Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fred Waterer, who shares this update from James Cridland. After initially announcing that BBC Sounds and music radio stations would no longer be available outside the UK, the BBC has quietly revised its FAQ. While you still can’t access content directly from BBC apps or websites, international listeners can still tune in to stations like BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music via third-party platforms like TuneIn.
Check out the full story here: https://james.cridland.net/blog/2025/bbc-radio-overseas/
Interesting. I had to VPN into the UK, add a google account registered with UK as the country (that I keep just for this kind of thing) to my phone, clear the cache of the google play store and reopen the play store, switch to the UK account, and then I can tap on bbc sounds app in a google search to get it to install (otherwise I get the error that BBC sounds isn’t availble in my region). Using a apk archive website to install it manually is another option, but this way the app will be automatically updated.
However after all that was done, I could disconnect the VPN and open and play BBC sounds just fine. Perhaps it’s just the download of the BBC sounds app that is being limited?
This is all a fresh install, after reading this post. For 90% of people, just searching for the station on tunein or simple radio (both android/ios) or shortwave (linux) or online radio (windows store) or Eter (MacOS or iOS) is the far easier option (as well as asking your smart speaker to play it) but I think live radio may not be the issue here.
The bigger issue is probably the huge back catalogue of items on BBC sounds to listen to again, with the app having far more than is ever put out as a podcast release from the BBC. As far as music goes, I’m into Drum and Bass, and this is why you see programs like the Drum and Bass show from the BBC regularly uploaded across various YouTube channels.
It’s also probably because the sound quality / bitrate offered in the BBC Sounds app is better. This might be a cost saving measure, to limit the costs of providing the back catalogue, but not the audio streams. It’s easy to work around though with a VPN, or if you are really keen, faking the GPS location and timezone on your phone or PC to be in the UK.
On 7 January 2014 Absoute Radio announced it would no longer allow listeners outside the UK to listen, after later allowing international listeners again but not allowing those outside the UK to access the FLAC streams and other higher quality bitrates. Now they have moved to a freemium model where there is Absolute Radio Premium, and several of their stations, including Absolute Radio 60s (but not greatest hits 60s) is behind this paywall.
Fortunately this is the internet and there is a lot of other free streams in each genre, as well as plenty of compettion in the paid premium space. (Digitally Imported and Rock Radio premium come to mind, as well as of course playlists on music streaming apps and 24×7 music stations streaming on YouTube)
On the “Shortwave” Linux app, which relies on a stream aggregator, I’m able to see BBC 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 streams, as well as BBC World Service. Some of the BBC n streams had disappeared a few weeks ago, but new feeds became available.
“Shortwave” is described here: https://apps.gnome.org/Shortwave/. It relies on the radio-browser aggregator: https://www.radio-browser.info/.
last night of early this morning the BBC was not on the air on 9580
I’m in the USA and the BBC Sounds app is working here, including playing the live audio from all of the several stations I tried just now after reading this. So maybe it’s just locked out for some countries or regions?