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Sonos Radio arrives with stations by Thom Yorke and more

Music heavyweights back new Sonos Radio - free for Sonos users.

Sonos Radio arrives with stations by Thom Yorke and more

By Marc Chacksfield

21 April 2020

Sonos has revealed that it is transforming how it does radio on its service, with Sonos Radio.

Backed by a number of musical giants, including Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Sonos has revealed that Sonos Radio is a free, ad-supported streaming radio service that is available to Sonos customers in more than 10 million homes today, all you have to do is update your software.

According to Sonos, Sonos Radio "was built as a new way for customers to explore radio and discover new music and services on Sonos".

So, what's new then? Well, as the 60,000+ radio stations you can currently get through Sonos, there's a big push into original programming.

There's Sonos Sound System, a station hosted by the Sonos team. It's ad-free and is set to feature a stream of new and well-known music, behind-the-scenes stories. The big win here is its guest artist radio hours.

Sonos has signed up the likes of Angel Olsen, Phoebe Bridgers, Jarvis Cocker, Soccer Mommy and Whitney host a 60-minute artist radio hour. These will be released every Wednesday.

Alongside this are ad-free artist stations. These sound really cool and this is where Thom Yorke and others come in. Artist stations feature song selections from artists inspired by their own influences and obsessions. In the Absence Thereof... is Thom Yorke's station and it premiers today on the service.

Upcoming stations include: Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, David Byrne of Talking Heads, and Third Man Records.

Thom Yorke had this to say about his station:

“here

in a new form

is that

ever rolling compilation / office chart habit of mine

of putting together what i have found recently that fascinates or moves me, what obsesses me, challenges me, opens new doors, reminds me of what i might have forgotten, is insanely complex or elegantly simple, violent, funny, messy, heavy or light. whatever has hit me over the head basically .

it may be new or old or just dug up again.

with all

this time we have behind doors i hope this provides a welcome connection and escape .. and perhaps stops the walls closing in quite so quick.

Thom”

Then there's the bit that's like Spotify Radio where you can browse through 30+ stations of handpicked music that's been geared around the songs that Sonos users actually listen to.

If you are a Sonos owner already, then you can tune in (well, update the app) from today. If you are not, then we recommend heading to our best Sonos speakers guide now to see what all the fuss is about.