New 24/7 Online Broadway Radio Station

One year ago, Stuart Brown, a member of the Outer Critics Circle and lifelong Broadway musical theater fan, had an idea to start a 24/7 online Broadway music radio station. That dream became a reality with the launching of Sounds of Broadway (http://www.SoundsofBroadway.com) in April 2019. “I’ve been attending theater in New York since my Freshman year in high school,” said Brown. “My friend and I would take the bus from Central New Jersey with two-fers (discount coupons) and see a show. One of my first was the original production of Grease in 1972. I think we paid about $8.00 for a full price Saturday matinee ticket.”

The current University of Connecticut college administrator attended Rutgers University, a short train ride to the theater district. “In college in the late 1970’s, I had my own Broadway radio show and I was the Fine Arts Editor of the station, which enabled me to receive press seats for Broadway plays and musicals,” he said.

Mixing his love of Broadway musicals and experience in college radio, along with advances in technology, the current President of the Connecticut Critics Circle has been able to establish a home-grown radio station that can be managed by simply using a microphone and laptop.

According to Brown, Sounds of Broadway offers the most wide-ranging listing of music from the Off-Broadway, Broadway, and London stages. Thousands of songs from hundreds of cast recordings are in rotation, with new shows being added weekly. "My last count was something like 4,600 songs from about 560 musicals," he said. “I also have hundreds of cast recordings on vinyl that will probably never be released on CD or uploaded on services like iTunes. One of my planned retirement projects is to digitize the collection to further extend my online catalog.”

The goal of Sounds of Broadway is to educate and entertain. "I curate every playlist,” he said. I feature popular and well-known shows like Wicked, My Fair Lady, and Hamilton," he said. "But, unlike other online radio stations, I include selections from more obscure or little heard of shows. I guess it's the college educator in me. I want the station to entertain, but I also want to teach people about musical theater history."

The station has no subscription fee so is free to listeners. A link to the app for iPhones and Android devices as well as the Amazon Echo is on the home page – SoundsofBroadway.com. Currently, the station averages over 8,500 listeners a month, from dozens of countries and has been growing by double digit increases.

One of the central features of Sounds of Broadway is a two-hour all-request time slot from 8:00-10:00PM EST every night. "Everyone has their favorite songs they want to hear and this will give listeners the opportunity to do so," said Brown.

A recent addition is a weekly Trivia Challenge. A new quiz is uploaded every Wednesday. “I try to mix it up with easy and tougher questions,” said Brown. “The reaction has been great. It’s a quick diversion in these trying times.”

“Everybody loves a great Broadway song,” stated Brown, who attends dozens of Broadway shows a year. “Sounds of Broadway is fast becoming the destination for both musical theater aficionados and people who are just discovering this very American art form.”