MYXtape: Soundtracks of A Generation
More than a music platform, MYX became a fragment of our childhoods—an enduring testament of the beauty and timelessness of Filipino music.
Words Marc Nathaniel Servo
Photos courtesy of MYX
December 01, 2025
A musical comfort zone. This is how the MYX channel once felt to me, and to many other Filipino kids, who grew up with songs curated by their video jockeys (VJs).
MYX Daily Top 10 was the usual morning routine, as you asked your parents to wait a little while longer before going to school. MYX was an afterschool ritual, after the bell chimed, you ran home, opened the television, and tuned in to either Mellow MYX or Backtraxx, with Spanish bread and a tin can filled with RC Cola in hand.
It was akin to a parent who was present every step of the way, guiding me in music through thick and thin. When I first found love, I listened to IV of Spades, and when I first felt loss, I sang with Girl in Red. Now all grown up, the music I streamed through the years has shaped the songs I loved and will love as I move toward new realms in life.
When MYX began broadcasting in 2000, it replaced MTV Philippines as the local music staple through its karaoke-style subtitled lyrics. Ever since, it has long held the status of premiere local music show that inspired youth and bore witness to the rise of great musicians through the years.
In this piece, Art+ winds back time as we explore how MYX shaped an entire generation of music lovers and ponder the question—where to next?
A MYX Generation
What stuck with Abigail Prieto as a child was the rush that followed every afterschool session with MYX: “I remember that’s one of my fave programs back then, ‘yong tipong I got excited every day to watch the Top 10, usually featuring Unique, IV of Spades of course, Spongecola, Chicosci, and other rising, if not yet well-known, OPM artists during that time.”
There, she also discovered international artists like Maroon 5 and One Direction, even laughingly sharing how she developed a quirky interest in MNL48 through MYX. For Abigail, the fun part of MYX was how it helped her find great music across genres, including some she never expected to love.
Furthermore, the inability to skip songs on the television definitely gave particular songs a chance to rise in popularity. There, she found some of her favorite musicians, including Hale, SUD, IV of Spades, MNL48, and Juan Karlos.
Most of the younger generation tuned in to MYX during their high school days, a moment when we were all still free of responsibilities. MYX, more than a music channel, signified a freer time—a period we would always look back on with endearing reminiscence.
Similar to Abigail, Alessandra Reodique said that MYX also shaped her unique music taste, as she watched the channel with her brothers. She shared how MYX helped her gain an appreciation for niche music, opening her mind to obscure tunes that almost never made it to the charts.
“It gives opportunity and platform sa smaller artists na makapasok sa eksena ng mainstream or kahit maka-gain man lang ng recognition from a wider audience. Kapag nakikita or naririnig kasi sa tv ang isang artist o band, people tend to take them and their craft more seriously,” she expounded.
Alessandra became a fan of Sandwich, Spongecola, Rivermaya, Eraserheads, and many more local artists, as well as Owl City, Jesse McCartney, and Secondhand Serenade, after listening to their songs repeatedly. Today, she embraces a wider range of groups, spanning from popular to the most obscure bands.
For Jennel Mariano, however, MYX is not just a streaming channel but a musical archive. He first discovered MYX in his childhood through his aunt, who was a fond listener of alternative music. Back then, alternative bands and artists were slowly rising to become part of the local zeitgeist—a cultural moment he witnessed.
“I would say MYX has helped me find archives about my favorite artists, like Up Dharma Down for example. Watching their old performances from earlier in their career feels like a blast from the past,” he told Art+.
Now, we can only look back on the times brought to us by MYX music. It never died; we just grew and learned to find our own music without a music channel. Still, every now and then, our generation remains attached to its memories, even with the rise of digital platforms catered to music.
In the same interview, Mary Rose Maligmat jokingly said that MYX is like the Cocomelon of our generation—a nostalgic entertainment that comes with Top Hits of the Week, Mellow MYX, and Where U At?, among many other segments.
“It is like a retrospective time machine, it is as if it has conditioned my subconscious to bring me back to that first listen associated with a bygone era when I stream the songs I first encountered at MYX,” Mary shared.
Mary still vividly remembers how MYX set the tone in their household, as she shared musical moments with her brother, singing along to One Direction and Korean boy groups prior to the Hallyu Wave.
She stressed how a generation of K-pop fans certainly has to be thankful to MYX for bringing this sensation to our childhood. Now, in our 20s, Mary believes that, as much as anyone else, the love we have for Up Dharma Down, Gloc-9, Cueshe, 5 Seconds of Summer, and other generational artists is owed to the trace of nostalgia attached to their music—nostalgia that resonates with our childhood.
With that, Abigail also adds on how MYX helped niche artists find their own spotlight, “Sa laki ng platform and scope ng MYX, it helps niche artists to have their own spotlight and have the chance to showcase what they have to offer sa iba't ibang viewers.”
The youth who have certainly grown older are now hardcore fans of either obscure or classic local music, jamming to songs that feel close to their hearts. Even in discovering new music, recall has always been an element that shapes their taste—turning memories into something they can listen to at any time of the day.
But as music channels on television slowly fade into obscurity, with even MTV shutting down a month ago, the question that lingers in many fans’ minds is: what will happen to MYX?
Future with MYX
The ABS-CBN shutdown affected the production of MYX Channel, as it is a subsidiary of the corporation. However, with the music industry’s quick transition to digital, this move might have been for the best.
“I believe that free television's loss of the MYX channel is also a significant loss to the music industry. Music will never be the same with social media given the disfragmentation caused by algorithms and AI, and we will never listen in the same genuine and collective way just like how it was with Myx,” Mary adds.
The problem with MYX’s transition remains the same as that of its counterparts: getting lost in the vast feed of music platforms, only reaching a fraction of the viewers it once held. Still, it proudly maintains its position as a mainstream local music bastion, alongside other local brands like Wish FM.
Now, MYX continues to serve many roles: a retrospective time machine, a cultural archive, a bastion of the Filipino music landscape, among many others. In the limitless yet highly competitive world of social media, it continues to bring Filipino music to the spotlight arduously—hoping to shape a new generation of musical youth.
