Online Broadway Radio Station

Stuart Brown, a lifelong Broadway musical theater fan, was tired of hearing the same songs from the same Broadway shows on streaming services and satellite radio. “It seemed like they would rarely change their playlist of chosen songs,” said Brown, a Connecticut based theater critic who reviews shows on Broadway and in the Nutmeg state. “I knew I could do better.”

Three years ago, his desire became a reality when he launched the 24/7 online show music radio station, Sounds of Broadway (SoundsoBroadway.com). Advances in technology made it easy to establish the home-grown radio station that can be managed by simply using a microphone and laptop.

According to Brown, Sounds of Broadway currently reaches 130,000 listeners a month from all over the world. “We have listeners in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom,” he said. “Most listeners are all over the United States. It’s fun to see where people are tuning in from.”

The radio station offers the most wide-ranging listing of music from the Off-Broadway, Broadway, and London stages. There are over 4,600 songs from about 650 musicals in rotation.

The goal of Sounds of Broadway is to educate and entertain. "I curate every playlist,” stated Brown, a recently retired college administrator at the University of Connecticut. “There is no computer picking the songs. I feature popular and well-known shows like Wicked, My Fair Lady, and Hamilton. 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 to entertain, but I also want to teach people about musical theater history."

Brown, who is also the President of the Connecticut Critics Circle, was first smitten with Broadway musicals as a freshman in high school. “My friend and I would take the bus from New Jersey to New York City. One of my first shows was the original production of Grease in 1972. I think we paid less than $8.00 for a full priced Saturday matinee ticket.”

Sounds of Broadway 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.

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 gives listeners the chance to do so," said Brown. “No other show music radio station gives listeners this opportunity.”

“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.”