BBC Sounds App to stop working for users outside the UK

[Lalgarh]

Heads up on this. I only found out BC it was mentioned on the radio after a press release last week.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2025/02/most-bbc-radio-stations-to-become-unavailable-for-international-users/

Oh that's horrible. I have listened my way through most of the archives and absolutely get lost in the stories and shows. This makes me very sad.

They still get the World Service and R4, so that doesn’t seem too bad.

BBC Sounds kept me sane at one point when living overseas for work.

It is free to people in the UK (you don't need a licence, so it doesn't bring in any money) so why block others?

It is part of the UK's soft power. I would have happily paid the TV license to be able to access the rest of the BBC output when overseas, but couldn't find a way to do it.

It's to do with needing a licence to play the music in every country they have listeners in. That gets expensive very quickly. R4 and World Service are talk- based so don't have that problem.

That makes sense

You can get most of the content on other podcast platforms.

I listen to a lot of their stuff but hate the app so only use it when it never appears on my main app.

You can search on the website and might even be able to play thing's there too. Or try downloading on another app (I use Antenna Pod).

Nearly 1M audio files:

https://archive.org/details/audio?tab=collection&query=bbc

Edit: Actually, that's wrong. Nearly 1M search hits. Many of which contain multiple audio files.

Very annoying - I listened to the first three episodes of The Silver Pigs on R4xtra last week, went listen to ep 4 this morning and nothing. I'll miss Paul Temple and Sherlock Holmes.

I hope I'll still be able to get the Archers.

This is what happens when people smugly report they don't pay their license.

The BBC don't have enough money to operate anymore,yet are held to the highest standards.

It's a slippery slope to TV becoming a glorified YouTube.

It is also about the political move to criticise the BBC and underplay that international soft power aspect. International users of BBC online have always seen advertisements.

I am not sure if this will work but this is ep 4 of the silver pigs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b007wpcl?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

It is free to people in the UK (you don't need a licence, so it doesn't bring in any money) so why block others?

Isn’t it that people in the U.K. fund it through the licence fee? So it is a service provide free to us as part of the range of BBC services (like all of radio).

But the BBC can conceivably sell radio programmes to broadcasters in other countries or as audiobooks etc. That’s a potential income stream, but not if all the world can listen for free on Sounds.

There are lots of YouTube channels and news outlets internationally I can’t watch “because content isn’t available in your area”. I think it’s not really unheard of to restrict licensing to particular areas/markets.

Thanks @ScottBakula - I could still get that far, but it won't play. I know, their gaff, their rules, but a week or two of warning would have been appreciated.

In addition to getting advertisements, international users have always got those 'content not available in your area' messages quite often - notably during the Olympics, but plenty of other music and sports stuff. This is different. And we are not being offered a pay-for access option as far as I can see.

Cough VPN cough

I'm terribly unteccy and terrified of downloading something damaging.

Ha! My DS’s response to everything 😂

Aww sorry @DeanElderberry, it's really annoying when you you get part way through a series and miss the end.
It is available on Audible if you have that .
Listen to The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis on Audible. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B004FTGBZU?sourcecode=ASSORAP0511160007

But obviously that's not going to be practical for all the things you want you listen to.
It's a shame that there isn't a way for you to buy a license or the bbc sounds content.

Edited for sloppy spaces

Paul Temple is on Spotify as are most of the Agatha Christies.

By the way, I have read the Silver Pigs, and heard it at least once before. I've developed a habit of using R4 extra as a weekend morning treat, me, my bed, several mugs of tea, increasingly hungry cats, and a whodunnit. I'll have to explore other ways of accessing my fix.

I live in NL and this feels so regressive. When my mum moved to NL in the 1980s she had to make do with the world service on longwave. We have all this wonderful technology to connect us and now they are spending a fortune on restrictions that, lets face it, are pointless because you just switch on your VPN!. You can even buy dedicated IP addresses in the country of your choice.
I started a petition, https://www.change.org/savebbcsoundsabroad because BBC radio is like a friend to me, I never imagined that they would do this. IPlayer, I can understand, but not radio. I think this is yet another step back to the 1930's and not one I expected from the BBC.

I listen to local French radio in the car, because they have some great programming, but the music is hit and miss (pun intended!) - some brilliant recent French stuff like Zaho de Sagazan and classics from my student days along with mainstream Anglophone tracks. But it's also mixed in with doof-doof music that is so awful that I'm thankful for the easy access to the mute button. I can't just leave it on in the background at home for that reason.

We have Radio 2 on at home and I've always enjoyed the mix of old and new. Ugh, I might be forced to tune in to Greatest Hits Radio. But not sure where to find new music - I cannot bear Heart, Kiss etc. (see doof doof music, above).

They’ve also stopped the 5.30am bulletin, which had the interesting 'on this day', little snippets of interesting events in the past. Insomniacs and early risers will miss this!

I'm not sure which bits of RTÉ's output is accessible outside Ireland but I know they take the 'soft power' thing seriously. It (and other Irish radio output) might be worth checking out for people who want an English language fix from time to time.