National Public Radio, better known as NPR, has today launched its multi-genre music service known as NPR Music, which is a joint project between NPR and 12 other public radio partners.

"NPR Music aims to be as diverse as our audience’s interests and curiosity," explained Maria Thomas, Senior VP and GM of NPR Digital Media. "We want to surprise you with new artists, new music, and things you didn't know you would enjoy until you discovered them."

The music of the new site is organized by genre and type (concerts, studio sessions, interviews,etc.), while there is also additional content such as podcasts, blogs , reviews and other music-related content.

This new site is a collaborative partnership that includes KEXP and KPLU (Seattle); KUT (Austin); WBGO (Newark); WDUQ (Pittsburgh); WFUV and WNYC (New York); WGBH (Boston); WGUC (Cincinnati); WKSU (Kent, Ohio); WXPN (Philadelphia), and Minnesota Public Radio.

"With their deep connection into local arts communities, their incredible music libraries and archives, and their respected on-air hosts and DJs, these stations have invested real energy and resources into the communities they serve. NPR Music allows you to move beyond the geographic boundaries of radio signals and discover the authentic sense of place created by stations across the country. "

Currently, as of the launch date, NPR Music contains thousands of hours of content from over 2,000 artists. Amazingly, NPR is still very ambitious about continuing to add content, with several new features being added from NPR and its partner stations each month. "We expect additional NPR stations and public radio producers, as well as other contributors, to join this collaborative effort in the coming months and years," stated Thomas. It has also been mentioned that future tools will allow users to share content and connect with others… perhaps a hint at a social networking element.

As shown on the NPR Music logo, this service is launching as a public beta, meaning that it is likely you may run into a few problems or bugs (for which the NPR is accepting feedback to correct).

So far, NPR has managed to build a large, comprehensive database of completely free content, which is always a plus. In addition to NPR Music , a new Flash-based media player has launched at the NPR website, offering a quicker and easier solution for viewing and listening to NPR content. A great addition to this new tool is the ability to build a quick playlist of content from anywhere on the NPR site. Future enhancements for this media player will include an embeddable version (a la YouTube).