Current Rock/Indie Stations
Here’s our line up of the biggest UK Rock, Metal and Indie stations, again its the usual tussle of the big boys with Global’s Radio X, Bauer’s Kerrang and Absolute against Wireless’ Virgin Radio. Communicorp did also have one of the few stations they actually operated (rather than just license someone else to do it for them) with XS in Manchester, though from Monday 24th Feb 2025 this has become “Radio X 90s”, which is a ‘global’ brand.. The music is the same as the UK Radio X 90s feed, but there is local travel, news and adverts, though there is ONE live show from 11am-2pm from Manchester (!!), and this also makes it onto the Global UK Feed too….
Analysis: 23 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 5869
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1018
Variety factor for this station is : 17.3%
50% OF PLAYS is 228 Songs (22.3% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 129 MOST played songs (12.6% of the total)
or 664 LEAST played songs (65.2% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 7h 21m
10th most played song airs every: 20h 26m
129th most played song airs every: 2d 2h 10m
228th most played song airs every: 2d 13h 20m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 557 (54.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
3 after 20 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1113
..in 3 months: 1772, in 6 months: 2148
..in 9 months: 2511, in 12 months: 2696
Top 10 Most Played:
1= [75 plays] each for…
+ Kings Of Leon – To Space
+ sombr – Undressed
3 [73 plays] Mumford and Sons and Hozier – Rubber Band Man
4 [72 plays] sombr – 12 to 12
5 [44 plays] Sam Fender – People Watching
6 [31 plays] Sam Fender ft. Elton John – Talk To You
7 [28 plays] Hayley Williams – Parachute
8= [27 plays] each for…
+ Florence and The Machine – Sympathy Magic
+ Foo Fighters – Asking For A Friend
+ Turnstile – I Care
Analysis: 24 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6979
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1081
Variety factor for this station is : 15.4%
50% OF PLAYS is 254 Songs (23.4% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 146 MOST played songs (13.5% of the total)
or 691 LEAST played songs (63.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 10h 52m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 3h 25m
146th most played song airs every: 2d 0h
254th most played song airs every: 2d 16h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 532 (49.2%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
2 after 17 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1158
..in 3 months: 1626, in 6 months: 2207
..in 9 months: 2688, in 12 months: 2858
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [93 plays] Kings Of Leon – To Space
2 [55 plays] Sombr – 12 To 12
3 [52 plays] Mumford / Sons – Rubber Band Man (with Hozier)
4 [49 plays] Sam Fender – Talk To You (ft. Elton John)
5 [33 plays] Role Model – Sally, When The Wine Runs Out
6 [31 plays] Bastille – Save My Soul
7 [27 plays] Olivia Dean – Man I Need
8= [25 plays] each for…
+ Florence And The Machine – Sympathy Magic
+ James – Wake Up Superman
10 [23 plays] Charlatans – Deeper / Deeper
Analysis: 24 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7038
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1416
Variety factor for this station is : 20.1%
50% OF PLAYS is 186 Songs (13.1% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 89 MOST played songs (6.2% of the total)
or 1089 LEAST played songs (76.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 6h 28m
10th most played song airs every: 9h 36m
89th most played song airs every: 1d 14h 24m
186th most played song airs every: 2d 9h 36m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 1032 (72.8%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
4 after 15 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1500
..in 3 months: 2098, in 6 months: 2706
..in 9 months: 3277, in 12 months: 3907
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [89 plays] Mumford and Sons and Hozier – Rubber Band Man
2 [87 plays] Wet Leg – mangetout
3 [86 plays] Wolf Alice – The Sofa
4 [85 plays] Hayley Williams – Parachute
5 [84 plays] Wet Leg – Pokemon
6 [81 plays] Kings Of Leon – To Space
7 [68 plays] Sombr – Undressed
8 [65 plays] Biffy Clyro – A Little Love
9= [60 plays] each for…
+ Geese – Cobra
+ Inhaler – Hole In The Ground
Analysis: 26 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7339
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1730
Variety factor for this station is : 23.5%
50% OF PLAYS is 376 Songs (21.7% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 172 MOST played songs (9.9% of the total)
or 1090 LEAST played songs (63% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 11h 33m
10th most played song airs every: 15h 13m
172nd most played song airs every: 3d 17h 8m
376th most played song airs every: 5d 4h 48m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 1390 (80.3%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
9 after 22 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1777
..in 3 months: 2254, in 6 months: 2696
..in 9 months: 3015, in 12 months: 3280
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [54 plays] Five Finger Death Punch – Cold
2 [52 plays] Machine Gun Kelly – No Cell Phones in Rehab
3 [50 plays] Foo Fighters – Asking For A Friend
4 [49 plays] Skindred – You Got This
5= [48 plays] each for…
+ Creeper – Mistress Of Death
+ Don Broco – Euphoria
7 [46 plays] Bad Omens – Dying To Love
8= [44 plays] each for…
+ devil wears Prada – Eyes
+ Magnolia Park – Chasing Shadows
10= [41 plays] each for…
+ Hives – Roll Out The Red Carpet
+ Poppy – Unravel
This station was replaced by Radio X 90s on 24/2/25, here is an analysis from before the closure, 25 days, up to 21-02-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7479
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 907
Variety factor for this station is : 12.1%
50% OF PLAYS is 193 Songs (21.2% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 113 MOST played songs (12.4% of the total)
or 622 LEAST played songs (68.5% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 5h 18m
10th most played song airs every: 21h 25m
113th most played song airs every: 1d 13h 30m
193rd most played song airs every: 1d 16h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 445 (49%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
3 after 14 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 945
..in 3 months: 1336, in 6 months: 1707
..in 9 months: 1995, in 12 months: 2236
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [113 plays] Sam Fender – People Watching
2 [108 plays] Fontaines D.c. – Bug
3 [86 plays] Manic Street Preachers – People Ruin Paintings
4 [69 plays] Sam Fender – Arm’s Length
5 [58 plays] Stereophonics – There’s Always Gonna Be Something
6 [46 plays] Slow Readers Club – Animals
7 [34 plays] Fontaines D.c. – Favourite
8 [31 plays] Doves – Renegade
9 [30 plays] Blossoms – Perfect Me
10 [28 plays] Inhaler – A Question Of You
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