How often are you listening to music? With television, radio, mp3 players, and the rise of iTunes, Last.fm and online radio stations, the answer is very often – if not all day!
Music is a powerful medium, it can evoke strong emotions and reactions. For example, I’ve found that listening to lyric-less dance and trance music with it’s constant rhythm helps me keep pace, while chilled out acoustic music helps me get inspired by letting me slow down and slipping me into another world. It’s not rocket science, but finding the right music to get those creative juices flowing can be tricky.
Over time I’ve built up a solid collection of radio stations and online services that pump out constantly good music and really get me into “the zone” – that place where you don’t even need to think about what you’re doing because it becomes second nature.
Let me know in the comments of your own favourite radio stations, I’d love to hear them!
BBC Radio 1
We’ll kick off with the big boy in radio – BBC Radio 1. Not only are they the biggest radio station in the UK (surprise surprise), but their live, advert free, online stream means that they have opened themselves up worldwide.
My favourite shows on Radio 1 are:
- Zane Lowe (Mon–Thurs at 7pm) – Covering everything from indie to and drum and bass. This show is a must if you want to keep up to date with new music
- Pete Tong (Fridays at 7pm) – Pete is my favourite dance Dj to grace Radio 1
- Annie Mac (Fridays at 9pm) – Annie’s show is all about remixes and ‘mash-ups’
- Dave Pearce (Fridays at 11pm) – Dance anthems, excellent late night listening
- Judge Jules (Saturdays at 1am) – If you make it this far on a Friday night then Judge Jules’ dance and trance will keep you going
Last.fm
If you haven’t heard of Last.fm then let me help you out from under that rock you’ve been living under. Last.fm is a social networking website that concentrates solely on music by showing what you’ve been listening to. The greatest thing about it is the software you can download which shares the music you listen to, while serving a double purpose as one of the best tools online for discovering new music.
Digitally Imported
If you’re into chillout, lounge, house, dance or trance music then you should be checking out Digitally Imported. It runs a huge selection of online radio stations that whack out music 24/7. I’m always finding myself listening to these stations while at work – especially the trance, vocal trance and euro dance streams.
Pulsradio
Pulsradio can often be a bit hit and miss. On a good day it pumps out some excellent dance tunes that really get you motivated. Unfortunately it tends to repeat those songs quite often throughout the day and week.
Shoutcast
Shoutcast is great for finding new radio stations, I tend to use this less and less though with the rise of Last.fm for discovering new music.