Music Podcast Collection — Classical, Jazz, and Rock

Clas­si­cal

• An Inti­mate Tour Through the Music of Yo-Yo Ma iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Each episode of this pod­cast delves into the his­to­ry of his career, and what led him to record each of the tracks of his cur­rent release Appas­sion­a­to.
• Bach Pod­cast from Magnatune.com iTunes Feed Web Site
  • 60 free min­utes of Bach.
• Bach Fes­ti­val of Philadel­phia Feed Web Site
  • Live per­for­mances of J.S. Bach works per­formed by var­i­ous artists for The Bach Fes­ti­val of Philadel­phia.
• Boston Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra Con­ser­va­to­ry iTunes Feed Web Site
  • This edu­ca­tion­al pod­cast gives you an inside look at the sym­pho­ny. Cur­rent­ly you will find a two sea­son overview and record­ings of Beethoven and Arnold Schoen­berg.
• Clas­si­cal Per­for­mance iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Clas­si­cal music per­for­mances from WGBH’s Stu­dio One in Boston.
• Com­posers Date­books iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Amer­i­can Pub­lic Media’s Com­posers Date­book informs, engages, and enter­tains with time­ly infor­ma­tion about com­posers of the past and present.
• Dan­marks Radio — Mozart Sym­phonies Feed Web Site
  • For the cel­e­bra­tion of Mozart’s 250th anniver­sary, Den­mark radio offered pod­casts of nine Mozart sym­phonies by the Dan­ish Radio Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra. Since the web site is in Dan­ish, your best bet is to access these high qual­i­ty MP3’s through the feed.
• Deutsche Welle
  • Beethoven­fest iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Beethoven’s most famous sym­phonies per­formed by excel­lent young orches­tras and new com­po­si­tions by award-win­ning com­posers.
  • Clas­si­cal Mas­ter­pieces iTunes Feed Web Site
    • Six mas­ter com­posers, six sym­phonies, a star con­duc­tor and a lead­ing orches­tra are the main ingre­di­ents of this remark­able musi­cal feast.
• Gramo­phone Pod­cast Feed Web Site
  • A month­ly win­dow into the world’s most author­i­ta­tive clas­si­cal music mag­a­zine, fea­tur­ing an overview of the best releas­es, news, exclu­sive inter­views with lead­ing fig­ures from the music world, and lots of great music.
• New Clas­si­cal Tracks with Julie Amach­er iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Host Julie Amach­er pro­vides an in-depth explo­ration of a new clas­si­cal music release each week.
• Nax­os Clas­si­cal Music Spot­light iTunes Feed Web Site
  • A lead­ing clas­si­cal music label looks at new releas­es, as well as the per­form­ers and com­posers who make Nax­os’ record­ings.
• NPR Music iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Reviews, musi­cian inter­views, live record­ings from Morn­ing Edi­tion, All Things Con­sid­ered, and oth­er NPR pro­grams.
• Phil­har­mo­nia Orches­tra Video Pod­casts iTunes Feed Web Site
  • A month­ly series of video pod­casts takes you behind the scenes with the Phil­har­mo­nia Orches­tra, includ­ing inter­views with con­duc­tors, soloists and lis­ten­ing guides to famous pieces from the clas­si­cal reper­toire.
• Radio Swe­den: Mozart iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Swedish Radio has launched a Mozart Pod­cast to cel­e­brate Mozart’s 250th birth­day. They’ve been pod­cast­ing their own record­ings from the 1940–1950s of Mozart’s operas.
• The Con­cert iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and more from the Isabel­la Stew­art Gard­ner muse­um in Boston.
• The Music of Mas­ter­works iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Sony BMG Mas­ter­works pro­vides pod­casts fea­tur­ing inter­views with artists and upcom­ing releas­es.
• Wag­n­er Operas Pod­cast iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Fea­tures, among oth­er things, per­for­mances from the Bayreuth Fes­ti­val.

