Yandex is bringing radio back to digital: why does the company need its own radio streaming service?

Yandex launched the Yandex.Radio service with hundreds of Russian radio stations and an advertising monetization model. How the platform is connected with the Industrial Radio Player, why the company has already lost its radio direction and why it is returning to it now — in the material.

Yandex launches a service for listening to radio

A new Yandex.Radio platform has appeared in the Google Play and App Store mobile application stores. The service was discovered by journalists in the form of a beta version and, as confirmed by the company, is intended for online listening to Russian radio stations. The platform is available both as a mobile application and in a web version, which allows it to be used on smartphones, tablets and desktop computers.

At the time of launch, the Yandex.Radio catalog contains more than 300 radio stations, notes xrust, including the largest Russian radio holdings — European Media Group (EMG), GPM Radio (structure of the Gazprom-Media holding), Russian Media Group (RMG), as well as a number of regional and niche broadcasters. Thus, the service actually accumulates a significant part of the legal Russian radio broadcast in the digital environment.

Free model and advertising rate

The Yandex.Radio service will be free for end users. Monetization of the project, as company representatives explained, is based on an advertising model. The platform integrates Yandex technologies for automated purchasing and placement of advertising, which gives advertisers access to radio content through familiar digital tools.

We are talking about formats at the intersection of classic FM broadcasting and online audio: targeted audio clips, interactive elements, video inserts and synchronization with the Yandex ecosystem. For businesses, this means the ability to combine the reach of traditional radio with analytics, audience segmentation and measurable metrics typical of online advertising.

Integration with Yandex.Music and track recognition technologies

One of the key user functions of the new service is the automatic recognition of music tracks played on the radio. The listener can add the composition he likes to his personal collection in Yandex.Music in one click, thereby combining linear radio broadcasting and the streaming model of content consumption.

This step fits into the development strategy of the Yandex ecosystem, where various services complement each other, increasing the time a user interacts with the company’s products and reducing the likelihood of him leaving for competitors.

The role of the “Industrial Radio Player”

Technically, Yandex.Radio operates on the basis of the company’s own player, but the service is closely integrated with solutions «Industrial radio player». This platform was launched in 2020 as an industry-wide digital infrastructure for distributing Russian radio stations on the Internet.

The founders of the Industrial Radio Player association are the country's largest radio holdings — EMG, GPM Radio, Russian Media Group and Krutoy Media. The goal of the project is to create a unified standard for online distribution of radio broadcasts and reduce the dependence of broadcasters on foreign platforms.

Collaboration with Yandex within the framework of the new service, according to market participants, should help attract new audiences to terrestrial radio channels and strengthen the position of radio in the digital environment.

Audio advertising market: figures and trends

According to the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (ACAR), in January–September 2025, advertisers spent 16.6–16.8 billion rubles on promoting goods and services in audio content. This is approximately 5% less than for the same period in 2024.

The bulk of expenses still falls on classical radio broadcasts — 16.1–16.3 billion rubles. The share of online audio remains relatively small and is estimated at 300–700 million rubles, however, this segment is considered the most promising in terms of growth, since it combines reach and digital targeting tools.

Opinion of radio holdings and the advertising market

The Russian Media Group notes that the development of its own digital resources remains a strategic priority. According to Stanislav Skalaban, director of website and application development for RMG, partnership with a technological player at the level of Yandex makes it possible to attract a new audience and offer users high-quality content from radio stations in a convenient format.

The Industrial Radio Player association emphasizes that cooperation with Yandex is aimed primarily at expanding the Internet audience of radio channels. Association General Director Yuri Anisimov believes that the aggregation of hundreds of stations on one platform increases the accessibility of radio for listeners and increases its competitiveness in relation to music streaming.

Representatives of the advertising market also assess the launch of the service positively. According to Alexandra Sadovnichy, director of audio advertising placement at Media Direction Group, Yandex.Radio can become an interesting product for advertisers due to the concentration of large audio streams and the technological capabilities of the platform.

Why Yandex is returning to radio: the story of a lost direction

The launch of Yandex.Radio cannot be considered in isolation from the company’s previous attempts to work with radio content. Over the years, Yandex has already experimented with radio: radio elements were present in Yandex.Music, there were collections of radio stations and thematic streams, but the company did not develop a full-fledged independent service for a long time.

One of the reasons was the difficulty of monetizing online radio and the fragmentation of content rights. In addition, the audio streaming market was actively growing due to subscription models, where music services occupied the leading position, and radio was perceived as a less flexible format.

Over time, the situation has changed. First, radio has proven audience resilience even as streaming grows. Secondly, advances in advertising technology have made online audio more attractive to brands. Thirdly, the emergence of the “Industrial Radio Player” simplified the legal and technical issues of distributing radio broadcasts on the Internet.

In fact, Yandex is returning to radio at a time when the market and infrastructure are ripe for a large-scale digital project.

Strategic importance of the service

For Yandex, the launch of Yandex.Radio is not just a new product, but an element of an ecosystem strategy. The service allows you to retain users within the platform, expand the advertising inventory and strengthen the company’s position in the audio content market.

For radio broadcasters, this is a chance to maintain and grow their audience on the Internet without losing control over the content. For advertisers — an additional channel with a combination of the coverage of traditional radio and digital advertising opportunities.

Xrust Yandex returns radio to digital: why does the company need its own radio streaming service