When MTV shut down its remaining music-only channels at the end of 2025 — closing with “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the same song that launched the network back in 1981 — most people treated it like the final nail in the coffin for the music video era. David Gebbia? He thinks people are calling time of death way too early.
"Some of the biggest careers in rock were built on music videos, and somewhere along the way, the industry decided that didn't matter anymore," the CEO of Gebbia Media and Co-CEO of Big Machine Rock said in a statement. "We don't agree."
He's not wrong about the industry. Billboard recently reported that labels have "redisbursed" their video budgets in recent years, with cinematic, high-concept visuals increasingly reserved for tier-A superstars while newer artists are pushed toward smaller productions. Lizzo even declared the format "dead" on TikTok last September.
The numbers tell a more complicated story. Luminate reported 96 billion music video streams in 2025, proving fans are still watching. What’s changed is who labels are willing to spend on.
Gebbia is betting artists like Ryan Perdz are still worth building visually.
On Friday, May 15, Big Machine Rock will release a cinematic new video alongside Perdz’s emotional single “Heavy Eyes,” a dark, anthemic track about loss and mental health that the Buffalo singer-songwriter says is meant for “the people who sometimes can’t speak for themselves.”
"Ryan wrote a song people are going to remember, so we made sure he got a video to match it," Gebbia said. "Artists are still pouring their hearts into their work, and the industry owes them more than just a release date."
That approach lines up with how Gebbia has positioned the label since Gebbia Media acquired Big Machine Rock from HYBE America in May 2025. At the time, he described the company’s vision as “bold, cross-generational, and deeply in touch with the culture.”
Big Machine Rock (BMR) operates under Gebbia Media, which acquired the brand from the Big Machine label group.
Perdz fits naturally into that mix. The TikTok-famous grunge revivalist first broke through online after his acoustic Nirvana covers pulled tens of millions of views, eventually helping him land a deal with Big Machine Rock in early 2025. Since then, he’s released a steady run of emotionally honest singles including “January,” “Temporary,” and “Sour.”
But “Heavy Eyes” feels bigger than another streaming release. It’s being positioned like the kind of full visual moment the music industry used to build entire careers around. And Gebbia is betting audiences still want that.
