Just a few weeks after RadioWhiskey.in announced its launch, two new online radio stations, both dedicated to Indie music from the country, are here to make some noise. While Radio Flote is a newly launched iPhone app that lets you listen to three channels - rock, fusion, metal - and will soon be introduced to Android and Blackberry smart phones, BC Radio hopes to be an interactive, user-friendly platform that lets you listen to songs at will.

Will they sync or swim?

Shuffle Board

Radio Flote, designed and created by two Bangalore-based musicians Mahadevan Kalyanaraman and Sikanth Gopinath, went live just last week and hopes to promote talented, independent musicians around the country. The app can currently stream over 400 songs from 80 bands (think Peter Cat Recording Co and Thermal And A Quarter) and gives you the liberty to mix and shuffle at will.  

bpb tried the app, but found that it was riddled with glitches. As soon as we started it up, it took an eternity to play a song. Even after the track finally loaded, it went on for a few seconds, and buffered again—this time, only to take longer than before. There was no way we could refresh or skip to the next track, despite our thumb being jammed on the ‘next’ button. The only way out was to shut down the app and try a reboot. But that didn’t work either. We almost blamed it on the 3G network at first, but that sadly wasn’t the case. On Wi-fi however, it was a different story — the songs streamed better even as we switched between the three channels. While they work on these teething problems, might we also suggest some design changes? The grey look with the orange font is quite uninspiring. Download this, at your own disk. 

Getting there: Download it at the iPhone App Store here, free.

Treble With a Cause

Mumbai-based BC Radio (Be the Change Radio), started by a bunch of IIT Bombay students, is slated to go live by the end of the month. It will stream music 24/7, and host three channels dedicated to three music genres: rock, metal and progressive/fusion. With its minimalist but unpretentious design, BC Radio seems to be on the right track. Let’s hope they sort out any buffering issues before they go live.

The playlist looks promising so far, featuring acts like Parikrama, Scribe, Skyharbor, Something Relevant, Them Clones and Demonic Resurrection. Cool features to look forward to: podcasts and interviews with bands, create your own playlist options and sharing via social networking platforms like Facebook.

Frequency flyer!

Getting there: Check out the beta version here, visit their Facebook page, to get your band featured email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .