 Over 400 artists, directors, and staff of MTV were interviewed by the authors, music journalists Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum.The book's name is derived from a marketing campaign launched by the channel in 1981 that featured many of the artists appearing on the channel at the time exclaiming “I Want My MTV!” The primary purpose of the campaign was to encourage cable subscribers to request the channel on their cable TV lineup.The book is published by Dutton Penguin in the United States.