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What is your favorite internet radio station?
Tailored music streaming apps seem to be all the rage now but does anyone still listen to internet radio stations?
I used to enjoy a lot of alternative music stations but many of them have either shut down now or switched to fully web based sites requiring accounts.
Currently I've been listening to lots of Groove Salad from SomaFM which I find really relaxing.
What are your favorites?
I have some biases on this one since I work in radio and I have friends all over the industry. That said, they really are great at what they do.
First of all, I recently started doing a show for WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Radio stream, which is exactly what it says it is - old rock and roll, r&b, funk, soul, psychedelic, punk, etc. Here's the link to my show page, if anyone is curious about that.
So with that out of the way, here's a list of some great streaming radio, mostly but not entirely streams of terrestrial radio stations. I listen to all of these at least occasionally.
If I could, I'd like to give a shout out to WTMD Towson University (Baltimore metro area) radio station. Radio in Maryland has a long and crazy history and a lot of the djs and personalities that had huge followings on alternative and freeform terrestrial stations that died after many decades ended up at WTMD. Unfortunately, the most famous of those, The Weasel retired about a year ago. I think they still have Weasel's Wild Weekend playlists available though, and that guy has to be in the top 20 most knowledgeable music historians in the world.
Thanks, I will definitely check it out. I'm actually in Baltimore two or three times a year, although I don't drive there so I'm not usually in a position to explore the radio dial easily.
They do an identical internet stream as the terrestrial broadcast
Soma.FM has been playing in my home since like ‘00. Groove Salad Classic, Fluid, and DEFCON radio are personal favorites.
Team Illinois Street Lounge checking in! Seriously, Illinois Street Lounge is the most amusing array of quirky fun jams. Give it a go. It's another of the channels found at Soma.
Soma is amazing. And if you ever need holiday music, their array of holiday stations are on another level.
Absolutely. Christmas Lounge is so good my mother changed her holiday music listening routine.
You might also like https://luxuriamusic.com/ -- https://ice10.securenetsystems.net/LUXOMP3
I almost never listen to radio, but once every few months I'll chuck Lush from Soma.FM on. It's a bit weird because it's so different from what I usually listen to. Though it helped me come to the realisation that I like female vocals, I had been stockpiling artists like that throughout my life without being conscious of it.
Indie Pop Rocks has been my jam since 2007! I've discovered so many new artists because of that little station. It has a very soothing quality to it and a special place in my heart.
Been listening to Radio Paradise for a looong time and have discovered so many cool artists and songs there.
Another in support of RadioParadise. I have a recurring monthly donation set up because I listen to it daily.
Amazing… small team, but they have the website, phone apps, Apple Watch, Roku, FireTV, etc, etc, plus raw streams for any device. Multiple quality levels, including lossless, offline caching, etc
…not to mention a HUGE library (I hear something I’ve never heard every day), per track discussion forums, a community forum, relevant artwork that plays a slideshow while you listen, band info, lyrics, a 0-10 nuanced rating system, ability to export your ratings, and a favorites channel once you’ve rated enough, etc…
all without ads…and all FREE.
I couldn’t NOT set up a donation within hours of finding the site.
I've been listening to this for a couple hours now and am really liking it so far, thanks!
di.fm is a wonderful EDM paradise. I say that as Electronic Dance Music in the broadest of senses. It has various forms of Trance, House, Drum n Bass, and it's always new artists.
They also host and rehost various A State of France, and various EDM podcasts too.
I came here to say this. I've been listening to Digitally Imported for close to 20 years now. They have all kinds of electronic music from a huge collection of genres.
My favourite is Vocal Trance.
I didn't know it stood for Digitally Imported!
My only issue with their radio selection is their hosting is sketchy sometimes and my PiHole doesn't like it.
I thought I was a nerd for being a di.fm subscriber for 10+ years. Had no idea they'd even been around for 20 years. Glitch Hop, Chill Hop, and Disco House.
Hot damn, it's always good to see di.fm plugged in the wild. I've been listening to them for about 2 decades!! I first heard about them from a guy giving out stickers at a festival back in 2000. They've been my go-to for streaming music ever since!
