Radio Nova streams an eclectic mix of reggae, funk, hip hop, acid jazz, and world music live from Paris, and you can hear it free on Radio Shuffle from anywhere in the world.
Born From an Underground Press Empire
Radio Nova launched on May 25, 1981, through the fusion of several existing radio stations, the work of Jean-François Bizot, according to Wikipedia's history of the station. Bizot had already built an underground media empire before turning to radio, founding the countercultural magazine Actuel in 1970 and the independent publisher Nova Press in 1972, and the station grew directly out of that same Nova Press operation, which still owns it today alongside sister jazz station TSF Jazz and the Nova Records label.
A Playlist That Kept Moving
Radio Nova's format has shifted more times than most stations manage in a century, tracking whatever underground sound was gaining ground in Paris at the time. The station leaned into world music starting in 1985, expanded into reggae, funk, and rap around 1988, added acid jazz and French rap by 1991, and pivoted toward ambient, chill-out, and drum and bass by 1999. Each shift followed the city's own underground music scene rather than chasing whatever was already charting nationally.
The Station That Gave David Guetta His Start
That willingness to chase emerging sounds turned Radio Nova into a launching pad for artists who would later become globally recognized names. David Guetta and Laurent Garnier, now two of the biggest names in international house and techno, both hosted shows on Radio Nova early in their careers, alongside comedian and actor Jamel Debbouze and broadcaster Ariel Wizman. Few stations anywhere can claim a former in-house DJ roster that later filled festival main stages worldwide.
Independent by Design
Radio Nova and TSF Jazz left the Les Indés Radios advertising cooperative in September 2011, a move completed by 2012 that let both stations handle national advertising sales independently through their own operation, Nova Régie. That independence mirrors the station's programming philosophy: rather than plugging into a shared national ad and format structure, Radio Nova has consistently chosen to run its own course.
Why Tune In
Radio Nova carries more than forty years of Parisian underground music history into a current format built on the same restless curiosity that once gave David Guetta his first microphone. For listeners chasing music before it goes mainstream, it remains one of the more reliable predictors in French radio.
Listen to Radio Nova free on Radio Shuffle, streaming eclectic music live from Paris, France.