BBC SoundsLogo used since 2021DeveloperBBCInitial release25 June 2018 (2018-06-25)Written inJaScript, Scala, Swift, Kotlin[1][2]PlatformWeb, Amazon Echo, iOS, Android, Fire OSAvailable inEnglish, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish[3]TypeMedia player softwareWebsitewww.bbc.co.uk/sounds UK-wide Television stations programmes Radio stations local BBC Online BBC Red Button Ceefax iPlayer BBC Sounds Management Chairman Samir Shah Director-General Tim Die BBC Board BBC Charter Departments BBC Academy Archives BBC Film BBC World Service (Timeline) Television Design & Engineering Monitoring News Radio Sport Weather Nations and regions BBC Cymru Wales BBC Scotland BBC Northern Ireland BBC English Regions Birmingham Bristol East East Midlands London Manchester North East & Cumbria North West South South East South West West West Midlands Yorkshire Yorkshire & Lincolnshire Commercial subsidiaries BBC Studios BBC Studios Productions BBC Studioworks BBC Worldwide History Archives Sound Archive BBC Trust Board of Governors British Broadcasting Company Coat of arms Controversies Criticism First day of TV Logo Radio Times Genome Timeline HD timeline Key properties in London Broadcasting House Lime Grove (former) Maida Vale Studios Television Centre (former) White City & Media Village Birmingham Drama Village Mailbox Birmingham Pebble Mill Studios (former) Cardiff New Broadcasting House, Cardiff Broadcasting House (former) Drama Village (Roath Lock) BBC Hoddinott Hall Other locations Broadcasting House, Belfast Broadcasting House, Bristol BBC Elstree Centre MediaCityUK, Salford Pacific Quay, Glasgow vte
BBC Sounds is an over-the-top audio streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts.[4] The service is ailable on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers, cars, and smart televisions. As of 21 July 2025, BBC Sounds is only ailable for UK-based listeners and doesn't feature commercial advertising; international listeners can find BBC Radio 4 and World Service on the BBC.com website and app, along with podcasts.[5] All other radios (such as Radio 1, 6 Music, and others) are also ailable on alternative radio sources internationally using TuneIn.
Service[edit] The BBC Sounds logo used from 2018 until 2021.The BBC Sounds website replaced the iPlayer Radio service for UK users in October 2018. An initial beta version of the BBC Sounds app was launched in June 2018,[6] with both the new app and the iPlayer Radio app supported until September 2019, when the iPlayer Radio app was finally decommissioned in the UK.[7] Since 22 September 2020, BBC Sounds has been ailable to international users; it replaced BBC iPlayer Radio for international audiences at the end of October 2020.[8][9] However, in February 2025, the BBC announced that international access to the World Service and Radio 4 was now ailable on the bbc.com website and the BBC app, and that international access to the BBC Sounds website and app would be removed later that Spring.[10][11] The plan received backlash by its listeners, both from listeners of the radio stations abroad as well as listeners from the Republic of Ireland, with one listener claiming that it could potentially violate the Good Friday Agreement.[12] On 18 April 2025, the BBC announced that it has postponed the changes while it worked on a plan to make its other radio stations, including its music radio stations (such as Radios 1, 2, and 3) and its regional and local stations, to be ailable outside of BBC Sounds, although the BBC will "prioritise countries where demand for the BBC's audio services is highest".[13] The BBC later shut down international service for non-U.K. listeners on 21 July 2025, although access to radio stations remained ailable, but with live radio only.[14]
An app for Connected TVs (including Amazon Fire TV) was released in March 2020.[15] An Apple tvOS app is also in development.[citation needed] BBC Sounds differs from iPlayer Radio by acting as a place for original podcast material created by the BBC specifically for the app in addition to live and catch-up listening of its linear radio services. One example of this is the Beyond Today podcast, a daily online-only 17 minute podcast produced by the Today team, exploring an issue in-depth with a younger audience in mind.[6]
The BBC has also announced plans to make podcasts from third-party producers ailable within the BBC Sounds service.[16]
At launch the BBC Sounds service caused controversy amongst some users of the former iPlayer Radio app, who claimed that the functionality did not he the same features as before, objected to the login requirements, and raised concerns that the new app was no longer supported on older versions of smartphones. Some broadsheet newspapers he claimed that these changes disproportionately affect older listeners, particularly those who listen to speech and comedy content on BBC Radio 4.[17][18]
Development[edit]An early web prototype led by BBC employee Jason Williams surfaced in 2014 called BBC Radio Explorer. The web app allowed users to listen to different content across the BBC including podcasts, shows, clips within the same UI. Later on the full development of Sounds began from the same team.[19][20]
BBC Sounds on the web was built from the ground up with Node.js, React, Redux, and Express.js.[1] The mobile applications were written in Swift for iOS, and in Kotlin for Android. The apps were released on 26 June 2018,[21] before the website had any 'Sounds' branding, in order to gain early feedback.
