Technology

Looking to access BBC Sounds – the BBC's podcast, radio and music app – from outside the UK? If you're visiting the US, Canada, Australia or indeed anywhere else, you can use a VPN – NordVPN works best – to unblock BBC Sounds and listen as normal.

We'll go into detail below and explain why the BBC's recent announcement that it would block international access to the BBC Sounds app saddened (and angered) many listeners around the world.

Here's a full (and quick) guide to how to get BBC Sounds from abroad...

When did the international BBC Sounds block come into force?

International access to BBC Sounds was shut down on Monday, July 21.

Can I still access BBC Sounds from abroad or on holiday? 

Yes. UK residents will be able to continue accessing the BBC Sounds app from abroad with a VPN. We recommend Nord, which comes with a 30-day trial and over 70% off when you use our deal below...

How to unblock BBC Sounds with a VPN

If you're outside the UK at the moment and blocked from using BBC Sounds, you can still access the app thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network).

The software allows your devices to appear as if they're back in your home country regardless of where in the world you are. So ideal for listeners away for work or on vacation wanting a taste of home.

NordVPN is our favorite:

Editors Choice

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We regularly review all the biggest and best VPN providers and NordVPN is our #1 choice. It unblocked every streaming service in testing and it's very straightforward to use. Speed, security and 24/7 support available if you need – it's got it all.

The best value plan is the two-year deal, which sets the price at $3.39 per month and includes an extra 3 months absolutely FREE. There's also an all-important 30-day no-quibble refund if you decide it's not for you.

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Is there a BBC Sounds alternative?

Listeners based outside the UK can now access a limited selection of BBC audio programming via the BBC.com website and the BBC app (iOS / Android).

To put it mildly, however, they're nothing at all like BBC Sounds!

The only live services available through BBC.com and the BBC app are BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service English. They also host select podcasts, and news and history programming, such as Global News Podcast, You're Dead to Me and Infinite Monkey Cage.

Although you can listen via BBC.com and the BBC app without an account, you have to sign in on order to download, follow and save shows.

Can I listen to BBC 6 Music and other radio stations from outside the UK?

All, however, is not yet lost. You can still listen to BBC Radio stations from outside the UK by visiting their individual websites directly, through a web browser (links listed below).

It's a crude workaround, but it works.

However, these websites don't support key BBC Sounds features, such as the option to set a radio station as your alarm or even the ability to view a station's schedule.

Furthermore, only select radio content will be made available on-demand through the websites.

BBC Radio 1

BBC 1Xtra

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 4 Extra

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Asian Network

BBC 6 Music

Click for more BBC Radio stations▼

BBC Live News

BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland Extra

BBC Radio Orkney

BBC Radio Shetland

BBC Radio nan Gaidheal

BBC Radio Ulster

BBC Radio Foyle

BBC Radio Wales

BBC Radio Wales Extra

BBC Radio Cymru

BBC Radio Cymru 2

Local radio

BBC Radio Berkshire

BBC Radio Bristol

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

BBC Radio Cornwall

BBC CWR

BBC Radio Cumbria

BBC Radio Derby

BBC Radio Devon

BBC Essex

BBC Radio Gloucestershire

BBC Radio Guernsey

BBC Hereford & Worcester

BBC Radio Humberside

BBC Radio Jersey

BBC Radio Kent

BBC Radio Lancashire

BBC Radio Leeds

BBC Radio Leicester

BBC Radio Lincolnshire

BBC Radio London

BBC Radio Manchester

BBC Radio Merseyside

BBC Radio Newcastle

BBC Radio Norfolk

BBC Radio Northampton

BBC Radio Nottingham

BBC Radio Oxford

BBC Radio Sheffield

BBC Radio Shropshire

BBC Radio Solent

BBC Radio Solent Dorset

BBC Radio Somerset

BBC Radio Stoke

BBC Radio Suffolk

BBC Radio Surrey

BBC Radio Sussex

BBC Radio Tees

BBC Three Counties Radio

BBC Radio Wiltshire

BBC Radio WM

BBC Radio York

Further BBC Sounds troubleshooting tips

If you still can't access BBC Sounds, even with the aid of a VPN, there are a few more things you can try.

Make sure your BBC account is associated with a valid UK post code, such as W1A 1AA.

The BBC Sounds app (iOS / Android) won't appear in the Play Store or the App Store outside the UK, but you may be able to get around that by changing your phone's region in the settings menu.

The BBC, like most broadcasters and networks, is engaged in a neverending cat-and-mouse battle with VPN providers.

