NPR will launch a digital music service next year that will bring together thousands of hours of content from NPR programming and its more than 800 sister stations across the country, company officials announced last week.

“From the start, music in all forms has been a cornerstone of public radio,” said Ken Stern, executive vice president of NPR, in a statement. “NPR, public radio producers and our station colleagues are recognized as important music presenters and curators for the public, wherever they are. The digital music discovery arena is a new and barely-explored one, and a logical place for NPR and the public radio system to take a leadership role.”