Capital FM is one of the stations I stream online during my workday and late night hours back in…read morethe Eastern USA (5 hours lagging behind GMT). Broadcasting from Leicester Square, this station used to be called Capital Radio and very recently, Capital 95.8. Capital FM plays a lot of similar Hit 40 (Top 40) music heard in America as well as some of my favourite British pop/rock musicians and groups such as Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, The Feeling, Scouting For Girls, Girls Aloud, Sugababes, The Saturdays, The Ting Tings, and several others. Last year, my boss and I were really stumped by the London I-Test, which involved 3 mystery celebrities saying "I" really fast, and you needed to guess each celebrity correctly in the correct order to win a big cash prize, which the prize amount declined each time a previous contestant guessed incorrectly. After a few weeks, someone eventually guessed correctly and won. It was fun to play unofficially since we were ineligible to win since we reside in America. As I'm going to bed really late, many people in Greater London are just waking up to start their day to the Capital Breakfast Show, which is more of a morning talk show. It's pretty cool that I can fall asleep to celebrity interviews and the latest gossip, news, weather, and travel and wake up to some good music with less talk and commercials.

The same songs and ads over and over again. And the cash games? Only a way to take your money. If…read moreyou really want to give free cash don't charge £1 for each text message. WhatsApp is free, just saying.

Dreadful from start to finish. Smooth talking salesman with big up pitch. He did say he was in…read morePortugal giving it large. I should have smelt a rat but hey I went for their so called campaign. Nothing happened, not one radio station or YouTube channel got back to us with an news. The owner David gives you the spiel about having been ripped off as an artist himself and yet I feel he's done the same to us. Total waste of 2k. Absolutely gutted and they should feel ashamed of themselves.

For songwriters like myself who are looking for radio promoters for their music, I wanted to share…read moremy experience with one radio promoter that claims to be the 'world's number one' service, Radio Pluggers - radiopluggers.com. (When I asked, they of course provided nothing to back up that claim). Unfortunately it was a very poor experience with radiopluggers.com They charge a very high fee and claim to send your music to thousands of radio stations and media outlets, but they don't tell you that only a very tiny fraction of the recipients are likely to engage with their email. In my case I was told that only 150 recipients clicked to listen to the song I was promoting, from 72,000 emails sent. If they truly sent that many emails, then that is 0.2% actual engagement. Clearly radiopluggers has no credibility with the overwhelming majority of it's recipients. They state on their website that they will 'ensure global radio airplay'. Of course, they cannot and do not. I asked for proof that they sent that many emails and was provided with none. I also asked very reasonably for a refund of some portion of the fee I paid due to the dismal results they produced, but they refused. Additionally I received several spam emails as a result of their mailout, from recipients offering even more shady promotional services. I'm very ashamed to admit that I was fooled by their marketing claims and I wasted a big chunk of a promotion budget that I had worked very hard to put together as a self-funded, independent artist - when it comes time to promote your own music do your research and use a reputable radio promoter, which radiopluggers.com simply is not.

Definitely a little slice of East London - a dinky little coffee bar (run by Department of Coffee…read moreand Social Affairs) attached to London's answer to North Norfolk Digital. Moreover it's just opposite one of my favourite ramen bars (Sasuke) and near Gelupo. If there ever was a Bermuda Triangle for Rob, this might well be it. I much preferred the coffee here to DoCaSA's other branch (Tonic Coffee, just at the back of Whole Foods in Piccadilly Circus) - whilst I'm not a big fan of the current espresso blend being served, I thought this one was quite a bit better than the one I had at Tonic. The front end of the espresso was a bit fuller and I thought the fruitiness in the body was more rounded. Moreover, there was a more friendly vibe from the staff which is always a plus. I will definitely pop in here again soon - even though it's dinky it's one of the better coffees in the vicinity.

Won't be coming back here. One of my friends had walked past Soho Radio and decided "you'll like…read moreit, you love that quirky/snobby coffee thing", so we headed down to check it out... The coffee was ok, but not a patch on places like Flat White or Monmouth - far too acidic for my tastes. This was not the main problem however... While I've been in Tonic Coffee (apparently part of the same group) which had a lovely vibe with friendly and chatty staff, we had one of the rudest experiences I've had in London from any serving staff. First off when my friend asked for a decaf flat white, she was given a stare and a short "no" in response (despite it being on their menu). When pushed, the barista responded that "no one wants decaf, we never have decaf". This was followed by another rude response when we asked for sugar for one of the coffees. I understand that some coffee places are a bit particular about these things, but there's a difference between trying to educate customers (which he didn't even bother trying) and being flat out rude to them. Even if this was the best coffee in Soho, I doubt I'd return. It's not even close.

