Which are the Best iTunes Radio Stations?

August 18, 2010 7:08 PM

iTunes radio listeners: What do you like?

I pretty much forgot that iTunes had a "radio" section until recently. I see it's got a lot more stations than when last I checked. Which is great, but I'm probably not going to get to check them all out. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm pretty open, so any musical genres are fine, and non-music is alright as well.

(I'm aware of Pandora and all, just checking in on what's cool on this platform)

posted by hackly_fracture to Media & Arts (21 answers total)

CBC Radio 3 is pretty great. It's a good mix of stuff from a bunch of genres and has introduced me to lots of excellent new music.
posted by bewilderbeast at 7:14 PM on August 18, 2010

I often listen to "Indie Pop Rocks! from SomaFM," which you can find under the Alternative Rock category. No talk, just recent indie rock/pop that and a few classics mixed in. Primarily upbeat, but not distracting, so it makes good work background music.
posted by dayintoday at 7:14 PM on August 18, 2010

Eclectic/KEXP Live

Their best show is 6 a.m.–10 a.m. Pacific Time.
posted by grouse at 7:19 PM on August 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

I find all of the SomaFM stations to be pretty great work music (on headphones) and have recently really been enjoying deepGroove Radio from the Electronica section (although if you don't enjoy deep/latin/groovy house you probably won't like it).
posted by dolface at 7:21 PM on August 18, 2010

drone zone.
posted by modernnomad at 7:32 PM on August 18, 2010

WW07 90.7 FM

New Orleans jazz
posted by Beardman at 8:24 PM on August 18, 2010

KCRW - Eclectic
I use at work & need a few new suggestions myself......lots are listed but they are not always active.
posted by sequin at 8:34 PM on August 18, 2010

"Groove Salad" when i'm at my computer and writing or programming. If I listen to something with lyrics, my brain gets distracted and wants to sing along.
posted by Wild_Eep at 9:22 PM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

FWIW, I haven't made it through all the stations in most of the categories below, but these are the ones I find myself coming back to (internet radio on Itunes is amazing!):

Under the "Electronica" category:

- di.fm trance

- di.fm techno

- pure.fm progressive

- pure.fm trance

(pretty much any of the stations from either service in this category, depending on your tastes)

Under "70s retro":

- absolute 70s pop (1.fm) (sometimes)

- disco ball (1.fm)

- all hit 70s (sky.fm)

- radioio 70s pop

- radioio 70s rock

- radioio disco hits

(although these come through at 64k, which causes some distortion, depending on your speaker set up, sometimes noticeable)

"80s Flashback":

- radioio 80s new wave

- radioio 80s pop

- radioio 80s rock

- all euro 80s (1.fm) (kinda a crap shoot sometimes)

(same audio issues on occasion)

"Jazz":

- kcsm/jazz 91.1

With most all these, it's the same basic formula: not a lot of talk/commercials/distraction, decent ratio of good stuff to annoying junk, and reasonable variety over the day and week, without too much repetition, etc.
posted by 5Q7 at 9:23 PM on August 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

Far and away my favorite and a huge part of my listening life is Radio Paradise, under eclectic.
posted by macinchik at 9:42 PM on August 18, 2010

KALX 90.7 at the University of California, Berkeley.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 9:51 PM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Boot Liquor
posted by cromagnon at 10:14 PM on August 18, 2010

I like WIUX student radio out of Indiana University mostly because they stream at 320 kbps and I really like high quality streams. I also like radioparadise.com . The 192 kbps mp3 stream is listenable within iTunes.
posted by sockpup at 1:53 AM on August 19, 2010

Pig Radio - electronic music and indie pop
Radio Deliro - French jazz, blues, and pop

Not sure what heading those are under, as I'm away from my iTunes at the moment.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 5:29 AM on August 19, 2010

Seconding Soma Radio; specifically Secret Agent and Illinois Street Lounge.
posted by BostonTerrier at 6:54 AM on August 19, 2010

Eclectic/Radio Paradise (playlist)
posted by kirkaracha at 7:02 AM on August 19, 2010

For '80s music, Radio Nigel
For rap and funk, WeFunk
posted by bink at 10:36 AM on August 19, 2010

Radio Paradise.
posted by shallowcenter at 11:18 AM on August 19, 2010

Dynamic Range Radio
WFMU
(both under 'eclectic')
Late mix by Vmix.fm (jazz)
WGBH (classical)
Most of the Soma stations

Itunes radio is great, just "flip the dial" and keep trying new stuff!
posted by Paris Elk at 3:06 PM on August 19, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks to one and all!
posted by hackly_fracture at 3:47 PM on August 19, 2010

Almost all college radio DJs are volunteering their time because they love music (there's a small minority of college DJs that just like to hear their voice on the radio). The random mix you get from satellite radio and other shuffled music folders sucks compared the passion of a real person. But, it all depends on the DJ so you need to have several stations to choose from. Probably 75% of college DJs are great, but the other 25% are pure shit. Luckily, there's a bunch of stations to choose from:

KALX -Cal Berkeley's station.
KDVS -UC Davis
KFJC -foothill college. Hit or miss. They really like noise.
KZSU Stanford
KCEA radio from the '20s - 50's

Warning for weekends: college radio loves shitty reggae Sat-Sun.
posted by spork at 8:38 PM on August 19, 2010