We recently queried our customers through social media asking them to let us know their favorite Internet radio stations. We received some interesting recommendations, some of which included:

KEXP: Seattle, WA (University of Washington); Variety (128kbps, MP3)

YLE Klassinen: Internet-only; Classical (192kbps, WMA)

WJIB: Internet-only; Beautiful Music (128kbps, MP3)

Audiophile Jazz: Internet-only; Mainstream Jazz (320kbps, MP3)

WHRB: Harvard University; known for their “musical orgies” (96kbps, MP3)

WFAE: Charlotte, NC: NPR (64kbps, MP3)

BBC Radio 3: London, UK; Classical (97kbps, AAC)

I was also very curious as to what stations in general were popular amongst Como Audio listeners. To that end, I queried our Internet station aggregator to compile the Top 30 stations Como Audio customers have been listening to. Here are the results:

I took the time to audition every one of the above 30 stations. I especially liked FIP’s (Paris, France: 192kbps, MP3) Jazzy-electronica-Calypso tunes, Radio Paradise’s (Internet-only: 192kbps, MP3) eclectic mix of modern rock and world music, and Ceol FM Fiddle’s (Internet-only: 192kbps, MP3) traditional Celtic music.

But what I had really been hoping for was a quirky, little-known station I never would have found on my own or even imagine existed. I ended up getting it in an unexpected way…from a prospective customer who emailed me wanting to know if the station was available in our station data base, which it was. Internet-only radio station Seeburg 1000 (128kbps, MP3) spotlights instrumental music played by the Seeburg 1000 Background Music System. This large microwave-sized phonograph from the early 1960’s played proprietary mono records that provided background music for retail, offices, factories, etc.

I can almost guarantee you won’t find music like this on any other station. It’s not quite as cheesy as elevator music, but there’s something cool about hearing music designed to keep you shopping or being productive at work from almost 60 years ago. You’ll find the station in your unit’s Station list menu > Stations > Search stations > Type in “SEEBURG” > OK.

If there’s anything you take away from my article it should be that there’s a big bag of all sorts of free stations available to you, some of which you’d be enjoying right now if you had uncovered them. I hope this inspires you to take some time to explore the station data base on your Como Audio music system. You have a beautiful, superb-sounding system, so be sure you’re fully enjoying the music!

Peter Skiera lives in southern MA, worked in radio broadcasting throughout New England, and also worked for Cambridge SoundWorks, B&W Loudspeakers, and Tivoli Audio for 15 years before joining Como Audio as V.P. of Product Development in 2016. Peter can be reached directly at pskiera@comoaudio.com