Stream music from major classical record labels, such as Sony Classical. Music is primarily focused on Western art music (i.e., classical music), but some music from non-Western traditions can also be found here. Useful factual information can be found in the digitized liner notes to better contextualize the music you are listening to.
Streaming audio of Western art/classical music. Includes liners notes of many albums, which can be an excellent source of information to understand the historical context of a composer or piece of music.
Streaming audio of jazz, swing, hard-bop, contemporary jazz, bop, latin jazz, cool jazz, avant-garde jazz, dixieland, and other genres of music that have developed from jazz. Excellent information can also be found in the liner notes that accompany many of the recordings.
Streaming audio of recordings from the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings labels. Music found in this database represents traditional cultures across the world from Armenia to Zimbabwe. Accompanying liner notes are an excellent source of information.
Streaming audio of music from America's past. Includes songs by and about American Indians, immigrants, slaves, pioneers, and cowboys, as well as songs from the Civil Rights movements, political campaigns, the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War.
Streaming audio of music from all over the globe. Includes popular genres such as reggae, worldbeat, neo-traditional, world fusion, Balkanic jazz, African film, Bollywood, Arab swing, along with traditional music like Indian classical, fado, flamenco, klezmer, zydeco, gospel, and gagaku.
Streaming video of concerts, operas, ballets, music documentaries, and masterclasses with globally famous musicians. Content is regularly updated as it normally includes performances from European music summer festivals and annual music competitions.
soClassiQ is a freely available indexer of music-related podcasts. You can use their site to search for specific topics and then it will direct you to specific podcasts episodes that discuss it.