SonoZoom lists more than 47,000 internet radio stations, but a big catalog is only useful if the stations you see actually play. This page explains where our listings come from, how we decide what you see first, and what we never do.
Where the stations come from
Most station listings are imported from Radio Browser, a public, community-maintained directory of internet radio. Podcast listings come from Podcast Index, and each show's own RSS feed supplies its latest episodes.
Imported data is a starting point, not a guarantee. Names, locations, genres and artwork appear as the source provides them until we review them.
Step 1: We remove duplicates
The same station often appears several times in public directories, under slightly different names or stream addresses. We merge those copies into one listing and keep the other names as aliases, so a search for any of them still finds the station. After this step, our catalog holds about 48,700 unique stations.
Step 2: We check whether each stream can play in your browser
Every station gets an automated playability check. As of October 31, 2026:
| Status | What it means for you | Stations |
|---|---|---|
| Secure | The stream is served over HTTPS and plays directly in your browser. | 30,079 |
| Upgradable | The listed address is insecure HTTP, but the same stream is also available over HTTPS, so we play the secure version. | 9,746 |
| Blocked | The stream is only available over insecure HTTP, which modern browsers refuse to play inside a secure page. | 7,970 |
| Dead | The stream did not respond. | 898 |
Dead stations are removed from every list. Blocked stations stay listed, so you can still find them and visit the broadcaster's own website, but they always appear after stations that play.
Step 3: We order lists by playability, then popularity
On genre, mood, country and search pages, stations that play come first. Within that group, we order them by general popularity signals from our data sources.
Order is never for sale. No station pays to rank higher, and the order is not a review score.
Step 4: People add what data can't
Some pages go further than imported data. Our mood guides, such as Focus, Chill, Workout and Party, and our Mexico radio hubs are written and selected by our team. You can find them all on the Guides page.
We use three review levels, explained in our Editorial Policy:
- Auto-catalog: imported data that has not been manually reviewed. Most listings are at this level.
- Verified: we checked the name, location and a working stream against an official source.
- Editorial: we added our own context, such as a guide or a curated selection.
A listing is only marked verified or editorial after that review has actually happened.
Ratings come only from real listeners
Station ratings on SonoZoom come only from signed-in listeners. When nobody has rated a station yet, the page says "No ratings yet" instead of showing an estimated score.
What we don't do
- We don't host, record or redistribute audio. Every stream comes from its broadcaster.
- We don't sell rankings or placements in lists.
- We don't invent ratings, reviews or listener numbers.
Found a problem?
Streams change address or go offline without notice. If a station doesn't play, or a detail is wrong, tell us through our Corrections and Updates page and we'll check it.