MTV Rewind is a developer’s tribute to 24/7 music video channels

MTV shut down its remaining 24/7 music channels in a number of international locations, together with the UK and Australia, on the finish of 2025. The principle MTV community shifted its focus to reality shows way back and it often dips again into music with issues just like the Video Music Awards, however this shutdown felt like the top of an period. In the event you yearn for the times when MTV truly performed music movies, although, you is likely to be in luck. A developer who goes by the title of Flexasaurus Rex has paid tribute to the MTV of outdated with an internet app that has a number of channels of continuous streaming music.

MTV Rewind has 11 channels on the time of writing, together with one which options movies from the unique channel’s first day of existence in 1981. There’s a channel devoted to MTV Unplugged performances, a rap-focused stream, one for every decade from the ‘70s to the ‘20s and (my private faves) 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball choices. MTV Rewind has to date pulled in additional than 33,000 music movies. That’s over two months price of music, as Loudwire notes.

“MTV was a cultural establishment that modified music, style and youth tradition. Then they stopped displaying music movies and have become actuality TV,” Flexasaurus Rex said. “I felt a wave of disappointment when the announcement hit. Nothing felt prefer it might fill that void. So I began coding. Constructed it in 48 hours: MTV Rewind.”

Every channel performs movies in a random order and there’s a shuffle all possibility should you can’t resolve which stream to observe. If a music isn’t hitting for you, simply faucet the skip button. There are some era-appropriate advertisements too. As an illustration, I hadn’t seen this one from the Acquired Milk? marketing campaign earlier than it popped up. It jogged my memory of the J. Walter Weatherman gag from Arrested Improvement:

The app’s database is powered by IMVDb (The Web Music Video Database). The movies are all pulled from YouTube, one of many issues that helped spell the demise of MTV’s 24/7 music channels. There wasn’t precisely a powerful case for Whole Request Reside to remain on the air, for example, when now we have entry to virtually each music video ever at our fingertips.

One among my favourite issues about MTV Rewind is that it has successful counter just like the Geocities of outdated. So very ‘90s. The truth is, the entire thing is rad. Tubular, some may say.

MTV Rewind isn’t related to MTV or its mum or dad firm. Nonetheless, it does use MTV’s title. Right here’s hoping Paramount’s legal professionals don’t crack down on this. It’s good to have enjoyable issues on the web.