So I've been enjoying listening to different radio stations all over the world for the past month and have never felt the need to open Spotify. Might be cancelling my subscription soon. It's also pretty cool to listen to a radio program that's been hand picked by a radio host. Of course that doesn't count if you're an audiophile that needs the best quality, or really want to pick every single song yourself, but for me it's more than good enough. radio.garden has a pretty fun way to discover internet radio stations with an interactive globe you can spin around in your web browser or in app.
The way I listen to music changed forever when some middle aged Italian woman introduced me to FIP! It's a public French broadcaster coming out of Paris, but there's no ads and hardly any talking so not understanding French is not an issue.
They have wonderfully curated channels in a nice little set of genres - I often find myself listening to the main channel (very varied, but always great) for ordinary activities, and the Jazz station for work.
Soma FM is what I have been using every once in a while. They have different stations with different kinds of music, all good imo. They’re completely free with the possibility of buying merch and / or donating some money to help keep the servers up.
Yep. I was about to recommend Soma.fm too when I saw your comment. Groove Salad, Deep Space One, and Space Station are my favorites on there right now. I discover great new artists from Soma all the time, like Rei Harakami, who I've been obsessed with lately. HIGHLY recommended.
There is a donor-supported over-the-air radio station in Alberta, Canada that also streams - CKUA . A focus on musical discovery means that there is not a genre that isn't played at some point.
I recently had something similar happen, but in a different direction. I inherited upwards of a thousand vinyl records ranging from classical through 80’s. I set up a nice sound system in my office and have been popping records all throughput my work day. What’s nice is that flipping the side and putting a new record on is like a mini break between tasks. Vinyl sounds better than digital and it is cheap to grab a bunch of records at yard sales, thrift stores, and online.
Ah yas! Radio.garden! Love it and so physic to see all the radio station recommendations. I like to listen to the artic outpost station :) idk if i would recommend it but i like it very much.
I’ve been listening to the NTS radio app. It’s a live radio and music broadcasting app that has stations from artists and hosts and DJ’s from over 50 major cities across the world. Free and very cool to hear what’s playing on the other side of the world at any time!