The songwriting credits are shared between Mark Knopfler and Sting. Sting was visiting Montserrat during the recording of the song, and was invited to add some background vocals. Sting has stated that his only contribution was the "I Want My MTV" line, which was sung in partial parody of his own song "Don’t Stand So Close to Me", originally recorded by The Police. Sting was embarrassed when his publishing company insisted on a co-writing credit (and royalties). Originally, Mark Knopfler was not at all enthusiastic about the concept of the music video. MTV, however, was insistent on it. Director Steve Barron, of Rushes Postproduction in London, was contacted by Warner Bros. to persuade Knopfler to relent.