2025 marks SomaFM's 25th anniversary. If you're not familiar with somafm.com it's an internet radio service currently with over 30 ad-free stations. I started listening very early on in it's run in 2001 and have more or less listened continually since. I would record the low bit rate stream of the Groove Salad station through WinAmp over a dial up connection for play back later while using the dial up for gaming and surfing.

There are so many abandoned, dusty corners of the web left by websites that flared into life and faded away that it can sometimes be a little sad to reflect on what has been and gone. It's so nice to have something so comfortably, reliably, there. Something that has changed little over time, something familiar and good. Is there a nostalgic element to it? Sure. But it's more than that. It's like my old CD player I use in my shop. I have fond memories associated with it, but I like and use it because it works. It's solid and reliable and simple and is always there ready to go.

Soma, for me, is the same. It's functional and works without effort and integrates into my current life and workflow without any workarounds, or bodges while being simple to use. Something all too rare in this modern Internet world of paywalled gardens.