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EnglishWhat is The 120 Minutes Archive by altmusictv?
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The 120 Minutes Archive at altmusictv.com is an independent, volunteer-built library of playlists and music videos from MTV's 120 Minutes and its successor shows. It is useful if you want to look up what aired on a specific episode, revisit classic alternative music videos from the 1980s through the 2000s, or browse the show's history. It is a fan-driven project, not an official MTV site, and the site does not present itself as a streaming service for full episodes.
What the archive covers
The site describes itself as "the independent, critically acclaimed, definitive library of music video nostalgia." Its scope, based on the site's own account:
- 1,058 episodes of playlists and music videos
- 1986 to 2013, spanning the various iterations of 120 Minutes on both MTV and MTV2
- Subterranean, the successor show that ran from 2003 to 2011
- 27 years of Music Television history, assembled from scratch with hundreds of volunteer contributors
The original 120 Minutes series aired from 1986 to 2003, and the archive also documents that run alongside the later MTV2 versions.
What you can actually do there
The archive is organized around episodes rather than as a continuous video feed. In practice you would use it to:
- Look up the playlist for a particular episode and see which videos aired
- Find music videos tied to those episodes
- Read background material on the show, including its full history
- Browse newly added entries, which the site labels as New
Beyond the episode archive, the site maintains a regularly updated Spotify playlist called 120 minutes into the future, focused on new dark wave, synth, and electronic music.
Sections worth knowing
| Section | What it offers |
|---|---|
| About the Archive | Project goals, FAQ, press coverage, contact info |
| About 120 Minutes | The full history of the original series |
| Exit Interview | Jim Shearer's conversation with Dave Kendall and Matt Pinfield |
| Series Finale Video | The special episode that closed out the original series in 2003 |
| Jim Shearer Q&A | Interview with the former host on music and MTV |
| Support the Archive | Ways to contribute to the project |
Recent updates and one notable loss
The site's "What's New" section (dated October 2026) reports that Dave Kendall has died. Kendall was the creator and host of MTV's 120 Minutes in the late '80s and early '90s. The news was first announced by Matt Pinfield on July 14, and the archive links to other news sources for more information.
Earlier in the year, the site cleared a backlog of submissions and added more than 50 new episode playlists from MTV's 120 Minutes, covering 1987 to 2000. More corrections and missing episodes have since come in and are being worked on.
Who it is for
This archive suits anyone who wants to trace alternative music video history episode by episode — whether you watched 120 Minutes when it aired, are researching a specific band or era, or want a curated entry point into dark wave and synth music through the site's Spotify playlist. If you are looking for a licensed, on-demand video service, this is not that; it is a reference and nostalgia resource built by contributors.