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Apple Music has launched a brand new — and free! — music video channel, the company announced this morning.
Remember the good ol’ days when the original MTV channel was music 24/7? It didn’t matter what time of day or night you tuned in, you could find tunes, or tunes-related programming at the very least.
It looks like Apple is picking up where MTV left off, before its dilution with reality TV shows.
The brand new Apple Music TV is a free, 24-hour curated livestream of music videos and other music-related content. According to the announcement, programming will also include “exclusive new music videos and premieres, special curated music video blocks, and live shows and events as well as chart countdowns and guests.”
Apple Music TV launches today with a countdown of music videos of the top 100 most-streamed songs in the U.S. on Apple Music.
It’s only available to U.S. residents, at least for now.
The channel can be found under the Browse tab within the Apple Music app, and is also available on Apple TV in front of the service’s paywall.
“A great list of sampled artists on a typical day would be Drake, Dua Lipa, BTS, Billie Eilish — a contemporary mix of current hits,” said Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s global head of editorial and content. “It’s such a great way for music lovers to see big, contemporary hits in an easy to consume, lean-back way and be able to access Apple Music from the TV app at the flick of a switch.”
The biggest difference on the new channel versus old-school music programming? It looks like this channel won’t be hosted, nor will it have dedicated shows. Just all music, all the time. It will also house interviews that Apple’s radio hosts have conducted for which there is video.
Like I said, you can tune in for a live stream of music videos. You’ll also find both short-form and long-form videos and interviews mixed in. But perhaps even more importantly, you’ll find MTV-esque stuff like premieres of new music videos.
The channel’s first premieres are coming up at the end of the week. This Friday (October 23) will get first looks at music videos for Joji’s “777” and SAINt JHN’s “Gorgeous.”
The channel will also provide a space for other special events. For instance, this Thursday will feature a 24-hour takeover for Bruce Springsteen in advance of his new album’s release. The takeover will feature Springsteen music videos, live concert footage, and an interview with Apple Music 1 host Zane Lowe. Oh, and there will also be a live-streamed event where 1,000 fans get to ask Springsteen questions, and get treated to listening to the album ahead of its release.
The move into 24-hour music videos and other music-related content follows the recent rebranding of Apple’s Beats 1 as Apple Music 1, alongside two more live radio stations.
Of course, the concept of 24-hour music video TV programming was originally pioneered by MTV — which stood for Music TeleVision — back in 1981.
MTV eventually dropped the exclusive focus on music and started branching out into other content, in an effort to better appeal to its core audience of teens and young adults.
Since then, spots like YouTube and Vevo have risen to the top as spots to watch music videos. Apple’s new music channel will be in competition with them. However, Apple will have the benefit of original content, like gig footage, documentaries, and interviews.