On a cold and miserable Monday night in January I was invited for a Radio recording at the BBC…read more after work. It was a surprise and my friend's partner had bailed on her. I had no idea what "Its Not What You Know" was about... but the BBC office at Regent's Street is a stone's throw from work and a show of any kind would be good enough to light up that evening. Of course this review is for the location and the staff and not the event per se. So the first thing I noticed about the place was that it was packed! Not every radio show would be packed! It was so full they asked us to go to the balcony which we did happily since it gave us a vantage point. The acoustics were nearly perfect and we could hear everything clearly yet not at earsplitting decibel levels. The legroom could have cost this location the fifth star but other than that it was an exemplary experience. The staff were very friendly as well - its always nice to see staff paid for by government money smiling while doing their jobs. :)

It's not the most beautiful theatre in the world, but it certainly ain't ugly. And, more…read moreimportantly, you're pretty much guaranteed a good time here. I work for the BBC, so I might be biased, but there are some bloody great radio shows to watch here. It can be difficult to get hold of tickets for some programmes (News Quiz, Now Show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue), but it's worth applying and applying and applying. If you're awarded tickets, you're in for a treat! Be warned though, even if you're sent tickets, you're not guaranteed a seat. So make sure you turn up nice and early. It should say on your tickets what time you can get them validated. Then you can come into the Media Cafe to enjoy a bite to eat, a coffee or even a beer while you wait for the fun to begin. Enjoy! P.S. Don't forget to take your picture with the Tardis and Daleks while you're there!

I came across this radio station by mistake. I am giving 5 stars because they impressed me. They…read morehave no commercials in it and they play all the music of the moment both in the charts and Dj dance remix. I found they website quite good too (even though they could do better there) where they have a link to download their app.

I use it pretty much every day and love it. Sure, it's another thing that sucks money from my…read morecredit card each month but it's so worth it for me. I have multiple heavy metal lists which I listen to while in the gym working out or outside on a run training session. Love ability to set up my own music collections of lists, follow others, discover new bands, and explore other genres of rock and metal. Plus, I like the suggestions, mixes, stations, and playlists Spotify suggests based on my listening habits. Regular radio sucks nowadays. Too many commercials, they play lousy music in NYC, and it's the same tunes over and over. I'd rather pay to listen to what I like and avoid all the garbage out there.

I first discovered Spotify in 2008, shortly after it launched in Sweden. As someone who jumped on…read moreboard early, I was hooked by the idea of streaming music without downloading files or clogging up my hard drive. Back then, Spotify felt next level with a clean interface, a growing library, and a sense of discovery that spoke to the music geek in me. Its invite-only vibe made it feel like a secret club, which was thrilling. By 2011, when it reached the US Spotify had about 10 million users worldwide. Fast-forward to 2024, and that number's ballooned to over 600 million monthly active users, with around 250 million paying for subscriptions. Its rise came from smart moves like Facebook sharing and a freemium model that reeled in users with free, with ad-supported access. In the early days, I spent hours building playlists and even digging up new artists through Spotify's recommendation system. The desktop app was my still good, too. But by 2019, I started to drift. The ads on the free version got annoying, and I wasn't sold on paying for Premium. I also began exploring other services like Rdio and later Apple Music, drawn to better sound quality or a different feel. Spotify's heavy push toward curated playlists over full albums started feeling restrictive, like it was steering my listening instead of letting me wander, so I drifted away. Around 2023, I decided to give Spotify another chance. The app had changed a lot, indeed the mobile version was slicker with features that added a fun, personal touch. The podcast selection had grown massively, with Spotify pouring around $1 billion into the space by 2023 to lock in big names like The Joe Rogan Experience. I liked the offline mode for travel and how seamlessly it synced across my phone and laptop. True that picking songs that felt like they were pulled straight from my brain was cool sometimes, and I even tried Premium for a while, enjoying no ads and better sound quality. But eventually, it started to feel like too much stuff and choppy playbacks at times. The interface, while sharp, was crowded with podcast ads, audiobooks, and algorithm-heavy playlists that sometimes hid the stuff I wanted. The constant notifications and upsell nudges wore me down. By mid-2024, I was looking for something simpler. That's when I found AusialsPlay, an open-source podcast app. It's refreshingly clean, lightweight, and all about podcasts. No ads, no algorithms pushing stuff I didn't ask for, and solid features like custom playlists and offline downloads. It's now my main app for podcasts, while I dip into Spotify now and then for music. Spotify's massive its 2024 revenue hit over 13 billion, and it's still pretty much the top dog in music streaming. For a lot of people, its big library and features are a draw. But for me, the clutter and commercial vibe has taken the edge off so I'm gone again. Bottom line: Sure, it's a nice resource, but I'm happier with a no-frills, open-source option that respects my time and lets me listen my way.

LBC News allows me to keep up to date with what's happeneing in this country. Little news about…read moreother parst of the world and why, oh why, when LBC runs out of rent a mouths to opine on a subject does it revert to David Mellor, introducing him as an ex cabinet member. Mellor hasn't been within a smell of no 10's front door, let alone the cabinet room for nigh on 30 years. Do try and get people who can talk of the present day not ancfient experiences.

LBC Radio comprises two stations, LBC News 1152AM, a rolling London news station and, my favourite,…read moreLBC 97.3FM, a station dedicated to London-centric talk-back radio. The penchant for talk-back radio must be genetic. My mother is obsessed. And since moving to London I have found myself at times engrossed in and at times appalled by LBC, i.e., 'London's Biggest Conversation'. OK, OK, some of the presenters are a little right wing, some downright misogynistic, and ex-Apprentice contestants are a dime a dozen, but LBC is nothing if not varied. Right now, for example, Commie poster-boy and ex-London mayor Ken Livingston is discussing the de Menezes case with a Conservative MP. Definitely worth a listen.