How To Personalize Your Own Radio Stations In Apple Music

Apple Music has curated playlists and professionally staffed radio stations, but you can also create and customize your own based on any song, artist, or genre you want.

- Kirk Mcelhearn

I’m not a fan of the playlists on Apple Music. I don’t care that much for the so-called curated lists of songs that focus on an artist, a decade, or an activity.(Specific playlists for barbecues? Or Classical Music for Elevators? Seriously?)But I do appreciate the breadth of music available on Apple Music. While I listen much more to my own large music library, I often want to sample something new on Apple Music, or simply queue up some music that might surprise me.

I’ve long been a fan of Genius, the feature in iTunes that finds “songs from your library that sound great together.” This may, in fact, be the best feature in iTunes. I can pick a song, start a Genius playlist, and listen to similar music from my own collection. The equivalent on Apple Music is stations. I’m not talking about Beats 1, Pure Pop, or the other genre-based stations, but the ones that you can craft yourself.

To start your own station, pick a song, album, or artist on Apple Music or in your library; click the ellipsis (...) button; then choose Create Station. You get an endless stream of music that is similar to the song, artist, or album you started with. (I’ve found that starting a station from music in my library doesn’t always work; sometimes iTunes just shrugs and does nothing.)