Atonemo and NTS Radio have released a co-branded music player priced at £129 that connects directly to your speaker system. The NTS Radio Player is designed to stream NTS Radio — a popular internet radio station — without needing your phone or a smart speaker in the middle.

The device is built on Atonemo's existing hardware and includes support for the major streaming services: Spotify, Tidal, Apple's AirPlay, and Google Cast. These are the standard tools that let different devices talk to each other wirelessly. The NTS version is tuned specifically for NTS Radio, but it still works with other services.

Why make a dedicated device at all? Simple answer: convenience. Instead of keeping your phone next to the speaker, you plug this small box in, and it handles the streaming. For people who care about audio quality and spend money on their speaker systems — which is the audience NTS attracts — a dedicated device makes sense. It puts the station's identity on something physical you can leave out in your room.

At £129, it sits in the middle of the entry-level market. Similar devices from other brands cost between £80 and £160. The wireless protocols it supports are now standard at this price, so what really sets it apart is the NTS branding and a customized setup experience designed around that station rather than a generic menu for all services.

One thing worth knowing before you buy: the full technical details about audio quality and how the device handles different audio formats aren't published yet. If you're serious about sound quality, check Atonemo's documentation first.

There's a bigger pattern at work here. NTS Radio already sells merchandise — t-shirts, records, and other goods. Now they are selling hardware too. It is a way to turn casual listeners into fans who keep the station around. Sonos did this at a large scale; smaller audio companies are now doing it at lower prices. The real question is whether someone who buys this device becomes more committed to NTS, or whether it mostly appeals to people who already love the station.

The choice of Spotify, Tidal, Apple, and Google is smart because none of these companies charge the hardware maker money for every stream. All four are also stable and work reliably together. This lets the device avoid being stuck with one company's system.

NTS Radio has built itself over more than a decade as a serious, carefully curated station with DJs around the world. By turning that into a piece of hardware you can just plug in, the station meets people where they already are: sitting in front of speakers they like and trust.