Comparison

KCRW vs sedā.fm

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

KCRW

Access a curated selection of music, news, and cultural content. Enjoy new livestreams, real-time song information, and exclusive member benefits.

Highlights
  • Curated music and shows
  • New livestreams (Dance24, Vintage24)
  • Real-time "Now Playing" information
  • Member perks
  • Redesigned interface
Features
Read full description

Your shortcut to the music, shows, and city you love. The KCRW app is your home for in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free music discovery. Stream live, catch up on shows, and hear real-time Now Playing. New in this version: Explore LA. Discover events, places, and cultural picks curated by KCRW, browse hand-picked collections from local experts, and see what's happening near you on an interactive map. Bookmark your favorites to revisit or share, and keep all your member perks in one place. With livestreams including Dance24 and Vintage24, member perks in your pocket, and now a curated guide to the city, there's more to discover than ever.

About

sedā.fm

A community for independent artists and listeners to connect, share music, and engage in conversations. Discover new artists, buy music and merchandise directly, and participate in artist-led discussions.

Highlights
  • Follow artists and their releases
  • Listen to tracks directly from artist channels
  • Engage in conversations on artist channels and scenes
  • Buy digital music and physical merchandise directly from artists
  • Artists paid fairly with high revenue share
  • Direct messaging and notifications
Features
Read full description

sedā is a music community for independent artists and the people who actually listen. No ads. Not a feed of strangers, not a catalogue of everything. A place where artists put out their work, the people who care about it show up, and the conversation happens in the same room as the music. FOLLOW ARTISTS, PROPERLY Every artist has a channel: their tracks and releases, a community tab where conversations happen, and a store. Follow them and their releases and conversations come to you. LISTEN Play tracks straight from an artist's channel. Releases are grouped the way artists actually think about them — singles, EPs, LPs — with the artwork they chose. TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC Start a conversation on an artist's channel or in a scene, reply to other people's, and keep up with threads you're part of. Scenes gather people around a sound rather than an algorithm. BUY DIRECT Digital tracks and albums, bundles, and physical merch — bought from the artist, not from a middleman. Pay-what-you-want where artists offer it, pre-orders, and limited runs. Purchases land in your library, ready to download, and your orders keep their receipts. ARTISTS ARE PAID FAIRLY An artist keeps 100% of their first $1,000 in sales on sedā. After that they keep 92% — an 8% fee is the whole of what sedā takes. Payment processing is added at checkout rather than deducted from the artist, so what they earn is what you paid for the music. STAY IN TOUCH Message other people on sedā, and get notified when someone you follow releases something or replies to you — with links that take you straight to the thing itself. BUILT FOR ARTISTS Verified artist profiles, direct sales, and payouts through Stripe. Artists keep the relationship with the people who buy their work. NO ADS No advertising anywhere in sedā. Your attention isn't the product, and nothing on your screen is there because someone paid for it to be. sedā is in beta. We are building it with the artists and listeners using it, and it gets better every week.

Screenshots

KCRW4 screens
sedā.fm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: sedā.fm at 100% against KCRW's 32%. sedā.fm also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.9) and update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly). KCRW's advantage is ratings volume (393 vs 2) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

sedā.fm holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: KCRW has 393 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of KCRW's written reviews are positive against 100% of sedā.fm's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

KCRW ships an update monthly, sedā.fm every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
KCRW versus sedā.fm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKCRWsedā.fm
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (393 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews32.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings393 — better2
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size121 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKCRWSam Mogharabi

Customer experience

KCRW

All ratings393 ratings
Positive37.7%
Neutral12.7%
Negative49.6%
Written reviews295 reviews
Positive32.2%
Neutral14.2%
Negative53.6%

sedā.fm

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

KCRW

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Incompatible with older iOS versions
  • Notification badge won't clear
  • Streaming cuts out frequently
  • Eclectic 24 playlist not updating in real-time

Requested features

5 requests
  • Resume playback from where left off
  • Improved song/artist information display
  • Chromecast/AirPlay support
  • Ability to save/favorite songs
  • Landscape mode support on iPad

sedā.fm

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

KCRW

No in-app purchases

None

sedā.fm

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is KCRW free?
KCRW is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is sedā.fm free?
sedā.fm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, KCRW or sedā.fm?
sedā.fm is rated higher. KCRW averages 2.9 out of 5 from 393 ratings, while sedā.fm averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do KCRW or sedā.fm have ads?
Neither KCRW nor sedā.fm shows ads.
Which is updated more often, KCRW or sedā.fm?
KCRW ships an update monthly, and sedā.fm every 5 days. Most recently, KCRW was updated on October 19, 2026 and sedā.fm on October 14, 2026.

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