I honestly don't even remember how I found out about it. I think it was a reddit link back in 2015 or so.
I've been listening to a lot of KUSC the past few months.
It's classical and ran by a university.
However, my knowledge of classical is elementary so I'd defere to somebody with better knowledge on this one.
I know very little about classical either but I do enjoy it often enough. I'll definitely add this station to my playlist!
WQXR in New York is another good one for classical. (Full disclosure: I sometimes work for them, though not on the air.)
Thanks a lot. I've just put WQXR on the background.
Very enjoyable!
My knowledge of classical is very basic too but I have a sort of elementary grounding of it. A lot of that I attribute to discovering KUSC as a radio station through the app (was it even an app back then??) on my N95 years ago.
As classical stations go it's really pretty good - they play whole pieces, or at least whole movements, the commentary is kept succinct, and because it's public radio you don't get drowned with news and opinions and adverts.
And unlike a lot of stations that have a really limited range that boils down to pretty much "The 10 pieces you've previously heard in films", KUSC does everything from big orchestral movie scores to famous composers to (for popular culture) quite obscure composed so it exposes you to a whole range.
I mean, I'll also defer to someone with better knowledge than me, but I can hear a piece these days and go "Huh, I think that's Telemann" with at least a bit of accuracy, and that's because I've spent a decade or so periodically sticking on KUSC in the background.
Definitely my favourite station.
Another member here suggested WQXR, which I've also found to be very nice!
Give it a listen.
KUSC is great. I actually donated to them once.
I stopped because the time I usually listen is usually monopolized by “Mozart in the Morning”, which has only cemented my dislike of the composer.
Arctic Outpost AM1270, out of (now) sunny Longyearbyen, Norway! It's literally in the Arctic Circle, and they play a lot of different stuff.
Pretty neat station, for reference their website is https://www.aor.am/
If you're a plane spotter/aircraft enthusiast, lofi beats with ATC of choice in the background can be pretty good.
https://www.lofiatc.com/?icao=kjfk
Hah, that's really cool. The cadence of ATC does fit pretty well with lofi.
Maybe not 100% on-topic, but you might get a kick out of Radio Garden, a geographical view of radio stations. Imagine Google Earth showing radio stations with the ability to play their streams. Includes at least some internet stations (soma.fm and bff.fm are both listed under San Francisco, for example). ATC also pops up - NORCAL approach is one of the San Francisco stations.
In a similar vein, you can find a variety of Icecast streaming servers here: https://dir.xiph.org/
https://lofi.limo/. I used to have one that was kind of like a operating system layout but cant find the link, if anyone has it.
You were probably thinking of https://poolsuite.net/
Yep, that's it, thanks!
https://wfmu.org/
I always enjoy it while playing Euro or American Truck Simulator but oddly enough I don't think I've ever listened to it in my real car...
Still, good eclectic mix and public radio.
It came up in another post but I enjoy soundtracks since they're usually instrumental.
Cinemix has a good selection and do not have any ads.
Nice, I'll check it out!
FIP radio is my absolute favourite. We have it on constantly in the house. No adverts, eclectic range of music that is nicely curated to flow together. I've discovered so many artists through it. Plus if you don't speak French, the small sections of conversation every now and then just drift into the background. Highly recommended!
Third to soma. Their space stations, plus the left coast and 80’s alt.
I’m also partial to my hometown lp stations, ashevillefm and wpvm. Both have lots of interesting music and talk.
Mine is Rainwave, specifically their OCRemix channel. All remixes and reinterpretations of video game soundtracks, with a neat voting/request system to help determine the upcoming playlist.
Intergalactic FM
I love their mix of rare electronic music and disco. I always discover something new and amazing when I tune in.
No Hit Radio -KCJV
Soul/oldies/garage station broadcasting from TX. Regional hits and non-charting singles from the 50’s to the 70’s.
If you like Old Time Radio, Relic Radio is my personal favorite. Lofi 24/7 to have around when you're doing laundry or whatever as well.
