- An Indian developer created Salon.wtf to recreate 1990s barber shop music vibes
- The site features songs commonly heard during affordable haircuts in local shops
- Shared on X, the project garnered over 1.6 million views for its nostalgic appeal
An Indian developer has turned childhood nostalgia into a quirky internet project by creating a website that recreates the music-filled atmosphere of old neighbourhood barber shops. Yash Bharadwaj's website, called Salon.wtf, plays a selection of songs that many Indians may remember hearing during inexpensive haircuts at local barber shops in the 1990s and early 2000s. The idea quickly caught on after Bharadwaj shared the project on X. The website is designed to evoke the days of Rs 20 haircuts, simple hairstyles and small neighbourhood shops where Bollywood songs often played in the background.
"I made a website that plays bangers from Indian barbershops before you became fancy and started visiting salons. You once went to a 'saloon' for βΉ20 haircuts. simple hairstyles with music that could fix your soul," Bharadwaj wrote on X.
See the post here:
The post struck a nostalgic chord online, crossing more than 1.6 million views as users shared memories of visiting local barbers as children. Some called the project a clever example of how the internet can bring back everyday experiences from the past. The nostalgia also sparked suggestions for similar websites dedicated to other familiar sounds of India, including music played in trucks and sweet shops.
One user wrote, "Everytime I hear a song by Kumar Sanu, I feel like I'm having a haircut." Another said, "I loved this man! and I love the way you have designed it. beautiful." A third added, "U made me miss my hometown barber. But good valuable work."
The project even caught the attention of Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, who reacted to Bharadwaj's post with emojis as the website continued to gain attention online.
ππΌππΌππΌπ¬π¬π¬π€π€π€π https://t.co/zFVawltQ5s
β Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) August 9, 2026
How the website plays the music
The project also prompted questions about how the website handles copyrighted music.
Bharadwaj explained that the songs are not stored on his own servers. Instead, the website uses YouTube's existing playback functionality while giving the player a different interface, essentially creating a customised front end around the audio.
