# SomaFM

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/somafm/

28 people recommended SomaFM in Hacker News comments and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 12 months, in 16 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, listener-supported internet radio with human-curated channels for music and focus, which people have followed for about twenty years.

Summary written by Claude from 27 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Long-running station with loyal listeners (8 comments in the sample): "I've been supporting SomaFM for more than 20 years now, and am so grateful for it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46123781)) "Love SomaFM.  One of the first places that played my music about 20 years ago!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648155)) "Yeah soma.fm is very good. I hear it for like 20 years now on off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49115196))
- Good for discovering new music (5 comments in the sample): "When something gets me interested, I look up the artist, and I keep discovering lots of new names, independent labels, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48304662)) "I like SOMA's Underground 80s, but I also want to hear new artists in the same vein." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46760098)) "I appreciate SomaFM's impact on my appreciation for electronic music" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49510977))
- Good for coding and focus (4 comments in the sample): "My other favorites, especially for coding, are SomaFM (Groove Salad or DEFCON substations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46520406)) "Got it to play uninterrupted with mobile locked, such a great feeling" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49120229)) "most lyric-free (as to reduce the potential for flow interruption" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47661788))
- Free, listener-supported, human-curated (3 comments in the sample): "They're entirely listener supported and the music they play is - to my knowledge - entirely human curated." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48936306)) "SomaFM is streaming music on 46 channels and it is all free" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48374481)) "Good reminder to send Rusty Hodge my annual $20" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49117283))

## Other internet radios people recommend

- [KEXP](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kexp/): 17 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Radio Garden](https://hackerapproved.com/p/radio-garden/): 14 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Radio Paradise](https://hackerapproved.com/p/radio-paradise/): 12 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize
- [NTS Radio](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nts-radio/): 12 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SomaFM", https://hackerapproved.com/p/somafm/ (28 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.