Radio station apps have emerged as a popular choice among people recently. Since the evolution of smartphones, offline radio has transferred its place to the vast field of the internet. The global market of online radio has shown tremendous growth in the last few years, which has compelled many entrepreneurs to invest in radio station app development and make a name for themselves.
The global market of radio station apps has experienced significant growth over the last few years and have added more than 37.5 million users. Spotify and Apple music stands at the top of the graph with the majority of users and huge revenue. More than 95 percent of the users have turned to online radio streaming apps, and the revenue of the said market would stand at more than 2.3 billion US dollars by the year 2022.
Entrepreneurs around the world have recognized the immense opportunities in the field and have started investing in radio station app development. If you are thinking of developing an online radio app, there is no perfect time than now. However, you have to keep a few things in mind before proceeding forward. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Advantages of Radio Station App Development
Did you know, the first radio station was set up in New York and Chicago in the year 1920, and three years later, there were more than 450 radio stations scattered around the United States of America. Over the years, the radio industry saw many advancements, and when the digital age started, it went through another change and shifted to online, creating a buzz in the music streaming industry.
Let’s figure out what are the advantages you will get by making a radio station app.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Edge Over Competition
Since the mobile app development industry implements changes and advancements every now and then, you have to make sure that you deliver something unique to the users in order to get an edge over the current competition. Users around the world are fascinated by extra and advanced features, and integrating a radio in a music streaming app takes you a long way.
Enhanced ROI
If you make a radio app with elegant features and functionality, given the current market stats, it will earn you a significant ROI. People around the world are so busy in their daily hustles they don’t want to select the music they want to listen to; instead, they select the genre and let the app suggests the top songs. No app can do this job better than a radio app. Apart from the functionality, you can integrate a few monetization options like ads and other promotional items to enhance revenue generation even further.
Offer On-Demand Content
Those days are gone when you have to wait for your favorite songs on a radio station, but with an online radio station app, the users can build an entire radio playlist around their favorite song. Apart from that, an entire playlist can be created around a genre like pop, classic, and various artists. More than 57 percent of the users prefer to use a podcast or a radio platform to listen to their favorite music.
Exemplary Experience than Websites
A few years back, people used to tune in to online radio through websites; some of them prefer websites to date, but having a mobile app for a radio station delivers an extraordinary experience to the users. Along with the flexibility to use the app anywhere, it delivers them a lot of customizable options that take the listening experience to the next level.
Unlimited Marketing Options
An online radio app has a wider audience as compared to any music streaming app. You can reach a million users and advertise whatever you like based on their preferences. A number of radio station app in the market uses the platform for advertising plenty of products and services. Apart from that, you can simply promote your own songs or any brand on the platform.
Easy Market Research
Earlier, if you have to carry out a survey regarding the popular genre or popular artist, you have to spend a lot of money in finding out the relevant data. But with radio station app development, you have access to all the data from the stats of your app. You can easily find out the listener trends, most popular songs, top ten songs, and more. You can use these data sets to promote your app and get an edge over the competition.
Also Read: How to Create a Music Streaming App?
How to Create a Radio App? 
Building a radio station app is not that complicated as you may think, but you have to stick to a step-by-step plan to make it a success. Any mobile app development process requires a complete data set that sets the foundation of the core functions and features. The most important part of the development process is to hire a reliable mobile app development company. Finding a reliable development partner also takes a great deal of research as it will be responsible for the outcome of your radio app development.
For your better understanding, we have divided the complete development process into simple steps. Let’s begin with the first step.
Get to Know the Market
The global market can give you data and trends that you can find nowhere. All you have to do is find the right spot in your field, which in this case is online radio app development. Start your research with the most obvious part; competitors. Getting to know your competitors will give you an idea about the operation of a successful radio app in the market. Make a list of them, along with their current business strategies. Once done, move to the top features that users find worth using. Find out the technical stack integrated into the top apps to get an idea about your app’s tech stack.
