iTunes Radio Station Stream Issues

Hi there,

I've been using iTunes radio for a while and every now and then real (UK) radio stations are just not played: When I click on the radio stations and then click play it just starts playing and then stops again without any actual playback. I remember having always had issues with itunes radio and that effectively it wasn't very reliable for any radio stations other than itunes ones.

I normally use a vpn but this issue persists with or without vpn. The issue should also not be related to vpn or geo-blocking because it all works when I'm using the apps that the radio stations provide themselves (ie. BBC sounds and JazzFM) and I could not stream without vpn either. I've also restarted my iPad and tried using my itunes from my iphone instead, all without luck. Automatic updates are enabled so there shouldn't be any issues with that either.

I suspect the issue might be caused because of a vpn block. If this was the case, then i think the guys at itunes should ask themselves why they are stricter than the actual copyright owners (both BBC and JazzFM as well as LBC work fine with vpns).

At the moment think one cannot really use itunes for real radio stations reliably, which is a great shame cause I'd like to avoid having to clutter my devices with lots of apps. So if someone could get around fixing whatever technical/ or copyright issues cause this mess that'll be good.

More generally, there are still very few real radio stations on iTunes. Adding more and making them more accessable should really be a priority, otherwise this isn't really much of a radio feature and more of some kind of an automated DJ for itunes own "stations".

Cheers!