With the multitude of online radio stations that are available, picking your favorite should be easy. Below is our hand-picked list of the absolute best online radio stations for a variety of genres.

You’ll find country music, instrumental music, a station perfect for party music, and several others. Each of these picks has music selected by one or more DJs, much like a traditional radio station. In fact, some are just online streams of the same radio program played over the air in that station’s local area.

Please note that these websites are true radio programs, not on-demand music streaming services. While a streaming music service gives you the freedom to play specific tracks and eliminates commercials, you have to manually pick and choose which songs to stream. An internet radio station plays DJ-chosen music as part of a category or genre, like rock, indie, jazz, Christian, etc., making music discovery fun and easy.

WLTW 106.7 Lite FM: New York’s Best Variety Radio Station

Owned by iHeartMedia and often New York’s top-rated radio station, WLTW 106.7 Lite FM plays all types of music, from modern day back to the ‘80s.

  • Includes lyrics to some songs

  • Provides a full screen listening experience

  • Shows only the three most recently played tracks

You’ll hear dance, pop, rock, disco, R&B, punk, new wave, and more, from artists and groups like Wham!, George Michael, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Camila Cabello, Tears for Fears, Prince, Duran Duran, Cutting Crew, No Doubt, and many others.

If you like a recently played song from the WLTW 106.7 Lite FM radio station, you can start your own station based on that type of music, and even skip through the songs, unlike you can on the radio.

An iHeartRadio subscription lets you replay songs from the radio, save songs from the radio to your own playlist, and more. You can listen online as well as from the Windows or mobile app.

DI.FM: Electronic Music Internet Radio

Launched in 1999 as Digitally Imported, DI.FM is an internet radio service that lets you stream electronic music 24/7. They have a team of curators that choose the best music from each genre or style.

  • Several genres to choose from.

  • Lets you skip tracks.

  • Shows ads to free listeners.

  • Some streams are for premium users only.

  • Limited to 30m of streaming before you’re required to make a free account.

  • Lower quality audio for free users.

In addition to browsing the most popular channels here are several subcategories you can pick from: trance, EDM, dance, house, lounge, chillout, techno, bass, ambient, deep, classic, vocal, hard, and synth.

You can follow any channel to add it to your list of favorites for easy access later.

If you’re a paying user, you can change the audio quality and listen in external players through a playlist file. Free users can make an account to like and dislike tracks. You can log in with your email address or your Google or Facebook account.

Relax FM: The Best Radio Station for Relaxing Music

Relax FM is a radio station out of Moscow, Russia, that features instrumental, English, and foreign music that’s sure to relax you. There are multiple channels to choose from, including Relax Life, Relax Nature, Relax Gold, and Relax Latino.

  • The curated selection is amazing

  • Great place to find new chill music

  • Plays relaxing versions of popular music

  • Browse through the stream playlist

  • Site is partially in Russian

While you can listen online from anywhere, including the official Relax FM website, it’s also available locally to Moscow listeners at 90.8 FM and some other stations.

The apps linked below are from radio.net because the official Relax FM apps are in Russian. You can stream this radio station from radio.net, too.

SomaFM: Internet Radio for Awesome Indie Music

One of the best ways to find new indie music is with this internet radio station from SomaFM. The DJs hand-pick all the best indie songs they can find and let you listen directly from your browser or with your favorite media player.

  • Commercial-free radio station

  • Multiple ways to listen

  • Shows several recently played songs

  • The browser player includes a sleep timer

  • Uninteresting website design

Some of the artists and bands streamed on this radio station include Amanda Cadore, Alvvays, Aloha, Polica, Carroll, Paranoids, Violents and Monica Martin, Beck, and Neko Case.

Something else you can do is add songs to a list of your favorites, from where you can easily purchase them.

Several other channels are available if you’re not into indie music. You can find holiday music, ambient electronic and experimental space music, early 2000s classics, and others.

This internet radio station can be streamed from the web as well as through an iOS, Android, or Windows app. If you prefer the TuneIn app, you can use it, too; just search for SomaFM Indie Pop Rocks! on TuneIn.

Cinemix: A Radio Station for Movie Soundtracks

If you’re in the habit of buying soundtrack CDs from your favorite films, you’ll love this radio station. It features music found only in movies and TV shows, and since it’s ad-supported, it’s totally free.

  • Shows the movie or series the song is known from

  • Purchase links are available

  • Lets you listen from a browser or mobile app

  • Plays mainly orchestra music

  • Infrequent app updates

Just a few examples of movies and shows that Cinemix features music from include Supernatural, Bicentennial Man, Lost, Guardians of the Galaxy, Call the Midwife, Last Chance Harvey, War for the Planet of the Apes, and many others.

The current song, plus the three upcoming and several recently played songs, are listed out for you.

If you become a VIP member, you can see the 20 most recently played songs instead of just a few, as well as dedicate and request songs, and more.

Cinemix works from the web and on iOS, Android, and Windows 8 mobile devices.

