I use Spotify a lot, but also listen to a lot of niche programs on BBC sounds. Jazz, electronica, 90's dance... Those kind of feed my Spotify playlists and nudge my tastes.
One thing I will note is that the BBC often makes great effort to 'enthrone' each song, telling little stories about the people, history etc which helps you engage with it but Spotify tends to just vomit track after track at you which can devalue them a bit.
I second your recommendation of BBC Sounds. Those stories about the tracks being played are short but they really help to put the music in context. The programs are also well curated by people who actually listen to and enjoy the music themselves. I have discovered a lot of music on the BBC that I later bought in one format or another.
I personally like BBC Sounds most for the classical music on Radio 3, but, as you say, there are many other genres played as well.
The wealth of offerings on BBC Sounds, and the amount of time I spend listening, almost make me feel guilty for not living in the UK and paying the BBC licence fee.
Not paying the licence fee seems to be a thing to boast about here. It's such good value for money - worth paying for Radio 4 alone.
My brother also wasn't a BBC fan until he had kids and realised how much better their content was than everyone else's, not to mention it being ad free.
I really don't understand why BBC Sounds is free outside the UK. The argumement for not making it subscription based seems to be focused on UK listening via the radio. Perhaps it's just not worth the hassle to collect it.
Do you gets ads on BBC Sounds when you listen abroad? There's some noise about introducing them here, but there's always license fee chatter so it's hard to distinguish what's real and what's politics.
> Do you gets ads on BBC Sounds when you listen abroad?
No. Sometimes when a program on replay is streamed as the podcast there's an announcement at the start that BBC podcasts may have ads outside the UK, but I've never heard one.
One thing I will note is that the BBC often makes great effort to 'enthrone' each song, telling little stories about the people, history etc which helps you engage with it but Spotify tends to just vomit track after track at you which can devalue them a bit.