Finding the exact data that you need can get a little difficult when you search the market on your own; however, getting a little help can always do wonders. You can hire a marketing company and outsource your work to them as they usually have vast experience in terms of finding the right data for the right product. The other option is to buy a market research report directly from an online marketing website such as Statista. 
Mark Your Moves
When we get the data for our project, the first and ideal thing to do is make a strategic plan. Marking your moves can guide you towards success while creating a radio app. The plan should be sequential and should be monitored carefully, mark every step when it’s completed along with the testing. Your plan should contain every single detail of the project, such as the number of features, the tech stack to be integrated, budget, and much more.
Let’s start with the features.
Features to be Considered
In order to get an edge over the competition while creating a radio app, you should put your market research data to use and integrate the features that are most preferred by the users. Here are some of the top features that top apps use.
Live Stream
Allow users to stream live music, podcast, and other shows. Integrating this feature can attract more users.
Podcasts
Allow users to listen to their favorite podcasts or interviews in case they didn’t listen to them live.
News Feeds
Allow users to get new information related to any genre and artists along with new releases.
Weather
Allow users to get the exact weather information and plan their day accordingly as radio has been a trusted source of weather for a long time.
Trivia Game
Allow users to interact in a trivia game related to their favorite genre or artists to know more.
Events
Allow users to participate in live events and interact with their favorite artist in an interview.
Push Notifications
Remind users of the current events, new releases, and other news related to the music industry.
Loyalty Rewards
Allow users to get some points or any type of reward and use them to purchase a subscription or more.
Web Links
Allow users to get the web link for any podcast, song, or article and allow enterprises to get a broader reach.
Social Connect
Allow users to get connected to social media through the app and share their favorite songs and more.
Around Town
Allow users to get information about their towns, such as traffic conditions, events, and more.
Tech Stack to Consider
A robust tech stack is mandatory to power your app’s features and enhance the overall performance of the app. You can either use the data of your market research to get started or ask your radio station app developer to integrate the tach stack that suits your requirements. Here is a tech stack that top radio station app use.
| Application and Data | jQuery, Python, React, HTML5, Java, PostgreSQL, Apache HTTP Server, Redis, Sass, Swift, Backbone.js, Underscore, Box |
| Utilities | Google Analytics, Twilio SendGrid, Dyn |
| DevOps | Jenkins, Bitbucket, Webpack, Android Studio, Vagrant, TrackJS, TestFlight |
| Business Tools | Slack, Jira, InVision, AdRoll, OneLogin, AnyPerk |
Create an MVP
It is recommended to create a minimum viable product for better results. When you develop and deploy an MVP, you get a better idea about the market perspective along with a perfect market space that you can use to your advantage. Creating an MVP gives you honest opinions of the users enabling you to improve the project further as per their expectations to make it a success.
Test & Launch
The next step in the process of building a radio app is testing the app thoroughly. Hire a reliable mobile app development company with a team of experienced radio station app developers to build an efficient radio app. Ask your developers to test the app through various angles and every functionality. Testing an app is important from the market point of view as users don’t like to use an app with a number of bugs and errors.
After you are done with the testing part, move towards the launching process. Plan an effective marketing strategy to get the word out about your efficient radio app. Perform App store optimization to get your app on the top of the search results. Integrate effective monetization models to enhance the revenue generation process.
Also Read : How to Develop Apps Like Spotify?
Build Your Radio App with Matellio
With more than a decade of experience in mobile app development, we understand your business needs better than anyone. Our team of mobile app developers has a wide array of skills and deep knowledge of next-gen technologies. We have developed several mobile apps that have received tremendous feedback and reviews in the global market.
We follow an agile development methodology to ensure the results match your expectations. Our high client retention rate reflects the level of quality we deliver. Our team of experts is familiar with every know-how of the mobile app development industry. If you are thinking of developing a radio app, we have the perfect solution for you. Talk to our experts about your unique idea over a 30-min free consultation call, and let’s get started!