Jazz & Blues

• Bend­ing Cor­ners Feed Web Site
  • Bend­ing­Corners explores the groove with­in: acid jazz, afro-beat, bop, cool jazz, cos­mic jazz, dub, down­tem­po, elec­tro-jazz, fusion, future jazz, groove jazz, jaz­za­tron­ic, jazz dance, jazz-funk, jazz-rock, kozmi­groov, modal, phu­sion, pro­gres­sive, mod­ern, nu-jazz, soul-jazz, spir­i­tu­al, and world.
• Brook­lyn Jazz Under­ground iTunes Web Site Blog
  • A pod­cast look­ing at the Brook­lyn jazz scene. Part music, part inter­view.
• Chris­t­ian McBride Pod­casts iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Talks with and pefor­mances by bassist Chris­t­ian McBride. Includes some video clips.
• Detroit Jazz Stage iTunes Feed Web Site
  • A month­ly pod­cast fea­tur­ing the best in the Detroit jazz scene.
• In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond iTunes Feed Web Site
  • From Jazz mas­ters of past and present to emerg­ing new artists per­form­ing hard-bop jazz and fusion. Fea­tur­ing Inde­pen­dent Jazz artists from around the world. A pop­u­lar pod­cast.
• Jazz Cor­ner Innerviews Feed Web Site
  • Jazzcorner.com innerviews are vignettes with insight­ful com­men­tary, inter­est­ing sound bites and lots of great music with great jazz mas­ters and up and com­ing musi­cians. Each pod­cast ranges in time from 4 min­utes to more than an hour.
• Jazz in Chica­go iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Inter­views and infor­ma­tion about the jazz scene in Chica­go.
• Jazz Pod­cast from Mag­natune iTunes Feed Web Site
  • 60 min­utes of straight, high qual­i­ty jazz.
• NPR Piano Jazz Shorts iTunes Feed Web Site
  • For more than twen­ty-five years, pianist Mar­i­an McPart­land has wel­comed a stel­lar line-up of jazz artists for con­ver­sa­tion and impro­vi­sa­tion on her Peabody Award-win­ning pro­gram. Piano Jazz show­cas­es both acclaimed artists and up-and-com­ing per­form­ers.
• Pat Methe­ny — The Song X Podu­men­tary iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Gui­tarist Pat Methe­ny explores his influ­ences, record­ings, music and more on this inti­mate pod­cast series.
• Port­land Jazz Jams Pod­show iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Live jazz jams, inter­views with great play­ers, and instruc­tion­al mate­ri­als, all com­ing out of the Port­land jazz scene.
• Son­ny Rollins Pod­cast iTunes Web Site
  • A 12-part video pod­cast series to be released in month­ly install­ments. It intro­duces Son­ny Rollins, a major Amer­i­can jazz fig­ure, to new lis­ten­ers.
• Swing is in the Air iTunes Web Site
  • Although swing is some­thing of a focus here, this pod­cast com­ing out of Cana­da also looks at oth­er jazz forms.
• The His­to­ry of Chica­go Blues iTunes Web Site
  • Nar­rat­ed by Bud­dy Guy, this enhanced and exten­sive pod­cast takes you on a tour (geo­graph­i­cal and his­tor­i­cal) of Chicago’s rich blues tra­di­tion.
• The Jazz Suite Feed Web Site
  • This is a pod­cast ded­i­cat­ed to Jazz played by inde­pen­dent and indie artists that the major music labels have missed.
• The Night Pas­sage Jazz Pod­cast iTunes Feed Web Site
  • An Eng­lish-lan­guage pod­cast com­ing out of Rome, Italy.
• The Tra­neu­men­tary iTunes Feed Web Site
  • A series of pod­casts fea­tur­ing the work of the jazz great, John Coltrane.

Rock

• Beat­legs Pod­cast iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Fea­tures rare inter­views or behind the scenes clips, fol­lowed by a rare out­take or live per­for­mance that few have heard before.
• Bea­t­les Minute iTunes Feed Web Site
  • A pod­cast com­ing out of Philadel­phia that gives you short, dai­ly tid­bits about the band.
• Bob Dylan Pod­cast iTunes Web Site
  • Pat­ti Smith hosts music and con­ver­sa­tion about Bob Dylan. His friends, ear­ly influ­ences and col­lab­o­ra­tors dis­cuss their close rela­tion­ships with Dylan, the sto­ries behind his great­est songs and oth­er mem­o­rable moments of his career. Jour­nal­ists and biog­ra­phers add crit­i­cal insights and pro­vide his­tor­i­cal con­texts.
• Bono: The Rolling Stone Inter­view iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Jann Wen­ner leads a long and wide-rang­ing inter­view with the lead singer of U2.
• Elvis Costel­lo: The First Ten Years iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Elvis Costel­lo looks back at the begin­ning of his music career.
• George Har­ri­son: Liv­ing in a Mate­r­i­al World iTunes
  • A look back at George Harrison’s 3rd solo album. Includes talks with artists who played on the album.
• John Lennon: The Rolling Stone Inter­view iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Con­duct­ed by Jann Wen­ner (the founder of Rolling Stone Mag­a­zine) this famous 1970 inter­view with John Lennon was con­duct­ed short­ly after The Bea­t­les’ bit­ter breakup. Run­ning over 3 hours, it is one of Lennon’s most exten­sive inter­views, touch­ing not just on the breakup, but also on art and pol­i­tics, drugs, Yoko, pri­mal ther­a­py and more.
• John Lennon: The Lost Lennon Tapes iTunes Feed Web Site
  • Orig­i­nal­ly pre­sent­ed by West­wood One in 1988, this pod­cast presents a col­lec­tion of Lennon’s pri­vate tapes — tapes that include ear­ly record­ings of The Bea­t­les, radio inter­views with John, demo tapes, chron­i­cles of the Dou­ble Fan­ta­sy record­ing ses­sions, and pri­vate moments at home.
• Pet Sounds 40th Anniver­sary Pod­cast iTunes Web Site
  • The Beach Boys look back at their album that is con­sis­tent­ly con­sid­ered their finest and an impor­tant one in the rock tra­di­tion. The pod­cast includes 15 tracks.
• Rolling Stone: Best New Bands (Video) iTunes
• The Beach Boys: The Warmth of the Sun iTunes Web Site
  • Nar­rat­ed by The Beach Boys them­selves, this pod­casts looks at the band’s artistry and com­plex lega­cy.
• The Elvis Pres­ley Pod­cast iTunes Web­site
  • This pod­cast, which fea­tures musi­cal excerpts and inter­views, revis­its the King’s unpar­al­leled musi­cal career.

