Internet radio is experiencing a new wave of popularity: the idea of streaming music online in the same way as FM frequencies did back in the 90s, but it’s in the last five years that online radio stations have become really big – they’re listened to, they’re followed, they influence the music industry. Even Apple succumbed to the fashion and launched their Beats 1, pretending that it was them who invented internet radio. At the request of TJ, journalist and creator of the popular culture podcast Blitz and Chips, Grisha Prorokov, has collected 10 interesting and diverse Internet radios.
Since the Internet does not and cannot have the same format restrictions as traditional radio, all Internet radios without exception like to play experimental, strange and obscure music, so turn them on without prejudice and bias.
Dublab
One of the oldest online radio stations that started as pirate radio at the University of Southern California. Dublab’s founder, Mark McNeil, who studied music business there, launched the university’s internet radio streaming service in 1998. UUK management soon shut down the pirate station, but McNeil realized it had potential – and Dublab launched independently in 1999. The birth of the radio station coincided with the hype around the Internet and big investments, and McNeil and his colleagues almost received several million dollars from venture capitalist Doug Ahlers. But just then the dot-com bubble burst, and Dublab had to manage without investment.
NTS Radio
The British station responsible for the emergence of the new wave of internet radio. Since launching in 2011, NTS has had many followers and imitators. NTS’s motto is Don’t Assume. It means that there are no genre and geographical restrictions on the radio, anything can be played here and you should be open to any music.
Radar Radio
London radio dedicated to new British music. It airs a hundred different programs and music of various genres – grime, afrobeat, techno, rap, house, whatever. Sometimes big musicians like Skepta or Maya are interviewed and even play live, but the center is still young people. Radar helps the new generation of musicians and DJs to be heard. The radio even has an educational mission: the staff organizes workshops for DJs and radio hosts and invites very young people with no experience to do shows.
Pedro Basement Broadcast
Radio featuring music from the extensive collection of legendary French DJ and techno musician Laurent Garnier, author of Electroshock. Pedro Basement Broadcast broadcasts music 24 hours a day without interruption. Dancehall, house and techno, indie rock and old instrumental jazz – Garnier puts on everything. The fact that almost all of the music on PBB comes from his personal collection adds an element of intimacy: it’s as if one curator is choosing all of his favorite music for you personally.
SomaFM
SomaFM differs from all the radio stations listed above in that it’s not one radio, but a whole cluster of different themed channels. Instead of putting programs on the air one after another, the creators of SomaFM offer listeners to choose what to turn on. There’s alternative rock radio, 1970s radio, metal radio, and so on. SomaFM exists entirely thanks to listeners and their donations.
Newtown Radio
Newtown Radio was founded in 2009 in Brooklyn. The original idea was to feature music made in Brooklyn and the surrounding boroughs, but in the process Newtown grew to become one of the largest American internet radio stations – and now it simply features cutting-edge independent music from around the world. You’re just as likely to hear Mac Demarco, Real Estate and The Drums, some weird house producer, or Beastie Boys and disco. Besides radio itself, Newtown employees are engaged in organizing concerts and festivals – in general, for nine years of existence they have earned a place in the American music world.