Although we've ranked the best iPlayer VPNs, something we've worked out through thorough testing, if one of them works today there's no guarantee the same will be true tomorrow, in which case you can raise the issue with your VPN provider's customer support team, and ask them to recommend the best server to connect to.

Why did BBC Sounds get blocked? What's the full story?

So what would compel the corporation to cut one of its most popular and beloved exports? The decision was taken without a consultation, and BBC management has rebuffed calls for an explanation to be provided.

For weeks following the announcement, Andrea Catherwood, the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 podcast Feedback, endeavoured to get a BBC spokesperson onto her show in order to justify the move, without success.

The move has been met with widespread anger and sadness, but above all disbelief. BBC Sounds doesn't just provide a connection to home for Brits living abroad, it's an invaluable purveyor of culture, education and entertainment, which has served as a key platform for musicians, artists and performers, some of whom owe their entire careers to radio.

BBC Sounds' demise has also caused a political storm in Ireland, where listeners north of the border retain full access to the app.

The memorandum of understanding agreed by the UK and Irish governments in 2010 stressed the importance of public service broadcasting on both sides of the border, for "promoting cultural diversity, in providing educational programming, in objectively informing public opinion, in guaranteeing pluralism."

The subject at the time was Irish-language channel TG4, with the MoU advocating its availability in Northern Ireland as well as the Republic of Ireland. However, listeners in the Republic of Ireland have now had their access to BBC Sounds blocked.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

• DocumentDB started as a Postgres add-on before evolving into a standalone project
• The Linux Foundation’s adoption signals a new era for open document databases
• MongoDB’s restrictive licensing decisions created openings for DocumentDB’s permissive approach

For years, open source databases have been described as either traditional relational systems or newer NoSQL alternatives.

The emergence of DocumentDB, first introduced by Microsoft and now adopted under the Linux Foundation, is blurring that divide.

By combining PostgreSQL with document-oriented storage through extensions, DocumentDB positions itself as both familiar to developers and disruptive to existing NoSQL players.

From PostgreSQL extensions to a full project

Its adoption under the permissive MIT license signals a push for wider community participation.

"It's great that Microsoft, AWS, and others are joining forces to work on DocumentDB, an open source implementation of a MongoDB-compatible API on top of PostgreSQL,” said Bruce Momjian, founding member of the PostgreSQL core development team.

"We built DocumentDB with a simple goal: give developers an open document database with the flexibility of NoSQL and the power, reliability, openness, and ecosystem of Postgres," said Kirill Gavrylyuk, vice president at Microsoft.

DocumentDB began in 2024 as a pair of PostgreSQL add-ons for handling BSON data models and document queries.

Within a year, the project expanded into a standalone database that still depends heavily on PostgreSQL’s reliability and ecosystem.

This dual identity, part relational engine and part document store, makes DocumentDB attractive for developers seeking a common interface.

Yet skeptics point out that layering document features onto PostgreSQL does not erase the structural limitations of relational systems.

The move to bring DocumentDB into the Linux Foundation has attracted support from Amazon Web Services, Google, and others.

Their endorsement signals a rare moment of alignment among major cloud vendors, particularly given the licensing disputes that fractured the database world in recent years.

"AWS is excited to contribute to the open source DocumentDB project, now stewarded by the Linux Foundation," said Adam Abrevaya, director, Amazon DocumentDB.

"It is great to see the DocumentDB project joining the Linux Foundation, which assures customers and the community have an openly governed, open source option available to them," said Sailesh Krishnamurthy, vice president of engineering, Google Cloud.

Still, critics recall that vendor neutrality has often been more symbolic than practical.

A project backed by hyperscalers can easily become shaped by their priorities, leaving smaller contributors to wonder how much influence community governance will genuinely hold.

The adoption of DocumentDB can also be seen as a response to MongoDB’s decision to embrace restrictive licensing models.

By offering a permissive alternative, the Linux Foundation hopes to push toward a more interoperable standard for document databases.

Industry veterans argue that such a standard is long overdue, but the timing is contentious.

However, MongoDB continues to dominate the market, and its defenders insist that bolting document capabilities onto PostgreSQL is no substitute for a native design.

"DocumentDB fills a critical gap in the document database ecosystem, attracting contributors, users, and champions. It provides an open standard for document-based applications," said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation.

For developers working on Linux distros or configuring laptops for programming, DocumentDB may appear as another tool promising simplicity and openness.

Enterprises considering mobile workstations or SaaS integrations may also see appeal in a standardized, Postgres-based NoSQL option.

Yet the reality is less straightforward because success depends on technical merit and the community's resistance to tilting toward the largest vendors.

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