Leeds Student Radio, known as LSR, streams student-made shows and a mix of indie, pop and underground music every day during term time from Leeds, England. You can stream it live and free right now on Radio Shuffle, wherever you are in the world.
From Closed Circuit to BBC Radio Leeds
LSR's roots reach back to the 1960s, when a group of students formed Network 4 and broadcast black-and-white programmes on a closed circuit around the university, according to the station's About page. In 1968 Leeds University Union built a dedicated radio studio on the top floor of the students' union so that Network 4 could produce material for BBC Radio Leeds, including concerts, debates, dramas and a weekly half-hour news programme called University City.
Run by Students, Backed by the Union
Today the station is a volunteer-led organisation with an elected committee of student volunteers and a full-time station manager employed by the union. It broadcasts daily in term time from two studios inside Leeds University Union and serves students at the University of Leeds, Leeds Trinity University and Leeds College of Music, as described on Wikipedia's entry on Leeds Student Radio. LSR also supplies live DJs for venues around the union and the city.
A Training Ground With Familiar Names
Student stations exist to give newcomers somewhere to learn the craft, and LSR has a well-known example: TV presenter Anita Rani worked at the station in the late 1990s. Media critic Antonia Quirke once praised its output in the New Statesman for "an easy joy in the medium," a line that suits a station built by people who are there because they want to be.
What You Will Hear
Expect an eclectic run of shows made by students, with indie, pop and underground tracks rubbing shoulders with talk and specialist programmes. Because the presenters change as each cohort arrives and graduates, the sound never sits still for long, which is much of the appeal for anyone curious about what young Leeds is listening to right now.
Tune In
A station that started as a closed-circuit experiment in the 1960s is still handing the microphone to students. Stream Leeds Student Radio free on Radio Shuffle to hear it live.