US hip-hop star aims to fill gap left when MTV stopped playing music videos with the 'first channel of the social media age'

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Sean "P Diddy" Combs is to launch a cable music channel, Revolt TV, which he claims will be the "first channel of the social media age" and fill the gap left by MTV after it stopped playing music videos seven years ago.

The US hip-hop star turned entrepreneur said Revolt TV will cover music in a journalistic way and "celebrate creative and cinematography".

Revolt TV will be multiplatform running across broadcast, online and mobile, and is expected to launch later this year. It will be a dedicated music channel, showing US and international artists, established and new acts.

Combs said he believed the new channel can replace MTV, which in the past 10 years has cut back on playing music videos as such content has become more widely watched online.

Combs announced details of Revolt TV at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Wednesday, to an audience of industry executives, who he asked for support to help fund the channel.

"I would say this journey started me for seven years ago when MTV stopped playing music and that had huge impact on the future of music," he said. "The music started to become safe. We didn't have the experience I had when I grew up, whether it be Led Zeppelin or Janice Joplin. There was no longer a platform for music artists to trust with their creativity.

"There was also no place that was covering music in the way that if you follow sports you go to ESPN, or like CNN with news, but with music you were just thrown into the abyss. We will cover music in a journalistic way, covering it in a way in that it has not been covered before, and we will celebrate creative and cinematography."

Combs claimed Revolt TV will be the first dedicated music channel of the digital age.

US cable giant Comcast will show the channel on some of its network, while Time Warner is also thought to be in interested in offering it a platform.

Combs's other business ventures outside of music include drinks and fragrances.

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