Every weekday afternoon for half an hour MTV returns to its music-centric roots. The channel shows two young songwriters, alone, perfecting their creations, inspired by their love of craft, motivated by nothing more than the desire to make beautiful music.

Actually, they're not completely alone: the songwriters get - or have - to work with Ryan Cabrera, the minor-league pop star known for his ultra-wimpy love songs (and better known, probably, as Ashlee Simpson's ex-boyfriend). And the producers do offer some inspiration, in the form of a "hottie," for whom the song must be written. (Doesn't every artist need a muse?) Come to think of it, there is some added motivation, too: the hottie - that's gender-neutral MTV-speak for quarry - picks a favorite song, and the winning songwriter gets a trip to Mexico, hottie in tow.

The show is called "Score," and it is broadcast weekdays at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. (This is week two of a planned four-week run.) It answers an unasked question: why can't a songwriting clinic double as a dating show? Even better, it compresses the logic of the pop marketplace, where aspiring stars must woo potential fans. "Score" takes that idea literally: on this show, the singer really is a suitor. And if the hotties feel as if the singers are singing directly to them - well, for once they're absolutely right. " 'Taylor'-made for you," crooned a budding songwriter named Danielle. And Taylor couldn't help but beam.

Each episode of "Score" begins with a deadpan announcement: "On 'Score,' love is blind, and looks mean nothing. It's all about the music." Writer and hottie never meet until the end. Instead, the writers - a different pair for each program - watch a brief video biography of the hottie, who provides four words that must be incorporated in the lyrics. Then the writers huddle with Mr. Cabrera, to work on melody and lyric, and with his band, to work on arrangements. A few hours later, the songwriters perform their songs in front of an audience while the hottie listens from behind a screen and makes her or his selection.

Mr. Cabrera has completed 20 episodes of "Score," which is also a monthlong promotion for his new album, "You Stand Watching" (Atlantic). (It made a tepid debut at No. 24 on the Billboard charts.) At the end of each episode, he takes the stage to serenade the happy new couple with a song of his own, although he always gets cut off by the closing credits.

Like Mr. Cabrera's songs, "Score" is both shameless and sweetly naïve. After watching the video biography of a curvilinear young woman named Zoe, Mr. Cabrera leeringly praises her "big, beautiful - brown eyes." Then he gets to work with the songwriters, Justin and Chris, both of whom have to find a way to work "frittata" into the lyrics. (It's one of Zoe's favorite foods.) One solution, not likely coming to a radio station near you: "I'll defrost a frittata/ And we'll meet at the Ramada."

Sometimes, viewers get unexpected insight - whether they want it or not - into Mr. Cabrera's artistic philosophy. At one point, a woman named Piper doubts one of her word choices. "It doesn't have to be 'honey,' " she says, " 'cause that's kind of goofy, and he said no goofy lyrics." Her tutor responds with the sober wisdom of a young heartthrob: "It's all really in how you sing it."

MTV has plenty of dating shows, but "Score" is different because it slyly addresses the perennial complaint that there is not enough music on MTV. These contestants tend to be serious about their music careers. And it's certainly a shock to turn on MTV and see a couple of people cradling acoustic guitars, debating the length of a prechorus.

Though the musical results aren't always - or ever - brilliant, they're better than you might expect. (That "Taylor-made" song, for example, had both a memorable refrain and a welcome hint of self-consciousness.) And while the show claims to be "all about the music," it's actually all about the conflicting impulses familiar to any pop fan. Are we evaluating how good the song is? Or how much fun it might be to date the singer? When asked to explain her selection, a hottie named Katie said simply, "I loved the words and I loved his voice and it just, it gave me a good feeling." What more could anyone want from a song?

At the end, when you see some of these mismatched couples, "Score" seems less like a dating show and more like a scared-straight special. Turns out it's not always a good idea to conflate musical admiration and romantic attraction (although Mr. Cabrera had better hope that not too many viewers take this lesson to heart). And more than one songwriter has found a way to address the show's main flaw: lots of the songs include some variation on the lyric, "I don't really know you but. ..."

That's not really a criticism of "Score," though. Maybe the real problem is that the producers abandon the stories too early. Why not have the winners return, after their disastrous trips to Mexico, for another songwriting session with Mr. Cabrera? Each song would have to include four new terms. Quick, what words rhyme with "awkward," "tequila," "misunderstanding" and "policía"?