MTV makes and breaks new bands

Every media outlet needs to flog new trends to keep fans riveted. Given the gnat-like… Every media outlet needs to flog new trends to keep fans riveted. Given the gnat-like attention span of its audience, MTV needs to hawk more than most.

Now the network seems to have hooked into a doozie. All five groups MTV picked to click during its “Spankin’ New Bands” week saw a huge sales spike on this week’s Billboard Album chart.

The numbers: Simple Plan shot up 71 percent, the Donnas rose 70 percent, the Used went up 51 percent, Good Charlotte added 46 percent and New Found Glory rose 26 percent.

All these anointed groups can be roughly described as neo-punk-pop acts – clearly MTV’s idea of the sound of now. According to programming czar Tom Calderone, the network decided to back this music, to the exclusion of all others, “to overstate the case that rock is back.”

It showcased the bands on the popular “TRL” call-in show to prove that “the old ‘TRL’ image of Justin Timberlake and the Backstreet Boys is changing.”

The bands were also plugged on the Infinity Broadcasting radio network, which, like MTV, is owned by Viacom.

“Between the TV and radio exposure, this was a massive assault saying ‘these are the band you should check out,'” notes Ron Shapiro, vice president of Atlantic Records, which pushes the Donnas.

MTV didn’t pluck the acts out of nowhere. Good Charlotte had already sold gold with its debut CD, “The Young and the Hopeless,” which stands at No. 12 in Billboard’s Top 200. The other groups had been getting heavy buzz on MTV.com, MTV2 and the road.

But with MTV’s endorsement last week, Simple Plan went from No. 59 to No. 44 on the Top 200 and the Donnas went from No. 117 to No. 67. Expect the Donnas to take another leap next week, when sales will reflect their appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

Calderone believes the favored wave will turn out to represent the true “new rock,” as opposed to the groups picked by the media last year, such as the Strokes, White Stripes and Vines. He says the former acts have more male than female fans and enjoy most of their followings in major cities. The MTV-backed bands draw both sexes and have as much support in midsize markets as in big ones.

To Calderone, the new acts have the potential to lead the biggest rock wave since the rock-rap days of Limp Bizkit, Korn and Kid Rock three years ago.

But what does this say about MTV’s commitment to hip-hop? Calderone says the network will push a new clutch of rappers down the road. And, no, he doesn’t think the new rock spells the end of teen pop.

“It just shows that it’s more diverse,” he says.

Meaning, at this point, you need no longer be a teen idol to make teens scream.