Also see our col­lec­tion of Mp3 Music Blogs.

• An Aquar­i­um Drunk­ard: Based in Los Ange­les, this eclec­tic audio blog “bridges the gap between con­tem­po­rary indie and vin­tage garage, psych-folk, coun­try, New Orleans funk, R&B, soul and every­thing that falls in between.”
• Brook­lyn Veg­an: Here you get a New York City-cen­tric, most­ly-music blog that focus­es on report­ing music news, live show reviews, tour dates, and, yes, MP3’s.
• Cacoph­o­nous: A clas­si­cal music MP3 blog.
• Chrome­waves: Along with the rumi­na­tions of a self-con­fessed indie rock geek, you get an “MP3 of the Week” that fea­tures a ran­dom or not-so-ran­dom cov­er song.
• Daytrot­ter: Gives you “exclu­sive, re-worked, alter­nate ver­sions of old songs and unre­leased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of your next favorite bands.”
• Des­ti­na­tion: Out: A jazz blog focus­ing on rare or out-of-print music. Typ­i­cal­ly pub­lish­es twice a week, and leaves songs avail­able for about two weeks.
• Dis­co­belle: A Swe­den-based music blog that posts sin­gle tracks and remix­es and occa­sion­al­ly exclu­sive mix­es from DJs all around the world.
• Done Wait­ing: Part film, part music with MP3s.
• Elbows: A meta col­lec­tion of great music blog posts, which col­lec­tive­ly pro­vides you a snap­shot of what’s going on in the new genre of audio/music blog­ging.
• Fluxblog: One of the old­est and most com­mon­ly cit­ed MP3 blogs, this site posts two MP3s every week­day along with more relat­ed infor­ma­tion.
• Goril­la vs. Bear: One of the big­gies worth check­ing out.
• I Guess I’m Float­ing: A good music blog with a good sprin­kling of MP3s.
• Idol­a­tor: Maybe this sum­ma­ry will help: “When the inter­net came, we over­threw the pasty white tastemak­ers, the duplic­i­tous music mar­keters and the man­u­fac­tured pop idols. And then they all came back. This is Idol­a­tor. We’re so dis­ap­point­ed.”
• La Blo­gotheque: A well-regard­ed French lan­guage MP3 blog.
• Large­heart­ed Boy: A “music blog fea­tur­ing dai­ly free and legal music down­loads as well as news from the worlds of music, lit­er­a­ture, and pop cul­ture.”
• Marathon Packs: Writes about and lets you lis­ten to inter­est­ing songs, to para­phrase the sites self-descrip­tion. Keeps audio files post­ed for two weeks.
• Moist­works: An audio blog start­ed in April 2004 (mean­ing it has a track record) that gets updat­ed Mon­day through Fri­day.
• Motel De Moka: A dai­ly blog post­ing eclec­tic playlists, includ­ing indie rock, acoustics and ambi­ent.
• My Old Ken­tucky Blog: What’s new and hot in indie rock, pop, folk and hip-hop.
• Noth­ing But Green Lights: An MP3 blog that keeps track of indie, elec­tro, folk & pop, all from the UK. The site only posts tracks that the inter­net is giv­ing away for free, or ones that have been grant­ed per­mis­sion.
• Prod­uct Shop NYC: Although not exclu­sive­ly an MP3 blog, you do get some MP3s worth your time here.
• Said the Gramo­phone: Launched in 2003, the site is among the first MP3 blogs and it offers a dai­ly sam­pler of “real­ly good songs,” although all songs are removed with­in a week or two of post­ing. The blog comes out of Cana­da.
• Six Eyes: An MP3 blog by Alan Williamson.
• Skat­ter Brain: A most­ly indiepop music blog.
• So Much Silence: MP3s a plen­ty.
• Soul Crates: Your home for soul MP3s.
• Stere­ogum: A pop­u­lar gos­sipy blog about the indie music scene. The site often posts MP3s of new music, plus offers record reviews, announces tour dates, and cov­ers music fes­ti­vals.
• The Hype Machine: The Hype Machine tracks and aggre­gates a vari­ety of MP3 blogs. Anoth­er meta approach.
• The Music Slut: A com­pre­hen­sive music blog with oodles of MP3s.
• Trrill: Anoth­er good clas­si­cal music audio blog.
• WFMU Beware of the Blog: An MP3 blog run by WFMU, an inde­pen­dent freeform radio sta­tion broad­cast­ing out of NYC.
• Who Needs Radio?: We believe in music, not mon­ey. We’re here to keep your ears alive.
• You Ain’t No Picas­so: A good music blog with a very nice blogroll and MP3s too.