88mph

What it does

88mph is a searchable archive of music charts across multiple countries and decades. Users can browse historical hit songs from 1940 to 2025 across 230 charts in 20 countries. The interface lets visitors pick a country and year to see what charted at that time. Songs link directly to YouTube or Spotify for playback. The site presents charts without algorithmic filtering or recommendations—just raw historical data about what audiences actually listened to in different places and eras.

Who it is for

Music historians and enthusiasts curious about regional listening habits and how popular taste evolved globally. People interested in how musical trends spread across borders over the decades. Anyone wanting to understand what was popular in a specific country during a specific period. The open-source nature may appeal to developers and researchers wanting to expand or analyze the dataset.

Pricing

The site does not show prices.

How it stands out

88mph focuses on geographic and temporal breadth—comparing hits across 20 countries rather than aggregating a single global chart. Most music history resources emphasize a few dominant markets (US, UK, Western Europe). This tool surfaces what listeners in Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, and other regions were actually hearing. The design treats charts as a historical record rather than a discovery engine: no algorithms, no personalization, just what charted when and where. The open-source model invites community contributions to fill gaps in coverage and add new countries and years.

What a founder should check

First, verify the accuracy and completeness of existing chart data. Music chart history is fragmented—not all countries kept detailed records, and some data may be incomplete or sourced inconsistently. A rival would need to confirm whether the current 230 charts are authoritative or represent a partial picture.

Second, understand the licensing and API constraints. Playback links to Spotify and YouTube depend on those platforms' availability and terms. In regions where these services are blocked or unavailable, the product loses core functionality. Future competitors should map which countries have reliable access to these players.

Third, assess the moat around data. If the competitive advantage is simply owning historical chart data, that advantage weakens if incumbents (music streaming services, music databases) decide to build similar historical tools. The open-source approach accelerates data collection but may also make the project easier to replicate once the framework is proven.