PRX Remix App: The Best Stories, In Your Pocket

PRX is brimming with audio stories. A few years ago, we launched an XM satellite radio channel (XM 123) to showcase the best short pieces from PRX.org plus select podcasts. The channel quickly went from satellite to internet to broadcast. It’s listed in our Public Radio Player app, too.

But we feel this amazing channel deserves its own app.

 

It’s simply the beloved PRX Remix stream, the title and producer of each piece, and a couple of buttons for basic audio player things. It’s an app for people who don’t want too much choice, just great stuff. For people who don’t download podcasts because it’s too much work. For people who love stories.

Mostly, you put it in your pocket, or in the console between the front seats of your car (unless you have a really old car), and let curator-in-chief Roman Mars take care of that ‘What should I listen to?’ problem. Roman, by the way, is host of 99% Invisible among many other things, so he knows what he’s doing.

Special thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts for funding this app – it’s one of their early forays into mobile.

(Cross-posted from our PRX Apps blog.)

The official press release is below.

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To download photos and screen shots: http://imgur.com/a/YNG9l

PRX REMIX APP FOR iPHONE & ANDROID SHOWCASES CURATED MIX OF THE BEST RADIO STORIES, AND PODCASTS FROM THE MOTH, 99% INVISIBLE, SLATE’S GABFEST, STORYCORPS, AND MORE

PRX Remix serves up stories handpicked from all corners of the audio universe by Roman Mars, one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People,” and PRX editorial team

Cambridge, MA (Embargoed until July 9, 2013) – A new app launching today brings listeners a curated mix of the most compelling radio stories, fascinating interviews, audio documentaries, and intriguing sounds from popular shows like Radiolab to podcast gems like The Moth, StoryCorps, 99% Invisible, The Kitchen Sisters, and WTF with Marc Maron.

Aiming to be the greatest radio station of all time in your pocket, PRX Remix for iPhone and Android showcases a virtually endless stream of ear candy handpicked from all corners of the audio universe by PRX program director Roman Mars, who was recently named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People,” and the respected editorial team at PRX, the award-winning public media company. Creating a completely new listening experience that is fresh, thoughtful, and highly addictive, PRX Remix confirms that the digital era has sparked a new golden age of storytelling.

Drawing from PRX’s growing catalog of over 40,000 audio works by independent producers as well as local stations, PRX Remix offers over 2,400 short audio pieces, with new selections added on a weekly basis. At any given moment, listeners might journey seamlessly from Texas, where the Kitchen Sisters chronicle the history of the Frito, to the sounds of a Los Angeles intersection captured by Random Tape, a radio show dedicated to “the finest auditory ephemera.” In between, listeners will meet raconteurs from The Moth, be dazzled by the world’s brightest minds from TEDTalks, and be moved to tears and laughter by StoryCorps.

To mark the launch of the PRX Remix app, Mars selected his list of must-listen audio stories, all of which are in regular rotation on PRX Remix (see Mars’ list below).

With PRX Remix, listeners can hit play, lean back, and enjoy a steady stream of audio delights or skip through the selections to discover new favorites. The app keeps an archive of all listened-to stories so users can enjoy again, easily share with friends and post to social media. And for people on the go, in the subway, or on a remote stretch of highway, the app preloads up to one hour of audio without a network connection.

“We are all story-driven by nature, so we designed PRX Remix to be the single best source for your awesome audio fix,” said Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX. “This isn’t yet another aggregator app – there are stories in PRX Remix you won’t find anywhere else.”

In addition to the iOS and Android apps, PRX Remix streams 24/7 on satellite radio (XM Channel 123), online at www.prxremix.org, and on a growing number of public radio stations across the United States, including Boston, Seattle, Cincinnati, and Charlotte. The PRX Remix app was developed by PRX with funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts. It is among the first mobile projects to receive a grant from the NEA’s Arts on Radio and Television fund.

With the launch of PRX Remix, PRX continues to build on its track record of harnessing digital media and technology to bring compelling audio stories to a wider audience. PRX also created the Public Radio Player app, which offers access to 500+ public radio stations and 1000+ public radio programs and podcasts, and has developed apps for a roster of public radio superstars that includes Radiolab and This American Life. PRX is also a founding partner of Matter, the new media startup accelerator fusing the values of public media with Silicon Alley entrepreneurship.

Roman Mars’ Top Ten Must-Listen Stories on PRX Remix

Ben Franklin death ray – The Memory Palace

Birth of the Frito- Kitchen Sisters

Red, White and Blue Bus – Third Coast

NIKKO- Concrete Commando – 99% Invisible

The Ground We Lived On – Sound Portraits

Beep, Beep – David Weinberg

Talk to Me About Love – Jill Dorothy Summers

Thao Nguyen Grandma – Stagedive

Nick: Home School to High School – Radio Diaries

About PRX PRX is an award-winning nonprofit public media company, harnessing innovative technology to bring compelling stories to millions of people. PRX.org operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use, including The Moth Radio Hour, Sound Opinions, State of the Re:Union, Snap Judgment, and WTF with Marc Maron. PRX Remix is PRX’s 24/7 channel featuring the best independent radio stories and new voices. PRX is also the leading mobile app developer for public media, with apps such as Public Radio Player, Radiolab, This American Life, WBUR, KCRW Music Mine, and more.

PRX was created through a collaboration of the Station Resource Group and Atlantic Public Media, and receives support from public radio stations and producers, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and the Open Society Institute.

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