV’s parent company Viacom International Media Networks, meaning I lead on programming and positioning for MTV outside the U.S.

Tell us about the centralisation in London of MTV’s programming. What prompted this?

The UK is the creative centre of excellence for MTV outside the U.S., commissioning and producing most of the original content that airs across MTV’s international network of channels as well as programming and scheduling the dedicated music channels. We want MTV’s operations in other countries, including Australia, to benefit from this expertise. The vast majority of content on MTV Australia is shared with MTV UK, so it makes absolute sense in business terms.

How will the new MTV stations work globally? Will programming be tailored for each region, or universal?

MTV UK programmes and schedules eight dedicated music channels, including MTV Music and MTV Dance. The channels are very successful – collectively, they’ve been the UK’s most popular music TV network for the last five years. Again, it makes sense to take advantage of this expertise and excellence in other markets. However, MTV Australia will still have its own talent and management team to work with the local music industry and there will be scope for bespoke local programming and content, as well as support for local music events and sponsored programming.

What do you feel is the public perception of MTV at the moment?

Amongst our target audience, I think it’s positive. I can say that with confidence because of the brand tracking work we do. I don’t really focus on what people outside our target age group think of MTV. Every generation has grown up with a different version of the brand, which tends to influence what they feel about its latest iteration.

Where would you like it to be?

I want MTV to continue to be the world’s leading youth entertainment brand and a genuine global media icon.

What’s your answer to critics who claim MTV has moved away from music programming?

I’d say to our critics I think they should look and listen again. MTV is still the global leader in music TV.

Music is very personal and very important to Millennial’s lives – we get that 100%.  That’s why we run 15 specialist branded music channels reaching millions of homes around the world, which will now include Australian versions of MTV Music and MTV Dance. All of these channels and their digital platforms super-serve music fans – just as MTV Hits and MTV Classic did for their respective audiences. But it is important for us to constantly evolve and meet the expectations of today’s young Australians and what they expect from their MTV.

MTV’s ambition is to entertain and inspire young people around the world and celebrate their lives. It’s content must have ‘talkability’ to lead and be part of the global pop culture conversation. MTV’s schedules are brimming with music content – World Stage live concert specials, global events, MTV Push, MTV Brand New, daily video music blocks and artist series and specials. To that point, only MTV could stage a music TV event with the scale and reach of the EMA in Amsterdam earlier this month, which was watched by tens of millions of young people around the world and attracted more than 300 million online votes and 60 million mentions on social media.  That’s powerful, and something we’re really proud of.

Kerry Taylor is in Sydney for the launch of MTV Music and MTV Dance, MTV Summer (tonight), and will also be a panelist at the ARIA Masterclass tomorrow.