Radioplayer review April 2011

Radioplayer offers access to more than 150 radio stations from one website. It’s like a search engine for radio – it lets you search lots of stations quickly to find and listen to the stuff you like.

Radioplayer brings together commercial and BBC radio stations in one place - you can search and access a host of BBC and commercial stations just using Radioplayer. At the moment Radioplayer is only accessible on computers and laptops, but it plans to expand to mobiles and other devices. Its interface is very simple - anyone can use it.

Use Radioplayer on your computer to find shows about the subjects and music you're interested in.

Finding a radio show or programmes related to a subject

Radioplayer has a search function on its home page. Type into the search box the station you want, a DJ you like, a composer or artist, or even a keyword you want to find programmes about - such as ‘Alternative vote’ - and the search function will return programmes and stations related to the search term you typed.

Radioplayer is a bit like a Google for radio content - just as you might do a Google image search to find a specific image online, Radioplayer will provide a list of live and listen again shows relating to your search term.

It's not perfect yet – the search function isn't quite as effective as a Google's. There’s a good chance that the first result in the list isn’t exactly what you were looking for if you type in anything that isn’t a station name, however there’s probably something relevant in the results list.

For example, when we searched for ‘Tony Blackburn’ the first show in the results list related to coverage of Blackburn Rovers matches. Links to BBC radio Lancashire and listen again programmes presented by other presenters named Tony appeared in the first page of results as well as Tony Blackburn's latest Pick of the Pops programme.

Radioplayer on BBC

If you've previously listened to BBC radio online using iPlayer you may have noticed some subtle changes now that BBC radio stations are using Radioplayer.

When listening to a programme in Radioplayer you’ll see a little Radioplayer logo in the top right corner of the window.

The 'search RadioPlayer' box is also visible – so you can search for other programmes, stations and keywords while you are listening to the radio.

There’s a 'playing' button that provides information about what you’re listening to and a ‘my stations’ button which you can use to save your favourite online radio stations – much as you might save presets on an analogue or DAB radio.

Visit our digital radio reviews for reviews of FM/DAB radios with the ability to store presets.

Save your favourite radio stations on Radioplayer for quick access time after time.

My Stations

The last station you tuned to is listed in 'My Stations' automatically. If you want to save a station as a preset, all you have to do is hover your mouse over the 'My Stations' button while you’re listening to the station and click the ‘add’ button. The station will then be listed in your 'My Stations' menu for quick access in the future. You can also add a station to 'My Stations' directly from the search results list.

You don't have to sign-up to use Radioplayer – there's no need to share any details. The downside of this is that any stations stored in your 'My Stations' are only accessible on the computer or laptop you saved them on. If you regularly use more than one computer you'll have to save your favourite stations on each computer individually.

The 'My Stations' function isn’t visible on the Radioplayer home page. If you want to access your saved stations via the Radioplayer website click on 'Listen'. This opens up a window with the last station you listened to where you can then access your saved stations.

Who’s on Radioplayer?

Not every radio station is on Radioplayer, but having the BBC on board is a big win for Radioplayer – bringing 59 stations to the table for searching.

Global are also on board – so you can search and listen to stations including ClassicFM, Capital, Xfm and Heart. You can also access Absolute radio stations through Radioplayer.

UTV and Bauer joined within a week of Radioplayer’s launch, adding Talksport, The Hits and Kerrang! to the list of searchable stations. However, Kiss and Magic aren’t currently included.

First Impressions

For listening to music online, Radioplayer is a significant improvement on the previously fragmented systems on offer. The ability to search by keyword for DJs, stations, or just interesting topics, is a great feature for discovering stations you might otherwise have missed. The search function does need a little work, however, as its results don't always match expectations. Vitally, the selection of stations on offer is already very good, so we hope those who haven't joined do so soon.

Our only significant complaint is the lack of accounts. While it makes it easier to using the service straightaway, the more devices we use the more useful it is to take our favourite stations with us. This could prove more important when Radioplayer makes it on to phones, but the limitation is understandable at present. Hopefully the option will be added in future.

Go to www.radioplayer.co.uk to try it for yourself.

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