Instrumental Hits Radio: Internet Radio Without Lyrics

Instrumental Hits Radio has been delivering a “blend of instrumental genres” in the form of a radio station since 2013. If you’re looking for something non-distracting for work or studying, this is what you need.

  • Provides a great mix of instrumental music

  • Keeps a history of all the music played that day

  • A playlist file can be downloaded to listen in your own music player

  • Request your favorite songs

  • Lots of ads in the mobile app

Some of the music you’ll hear include classical, big band, new-age, lounge, orchestral, jazz, and more.

There’s a mobile app available for Android.

KEAN 105.1 FM: Texas’ Best Country Music Radio Station

Based out of Texas, KEAN 105.1 FM is the best internet radio station to stream country music. They have a handful of DJs that choose the best country music for you, and all the upcoming shows for the week are listed on their website.

  • Runs on a web browser or mobile device

  • Dozens of the recently played songs are listed on their site where you can buy the tracks on iTunes

  • Must use the pop-up player to avoid stopping the music when you browse other areas of the site

KEAN 105.1 FM plays songs from Kenny Chesney, Kane Brown, Maren Morris, Rodney Atkins, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, and many others. See what’s played recently to get an idea.

Some internet radio stations play in a separate part of the site so that when you click elsewhere, like to view upcoming shows or recently played songs, the music won’t stop playing. To do that with this one, you need to open the pop-out player.

Aside from listening through a web browser, there’s also a KEAN 105.1 FM mobile app for Android and iOS.

K-LOVE: Christian Music and Talk Radio

Launched in the early ’80s, K-LOVE, a solely Christian music station, is today one of the world’s top-streamed online radio stations. It’s also delivered over FM radio in numerous U.S. cities.

  • Displays recently played songs

  • Provides links to buy songs

  • Shows lyrics for recent tracks

  • Includes briefs on local and national news

  • Artist info is shown in the browser player

  • Often lots of talk between songs

Every week, millions of online listeners can hear music from MercyMe, Rend Collective, Zach Williams, Francesca Battistelli, Skillet, for KING & COUNTRY, Chris Tomlin, Micah Tyler, Lauren Daigle, and more.

The website has a few other channels beyond the live stream, that targets Christmas, 90s, and 2000s music, specifically.

The K-LOVE mobile app works on iOS and Android, but only shows four recently played songs. However, it also has a Verse of the Day page and information on all the artists played on the radio station.

KIDJAM! Radio: Kid-Friendly Online Radio Station

KIDJAM! Radio features music a bit more appropriate for a younger crowd. It’s aimed at kids years 8–12, with occasional messages to educate children and encourage them to make wise decisions.

  • Avoids mature content

  • Void of typical “buy this” commercials

  • Kids can request a song to be played

  • Musicians can submit their own music

  • Extremely bare web player

  • Lacks useful information; doesn’t show current track or history of past songs

It plays “regular” music from known artists, but also has remixes of popular songs performed by kids.

The mobile app for iOS can rewind 10 seconds and shows the currently playing song, neither of which are supported in the web player.

Radio Santa Claus: Christmas Music All Year Round

Based out of Santa Claus Village in Finland, where Santa is around all year long, is the Radio Santa Claus station where thousands gather every day to listen to Christmas music any time of the year.

  • Includes modern Christmas music

  • Puts you in the Christmas mood with a live video feed from Santa Claus Village in Finland

  • You can leave images and comments for other listeners to see

  • Lots of website ads

The music here comes from singers like Frank Sinatra, Colbie Caillat, Bob Dylan, Karma, Blake Shelton, Dean Martin, Sara Bareilles, Andrea Bocelli, and children’s choirs, among others.

The Android app is even simpler than the website. You can start and stop the live stream, see what’s currently playing, and leave a comment for other listeners to see.

Jazz24: Commercial-Free Jazz Radio

Jazz24 is a KNKX Public Radio station that streams jazz music online and locally in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, on 88.5 FM.

  • Commercial-free listening

  • Mobile access

  • Long-term playlist history

  • Old sessions can be replayed on demand

  • The website is difficult to navigate

This online radio station plays jazz from artists like Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Diana Krall, and Pat Metheny, among others.

The Jazz24 mobile app for iOS and Android has an alert feature you can enable to start playing jazz automatically when the timer goes off. You can also access this radio station through various streaming links.

Hot 108 JAMZ: Internet Radio for Rap/Hip Hop Music

Part of a network of internet radio stations called Powerhitz, Hot 108 JAMZ streams hip hop music. Although this network includes other stations unrelated to rap, a different program director curates music for this station every day.

  • Includes commercials
  • Cluttered website; lots of ads

Some artists you’ll hear at Hot 108 JAMZ include Rihanna, Drake, 2 Pac, Lil Donald, Meek Mill, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, Mariah Carey, Usher, 50 Cent, The Carters, and Rich Gang.

Hot 108 JAMZ also accepts shout-outs and song requests.

This internet radio station is available at TuneIn, radio.net, Streema, and Radioline. If you pick one of those apps or websites to listen from, you’ll get other features such as a sleep timer and “favorite” option.

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