What is radio-browser.info?

Updated

radio-browser.info is a public, community-maintained database of internet radio stations. It is not a player itself; it is a data source that catalogs station names, stream URLs, genres, countries, languages, and related metadata. You use it when you want to find stations, browse by category, or feed station data into your own app or script.

What the database contains

Each entry in radio-browser.info describes a single internet radio station. Typical fields include:

  • Station name and alternative names
  • Stream URL (the actual audio endpoint)
  • Homepage and logo/favicon links
  • Country, language, and region
  • Tags and genres (for example jazz, news, classical)
  • Codec and bitrate information
  • Votes and click counts that reflect community activity

Because the catalog is community-driven, entries are added, edited, and voted on by users. That means coverage is broad but not perfectly uniform: popular stations tend to have richer metadata, while obscure ones may have gaps.

Who it is for

Listeners

If you just want to discover stations, radio-browser.info works as a searchable directory. You can filter by country, language, tag, or codec and then open a station’s stream in a compatible player. The site helps you find a station; playback happens in whatever player or app you use.

Developers

The database is also an API-backed resource. Developers query it to populate radio features in apps, build custom players, or run analytics on station metadata. Instead of scraping individual broadcaster sites, you get a single structured source with search and filter endpoints.

How it is used in practice

A common workflow looks like this:

  1. Search or filter the catalog by a criterion such as country or genre.
  2. Inspect the station record to confirm the stream URL, codec, and bitrate.
  3. Use the stream URL in a player or application.
  4. Optionally contribute by adding missing stations or voting on existing ones.

For developers, the same steps happen programmatically: send a query to the API, receive structured results, and pass the stream URL to an audio component.

What it is not

  • It is not a streaming service. It does not host or rebroadcast audio.
  • It is not a guaranteed playlist. Stream URLs can change or go offline, since they point to third-party broadcasters.
  • It is not a curated editorial product. Quality and completeness depend on community contributions.

Practical considerations

  • Stream reliability varies. A listed URL may stop working if the broadcaster changes it. Re-checking the record or the station’s homepage helps.
  • Metadata quality varies. Tags and genres are user-supplied, so the same station might be classified differently over time.
  • Check licensing and terms before redistributing data or building a commercial product on top of it.

If you need a single place to discover internet radio stations or to source station data for an app, radio-browser.info is built for exactly that. If you want a ready-made listening experience with a polished interface, you will still need a separate player.