MTV International, which spans 160-plus countries/territories and 32 languages, is taking steps to reinvigorate its brand.

The network will spotlight its social media videos of artists and viewers alike between programming on-air and across all platforms in a new promotion, called #MTVbump, which is the first of many ways that MTV will open itself up to young people. “MTV Art Breaks” will bring new video art to audiences worldwide, and its promos will take on a new look and feel. Experimenting with narrative structures and visual storytelling, they will be shorter, louder and hyper-visual.

MTV partnered with B-Reel Creative to connect the Internet to the network’s linear broadcast system, allowing social media videos on platforms Instagram, Vine or Twitter that are shared with #MTVbump to then run on-air in as little as two hours.

MTV will collect the videos using a custom content management system developed together with B-Reel Creative that allows MTV teams to curate the content, filtering for local relevance, pop culture topicality or number of fans, and then seamlessly schedule it on-air and across platforms. Users can also go to MTVbump.com, where they can also view the “bumps” that have made it on-air around the world. #MTVbump also lets MTV spotlight musicians and connect them with fans in new, creative ways. 

Some artists and social media talent have already come onboard to create the first “bumps,” including Rixton, Shawn Mendes, Tori Kelly, Grumpy Cat, Bros Being Basic, Martin Garrix and more. 

“MTV has always been committed to reinvention, and it’s time to shed our skin and reinvent again,” says Kerry Taylor, senior vice president, youth and music, Viacom International Media Networks and chief marketing officer, Viacom U.K. “Our audience expects MTV to push boundaries and take creative risks, and we truly believe that with this rebrand MTV’s international channels will look like nothing else. No one is bringing user generated content to air this quickly on a global scale. #MTVbump lets us be incredibly topical, fast and localized–which is critical.” 

MTV will unveil additional ways for fans to create content to run on-air and across platforms in the coming year, including MTV Canvas, which will launch later this summer. MTV Canvas, created with To.Be, will be an online sticker book that gives the audience freedom to create and play with the brand, making their own visual art with music, backdrops and more. 

MTV will also celebrate visual culture by spotlighting experimental video art, music and storytelling from emerging artists around the world in a series of new “Art Breaks” that will spotlight works from artists such as Thomas de Rijk (Amsterdam); Device (Barcelona); Johnny Woods (Los Angeles); Katie Torn (New York City); Eva Papamargariti (from Greece, living in London); Brdg (Tokyo); and The Great Nordic Swordfights (Los Angeles). Videos from new artists will be added on an ongoing basis.