+1's to SomaFM (my top stations there are Defcon, Suburbs of Goa, and Drone Zone when I want to sleep) and WFMU.
aNONradio is fun, with (mostly) one-hour shows done by members of SDF, and a nightly open mic where anyone can give it a try. Some shows are definitely better than others, but that will depend on your taste, of course. I've done two scheduled shows there (one jazz, one funk/soul/beats/grooves) and several one-offs.
Don’t know if it counts as an “internet radio” station, but I can’t believe no one’s said KEXP yet. Interesting music, great live sessions, brilliant interviews.
There's this app called Radio Garden that's a globe you can search for radio stations anywhere on Earth. My favorite is this little station in Bermuda called Dr Dick's Dub Shack. Reggae style instrumental music. There's everything on that app though it's pretty cool
Flabbergasted to see no mention of NTS. I listened to a ton of web radios over the years but none come even remotely close to it. They have a proper schedule packed full of shows, 24/7, featuring artists and selectors from all over the world, early bird/breakfast shows, featured mixes/editorial picks, “infinite mixtapes” sorted by genre, a proper iOS/Android app, and a vibrant community on Discord. I basically stopped listening to music in any other way since I found out about it about 5 years ago.
This may not quite fit with the other suggestions here, but there is a donor-supported over-the-air radio station in Alberta that also streams - CKUA . A focus on musical discovery means that there is not a genre that isn't played at some point.
https://www.marilu.it/, Born to Rock!
Sure it's in Italian but their commercials are few in between and there isn't except for the news not a lot of talking going on. (also I'm learning Italian so I might be slightly biased)
I’ve been listening to limbik frequency on and off for maybe a decade.
https://www.radio.net/s/limbik
I've always enjoyed the Vox Satanae programming on Radio Free Satan. Great classical selections from the middle ages to present day. I'm not a Satanist and don't recall hearing any hail-satan type messaging, they just focus on works that aren't overtly upbeat or centered on judeo-christian rites and feasts.
They also have other programming (various musical genres, talk) that looks interesting but I haven't personally checked out.
Shady Pines Radio is based out of Portland, Oregon. There’s a different show with real human DJs every hour, so the shows feel really well curated and there are different styles of music on throughout the day. The app lets you subscribe to shows you like so you’ll get a reminder before they start, and there’s a chat room to talk to other listeners. It’s got a big enough following that they’ve been able to put on a music festival two summers in a row now.
Frequence3 is my favorite, I've been listening to it since the mid-00s I think. Their main channel is a good mix of relatively mainstream French and English language stuff from 80s through current.
In no particular order:
I like the fact that I can listen to those in VLC without opening the browser.
Yes! Being able to use my own customized music player (I use Audacious) is another big reason I much prefer radio streams over web players.
Nolife-radio is a great resource for videogame music. Great variety and availability.
How, in the sanctity of all that is music is KEXP not mentioned here?
Acaville Radio is contemporary a cappella music 24/7. Also on Tune In. They cover many of the college artists and what's going on in the various contests.
I used to listen to wefunk and I don't now remember how it got out of my rotation. Thanks for the reminder.
I used to listen to soma.fm via streamripper/StreamRipperX, and amassed a small collection of mp3 music on that. That was over 15 years ago. There is a a website, I can't remember the name/url - it is basically a world map and you can zoom in on locations that have streaming radio online and listen to them.
Yeah I've used an app called Streamtuner and radio.garden before but they have a whole lot of channels of various quality, I prefer to get good recommendations from other people.
YES! radio.garden is the website! It's kind of nice to just drift around the map and let serendipity guide you.
It's been on hiatus for a good while now, but for several years my go-to radio was Friends Forever. A great selection of niche, mostly east-asian electronic, punk, pop... discovered many bands I'd never heard of before.
Someone here already mentioned my personal favorite, Di.fm, which is great for all kinds of electronic music.
My other favorite is The Retro Cocktail Hour, featured on Kansas Public Radio.
https://www.retrococktail.org/
Host Darrell Brogdon lights up the airwaves with an eclectic variety of old school tunes from all kinds of weird stuff! It's my go to for background music whenever I've got chores around the house.