The Many Ways To Listen: The All Songs 24/7 Music Channel

A week ago today we launched our new All Songs Considered 24/7 Music Channel as a way to celebrate the show's tenth anniversary. Since then, we've gotten a number of notes from listeners asking about all the different ways they can tune in. Of course, you can hear the stream online and see the songs that are playing, and a list of those that have recently played. But what if you're away from your computer, or you have an iPhone, or you want to hear it on your Internet radio or your Android?

Here's a listening guide for the All Songs Considered Music Channel.

NPR Music iPhone app - Download the app and look for a button that says "streams." There you'll find the Rock/Pop/Folk category where the All Songs Considered stream lives ("All Songs 24/7"). For now the music app doesn't display song titles, but that will change in the future.

If you want to see song titles and artist listed on your iPhone while the song plays, you can download an application that lets you play audio streams like ours. My favorite is called RadioBOX and it's available in the iTunes store. To set it up, click the "favorites" button. You'll be prompted to "Add Custom URL" Type or copy and paste this into the custom URL:

http://www.npr.org/streams/mp3/live21_mp3.m3u

My favorite feature, besides song titles and album art, is the choice to keep the display on all the time. So while I drive I don't have to fiddle with the phone to glance at a title and artist.

CastCatcher Radio is another one I've tried. After downloading this app you'll see a little "+" button where you can enter your own stream. Click the "+" button and add this in the Station URL box:

http://www.npr.org/streams/mp3/live21_mp3.m3u

Android - We are working on a music app for the Android, but it isn't ready yet. So for now the solution isn't elegant, but it works. Open the web browser on your Android and enter this URL:

http://www.npr.org/streams/mp3/live21_mp3.m3u

The stream should just start playing.

A more elegant solution to the Android work-around is to download a stream player. I've tested a free one called StreamFurious and it works well. Put this URL into any player and it will also show the titles and artists:

http://www.npr.org/streams/mp3/live21_mp3.m3u

iTunes - A lot of people stream music from their computer to their stereo wirelessly. This is the way I listen to music at home. So how to get the All Songs Music Channel to your stereo? There is a radio category for iTunes, but it takes a while to get listed in the "Radio" section of iTunes. So for now, here's how to do it: In iTunes, look for the option in the advanced menu called "Open Audio Stream" and enter this URL:

http://www.npr.org/streams/mp3/live21_mp3.m3u

The nice thing about iTunes is that it will show you what song is playing.

Internet Radio - I use my Internet radio to listen to streams from The Current, KEXP, WXPN, WFUV and others. Those stations are easy to find on an Internet radio, for the All Songs Channel however there's no easy answer for now, but if your Internet radio lets you put in a URL, then try this one:

http://www.npr.org/streams/mp3/live21_mp3.m3u

I use a Tangent Internet radio and I program it using a website called Reciva

So I go to this site and find the box that says "Manage My Stuff," click "My Streams" and enter this URL in the box that says "Stream Address URL:"

http://www.npr.org/streams/mp3/live21_mp3.m3u

There are other boxes such as Roku, Apple TV, the soon-to-be released Google TV and Boxee, all devices that we are likely to hook to our stereos and TVs to listen to music.

If you use any of those boxes or other smartphones and could share how you listen to audio streams and how to get the All Songs Considered 24/7 Music Channel to work, leave your comment below. And if you've been listening to our channel, please leave some feedback.

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