Binge Partners With Nightlife To Launch New Music Video Channels

Seven curated music video channels debut on the streaming service on July 1.

Australian streaming service Binge announced seven new music video channels are being added on July 1. Created in partnership Nightlife Music, the outfit behind crowdDJ, the offering promises a mix of new hits and retro classics, plus a dedicated Aussie music channel. According to the press release, all channels will be ad-free and curated by the Nightlife Music team.

So, here’s what we’re getting:

• Trending: Top pop tracks, viral chart climbers & hit predictions.
• Kids: Wiggles wake up, daytime Disney and night-time clean teen pop. 
• Club: The best of dance, club and electronic.
• Retro: The greatest hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
• CMC: Nothing but country hits, all day and all night.
• Max: Easy listening classics and contemporary hits.
• Australian Played: Aussie artists only. Featuring classics, hits and rising stars.

…which isn’t too shabby at all, but nothing Earth-shattering. The only thing that triggers a slight raise of the eyebrow is country music getting a dedicated channel in the form of CMC, while other genres get folded into the more general offerings, but maybe I’m massively underestimating the current popularity of country.

Binge is really hammering home the notion that the channels are locally curated – some variation on “curated” crops up repeatedly in the presser, and it’s not a long presser – and cite Nightlife’s 35 year history in the music/hospo space, and fair play, really. Curated music shows used to be a TV staple not that long ago – the joke “I remember when MTV used to play music videos.” has more than a kernel of truth to it. In fact, MTV recently announced they’re pivoting back to music in September, albeit only for the week leading up to the Video Music Awards. These days the ABC’s venerable Rage is one of the last of a dying breed – and having launched in 1987 now stands as the longest-running music program still airing.

The question is whether there’s still an audience for this sort of thing. I’d hope so – I’ll be checking it out for sure – but the vectors of music discovery have shifted radically since the heyday of the music video. With Spotify, YouTube, and even Tiktok right there, whether this will bring new subscribers to Binge is anyone’s guess, and new subscribers is the only meaningful metric in streaming.

Binge, which tends to occupy fourth place in terms of market share, behind Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, are pretty hungry for new viewers right now, having lost a good chunk of their library when Max launched in March and took a swathe of Binge‘s HBO and Warner titles with them, including The Last of Us, Euphoria, House of the Dragon, Succession and The Penguin. I can’t see this clawing back anyone who churned over to keep up with their favourite series, but stranger thing have happened.