Trying to copy Britney Spears ’ latest dance moves, or marvelling at how Evanescence’s lead singer Amy Lee was able to look so elegant while trying not to fall from a building in Bring Me To Life, was once an important part of TV viewership. Music channels provided casual fans, and die-hard groupies, with the chance to watch back-to-back videos on linear TV at any time of the day. To keep up with the demand, at one point in the noughties, 40 channels were offering a constant stream of music videos.
However, the discs have abruptly stopped spinning and some of the biggest names in the genre – Kerrang, The Box, 4Music, Kiss, and Magic closed up shop in June 2024. Channel 4 stated they are ‘no longer of sufficient scale to deliver meaningful return on investment’ indicating the party is well and truly over. As someone who watched the chart countdown every morning before school (but was often forced to leave when it reached around number eight, meaning my music tastes were always just a little behind those who lived closer to their place of education), it feels like a tragic loss.
Metro.co.uk’s TV Editor Adam Miller will also be sad to see them go after first discovering their existence during a sick day.
‘Unlike Rishi Sunak I was fortunate enough to have Sky TV,’ he joked. ‘TLC’s Waterfalls was playing on MTV and I was hypnotised immediately. Then I was just glued to it all day, watching Beatie Boys’ Intergalactic, Chemical Brothers and Massive Attack’s T.