App features include the ability to look up station schedules, download and share media,[22] rewind live radio,[23] and listen in-car via either Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.[24]
Both the website and the apps are served with data from a single set of APIs called Radio and Music Services, or RMS,[25] microservices built in the Scala programming language. This single source of data replaces a large number of different services that powered earlier incarnations of the radio products.[26]
See also[edit] BBC portal U BBC Select (streaming service) BBC iPlayer BBC Radio Explorer BBC Player (for Singapore and Malaysia only) BBC Three (streaming service) BritBox References[edit] ^ a b "How we built BBC Sounds on the web". Medium. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019. ^ "Building the BBC Sounds Mobile App". Medium. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019. ^ "BBC Sounds homepage language switcher". BBC Sounds. November 2018. ^ "New podcasts, exclusive music mixes and classic BBC comedy and drama now ailable". BBC. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019. ^ "BBC podcasts and audio are now ailable on BBC.com". BBC. Retrieved 28 July 2025. ^ a b "Introducing the first version of BBC Sounds". BBC. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2019. ^ "BBC Sounds Help – Why has the BBC closed the iPlayer Radio app?". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 2 October 2019. ^ "An international update on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer Radio". BBC. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020. ^ "How do I use BBC Sounds if I live outside the UK?". BBC. Retrieved 6 October 2020. ^ "BBC podcasts and audio are now ailable on BBC.com". BBC. Retrieved 8 March 2025. ^ "Upcoming changes for listening to BBC audio outside the UK". BBC. Retrieved 8 March 2025. ^ Graham, Seanín (31 March 2025). "Blocking Irish listeners from BBC Sounds app a 'slap in the face'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 April 2025. ^ Wilson, Rebekah Wilson (18 April 2025). "BBC Sounds block outside UK delayed". BBC. Retrieved 20 April 2025. ^ "Update on access to BBC Sounds outside the UK". British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 July 2025. ^ "BBC Sounds launches app for connected TVs". BBC. Retrieved 29 June 2020. ^ "BBC Sounds to carry third-party British podcasts". Pocket-Lint. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020. ^ Runcie, Charlotte (11 September 2019). "Long live iPlayer Radio because BBC Sounds is awful". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 October 2019. ^ "With the new Sounds app, the BBC is ignoring its own audience | Letters". The Guardian. 20 September 2019. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 October 2019. ^ O'Malley, James (2 June 2014). "BBC quietly launch Radio Explorer, and make radio relevant again". Tech Digest. ^ "BBC Radio Explorer". BBC Radio 4 Blog. BBC. ^ "Introducing the first version of BBC Sounds". BBC. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019. ^ "BBC Sounds Help - How do I download on the BBC Sounds app?". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 4 March 2019. ^ "Restart and rewind live radio with major update to BBC Sounds app". BBC. ^ "BBC Sounds Help - BBC iPlayer Radio app - Android Auto and Apple CarPlay now supported in the UK". ^ "Building BBC Sounds in the API". Technology & Creativity Blog. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019. ^ Sharpe, Stuart (6 December 2018). "Building the BBC Sounds Mobile App". Medium. Retrieved 2 October 2020. External links[edit] Official website vteBBC RadioBBCUK stationsNationwide Radio 1 Radio 2 Radio 3 Radio 4 Radio 5 Live Digital-only Radio 1 Anthems Radio 1 Dance Radio 1Xtra Radio 3 Unwind Radio 4 Extra Radio 5 Sports Extra Radio 6 Music Asian Network Online-only (BBC Sounds) CBeebies Radio NationsScotland Scotland Orkney Shetland Nan Gàidheal Wales Wales Cymru Cymru 2 Northern Ireland Ulster Foyle BBC Local RadioEast Cambridgeshire Essex Norfolk Northampton Suffolk Three Counties East Midlands Derby Leicester Nottingham London London North East and Cumbria Cumbria Newcastle Tees North West Lancashire Manchester Merseyside South Berkshire Oxford Solent South East Kent Surrey Sussex South West Cornwall Devon Guernsey Jersey Somerset West Bristol Gloucestershire Wiltshire West Midlands CWR Hereford and Worcester Shropshire Stoke WM Yorkshire Leeds Sheffield York Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Humberside Lincolnshire International stations World Service Albanian (Dissolved) Arabic Bangla Nepali Brasil Hausa Mundo Persian Russian Ukrainian (Dissolved) Urdu Defunct stationsand servicesLocal services 2LO London 5IT Birmingham 2ZY Manchester 5NO Newcastle 5WA Cardiff 5SC Glasgow 2BD Aberdeen 6BM Bournemouth 2FL Sheffield 5PY Plymouth 5GB Dentry 2BE Belfast Relays 2EH Edinburgh 6LV Liverpool 2LS Leeds and Bradford 6KH Hull 5NG Nottingham 2DE Dundee 6ST Stoke 5SX Swansea National services Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme Forces Programme General Forces Programme Home Service Light Programme National Programme Radio 1 Relax (BBC Sounds) Radio 4 News FM Radio 5 Radio 7 (rebranded) Regional Programme Third Programme Related topics Awards Logos BBC Music National DAB multiplex Programmes Radio Explorer Radio Orchestra School Radio BBC Sounds Wartime Broadcasting Service Category