A Note On Woodstock 99 and MTV’s Paradigm Shift
The late ’90s changes in the business model observed from continents away
I’m not American, and I still haven’t stepped foot in that country. There was a ban. Anyway. But from thousands of miles away, I can weigh in, too, because I have consumed American culture all my life. Especially MTV when I had the chance.
And that chance knocked on my parents’ apartment in the late ‘90s. There were “illegal” satellites on the roofs of every other house in my country. So, count tens of millions of people doing something illegal.
As I opened my ears, the sounds from a whole different world rushed in. As I could gradually harness my love for Michael Jackson, there were alternatives: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Bush, Björk, The Prodigy, Portishead, Green Day, The Offspring, and everything on the screen that fed my alienation to yearn for elsewhere.
This was too early in my life to know anything. I had inhabited a room with a few toys. Next to zero friends. Not much play and frightened of partying. So, these “weirdos” speaking a language I barely understood were my ultimate cool. My cousin who lived in the US told me once about all these incredible “famous” bands I should also be aware of: U2, 311, The Counting Crows, Sublime. You get the idea. I was…
