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NASA and RFC Media are launching an online music radio station, Third Rock, which the agency promises will be ‘crafted specifically to speak the language of tech-savvy young adults’.

NASA says audiences for Third Rock – tagged America’s Space Station – will get to hear all kinds of new rock, including ‘a whole galaxy full of new music that seems to go largely unexplored by ordinary radio.

Thomson has developed an interactive map showing the evolution of western dance music over the last 100 years. The journey begins with traditional folk music from Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, writes Steve Mullins. The sixties soul and funk explosions trigger the rise of disco in the States, and synth pop in Europe. In the late 70s and early 80s, hip-hop, house, techno and electro explode, and that spawns a multitude of other genres.

It’s December and two musical advent calendars are here to guide us through the festive season. Spotify has tasked the likes of Leona Lewis, Jason Derulo, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, Ryan Adams, Westlife, Pixie Lott and Primal Scream with coming up with a personal selection of songs for the 24 Christmas days available on the Spotify Festive Playlist app on Facebook.

So, Spotify now boasts 13 global partners rolling out on the Spotify Apps. They include Billboard, Fuse, The Guardian, Last.fm, Moodagent, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Songkick, Soundrop, TuneWiki and We Are Hunted, with Top10 and ShareMyPlaylists apps coming soon, writes Steve Mullins. The music streaming outfit also boasts three Nordic partners launching local apps, including Tunigo in Sweden which launches today, Gaffa in Denmark and Dagbladet in Norway, which will be launching local Nordic apps soon.

The Rolling Stones have joined forces with music merchandising outfit Bravado to launch the band’s first-ever digital catalogue – The Rolling Stones Archive – marking the occasion with a digital release of The Brussels Affair, a live show from the European leg of the 1973 Goat’s Head Soup tour, writes Mark Terry.

Close to 40% of listeners discover music on their own on Internet radio stations, which is just behind discovery via a broadcast AM/FM station, and ahead of TV, according to a report, The Role of Digital Audio in the Evolution of Music Discovery, from targetspot, writes Maria Stadtmueller.

And socially, recommendations from friends and colleagues are most relied upon, as are music charts, playlists and top-rated songs on Net radio websites.