How Nova radio stations work: five live channels, one catalogue, hosted segments
What makes Nova radio different from a playlist: synchronised live playout, hosted segments and five stations, Rock FM to Prime FM, from one catalogue.
Nova has five radio stations, and they are radio in the old sense: when you tune in, you join a broadcast that is already playing, and everyone listening hears the same song at the same moment. That is a different experience from a playlist, and it is worth understanding what the stations are, how they are built and when a station is the better choice.
The five stations
- Rock FM plays rock and only rock, the place where rock listeners meet.
- Lo-Fi FM slows the noise of the day down: soft rhythms, nostalgic melodies, a night-city atmosphere and analogue textures, built to calm the mind and ease concentration.
- Jazz FM brings the timeless soul of jazz to every hour, from smooth saxophone lines and warm piano chords to late-night grooves and vinyl textures.
- World FM plays every kind of song with warm, talkative Turkish-speaking DJs who drop in between tracks.
- Prime FM is nonstop music with chatty English-speaking hosts: stories, discovery and energy all day.
Each station has a public page on the website with a short description and, in the app, a live player. The radio page lists them all.
One catalogue, five programmes
Every song the stations play comes from the Nova catalogue, the same 1,700 or so tracks you can browse on this site. A station is therefore a programme rather than a separate library: a selection by genre and mood, sequenced to run for hours without repeating itself soon, with short hosted segments placed between runs of music. When a station plays something you like, it is in the catalogue by definition, which means you can like it, open the album and add it to a playlist from the same screen. Our guide to listening to Nova radio walks through those steps.
Synchronised, live, shared
The defining feature of Nova radio is that playback is synchronised. The station has a clock; when you open it you join at the current position rather than at the start of a track. Two people in two cities hear the same bar of the same song at the same second. For listeners that gives a station the feeling of company, the sense that a room is open somewhere and you have walked into it, which is exactly what a solitary playlist cannot provide. For businesses it gives something else: a Nova Business venue with several devices plays the same music in sync anyway, and a station adds a programme that nobody on staff has to maintain.
The hosted segments
Between runs of songs, a host introduces what is coming, tells a short story or marks the time of day. On World FM and Lo-Fi FM the hosts speak Turkish; on Prime FM and Jazz FM they speak English. The segments are short by design, a minute or so, so that the music stays the point. If you want music with no voices at all, a playlist or an album is the better choice; if you want the feeling of a station, the segments are part of what makes it one.
Station or playlist?
| Radio station | Playlist | |
|---|---|---|
| Who chooses | The station's programme | You, or the list's curator |
| Start point | Live, mid-programme | Track one, or shuffle |
| Voices | Short hosted segments | None |
| Best for | Company, discovery, long unattended hours | Control, a specific mood, quiet rooms |
| Licence for venues | Both are Nova music, covered by Nova Business | |
Radio in a venue
Many venues run a station all day precisely because it needs no attention: it does not end, it does not loop, and it changes with the hour. Rock FM suits bars and barbers, Jazz FM suits restaurants in the evening, Lo-Fi FM suits cafés and co-working spaces, and Prime FM or World FM suit shops that want energy and a human voice. Because the stations play Nova music, they are included in the Nova Business subscription and its public performance licence; nothing extra is needed. For a room where a voice would be out of place, a spa or a reading room, use an album instead.
Radio and the rest of the app
Tuning in to a station pauses whatever you were playing, and starting a song or a podcast stops the station; one thing plays at a time. The sleep timer in the app works with radio as it does with music, so a station can play you to sleep and stop on its own. Share links for stations open the station in the app or, in a browser, the station's public page.
Frequently asked questions
How many radio stations does Nova have? Five: Rock FM, Lo-Fi FM, Jazz FM, World FM and Prime FM. All play around the clock.
Is Nova radio live? Yes, in the sense that playback is synchronised: everyone listening hears the same song at the same moment, and you join mid-programme when you tune in.
Where does the radio music come from? From the Nova catalogue. Every song a station plays can be found, liked and added to a playlist in the app.
Can a shop play Nova radio all day? Yes, with a Nova Business subscription, which includes the public performance licence for all Nova music, including the stations.
