One Dial, Two Games — and It Keeps Growing
GTA Online uses the same radio dial as GTA V's story mode: you spin the same wheel, hear the same stations, and park on the same favourites. The difference is that Online has kept adding to that dial for over a decade, until the soundtrack became one of the biggest in any game.
The game launched with 17 stations, and music has grown with almost every era since — new stations with the Cayo Perico Heist, an Online-only station with The Contract, and a Media Player fed by collectible music sticks scattered around Los Santos.
This article explains the dial as it stands today: the launch format, the original score behind the missions, the Online-only additions, and how the soundtrack lives outside the game as released albums.
Key Takeaways
- GTA V launched with 17 radio stations: 15 music stations plus the talk stations WCTR and Blaine County Radio.
- The original score — the first in the series — was composed by Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist and Oh No.
- The Cayo Perico Heist update in December 2020 was billed as the biggest musical update since launch, adding 250+ tracks and three new stations.
- MOTOMAMI Los Santos and Kult FM are Online-only stations; the rest of the dial is shared with story mode.
- Station totals vary between sources (21 or 22) depending on whether Self Radio and the Media Player are counted.
1. The Dial You Start With: 17 Stations at Launch
GTA V launched in 2013 with 17 stations: 15 music stations covering rock, hip hop, electronic, country, punk, soul and more, plus two talk stations — West Coast Talk Radio (WCTR) and Blaine County Radio — carrying the series' traditional comedy programming.
The 2014 re-release on newer consoles added 162 more songs across the existing stations, which set the pattern for everything after: the dial is a living thing that Rockstar keeps feeding rather than a fixed tracklist.
The format has never changed since. Stations are hosted, sequenced like real radio, and identical whether you are cruising in story mode or mid-getaway in Online — the wheel you learned as Michael, Franklin and Trevor is the wheel you still use.
2. The Score: GTA V's Original Music
GTA V was the first game in the series with an original score — the composed music that plays under missions, wanted levels and ambient exploration, separate from the licensed radio songs. It was written by Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist and Oh No, working in a loose, interchangeable style.
The score is dynamic. Stems layer up as tension rises and fall away as you escape, so a police chase literally sounds different from a quiet drive over the same street. It is the least discussed part of the soundtrack and the part you hear most.
The Alchemist and Oh No's involvement also bridges the two halves of the soundtrack: the pair later fronted The Lab, one of the stations added after launch, and produced the Welcome to Los Santos album drawn from the game's musical world.
3. How the Dial Grew: The Lab, blonded and LSUR
The first new station, The Lab, arrived with the PC-era updates, hosted by The Alchemist and Oh No and built around new music made for the game. blonded Los Santos 97.8 FM followed, a station curated and hosted by Frank Ocean, mixing his own music with his selections.
Los Santos Underground Radio arrived with the After Hours update in July 2018, built around the nightclub scene. Its mixes were tied to the game's resident DJs — Solomun, Tale Of Us, Dixon and The Black Madonna — the same DJs players could book in their own clubs, a system covered in our Nightclub guide.
iFruit Radio, a contemporary hip hop station, completed the pre-2020 additions. By the end of the decade the dial had quietly grown from 17 stations to a set that sources count differently — a disagreement explained in the final part of this article.
4. The Cayo Perico Music Update: Three New Stations
Rockstar billed the Cayo Perico Heist update of 15 December 2020 as the biggest musical update to GTA Online, and the numbers back it up: more than 250 new tracks, refreshes for existing stations, and three entirely new stations. The heist itself begins at The Music Locker club under the Diamond Casino, as our Cayo Perico Heist guide explains.
Still Slipping Los Santos is Joy Orbison's pirate station, broadcasting out of Mirror Park. It launched with limited range, and its signal expanded after players repaired busted radio antennas around the city — a collectible woven directly into the station's story.
Kult FM 99.1 is hosted by Julian Casablancas, with guests including Mac DeMarco, David Cross and Tony Mac. Its playlist runs from Joy Division, New Order and A Certain Ratio to Danzig, The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop, and it premiered The Voidz's track "Alien Crime Lord."
Music Locker Radio carries DJ sets from the club's residents — Moodymann, Keinemusik and Palms Trax. The same update refreshed FlyLo FM and Worldwide FM with new mixes from Flying Lotus and Gilles Peterson.
5. The Contract: MOTOMAMI and Dr. Dre
The Contract, released on 15 December 2021, added MOTOMAMI Los Santos, hosted by ROSALÍA and Arca. Along with Kult FM, it is one of the stations that exists only in GTA Online — story mode's dial never received it.
The update's headline music story was Dr. Dre. Six exclusive Dre tracks appear in the story content, Radio Los Santos received a refresh, and DJ Pooh's West Coast Classics hosted a "Dre Day" takeover celebrating his catalogue.
That split — most of the dial shared, a couple of stations Online-only — is the honest answer to how the two games differ musically. Online is where Rockstar's music team now works; story mode keeps the dial it had.
6. The Media Player, Media Sticks and Self Radio
Sitting alongside the stations is the Media Player, a separate slot on the wheel that plays mixes you unlock by finding media sticks — USB collectibles hidden around the map. The Los Santos Tuners update added media stick collectibles carrying CircoLoco mixes, tying the soundtrack to the collectible hunt.
The Media Player is why station counts disagree. Some listings count it as a station and some do not, and the same sources argue over Self Radio, which muddies every "how many stations" answer you will find.
Self Radio is the PC-only option: it plays your own music files from a folder on your computer, with the game building a station around them. Console players have no equivalent, which is the one genuine platform difference on the dial.
7. Story Mode vs Online: What Actually Differs
The core dial is identical — same stations, same hosts, same wheel. If you learned your favourites in story mode, nothing needs relearning when you come Online.
The differences are the additions. MOTOMAMI Los Santos and Kult FM play only in Online, the Media Player's unlocked mixes are earned through Online play, and event weeks occasionally bring guest takeovers and refreshed playlists to Online first.
With GTA 6's radio stations already a topic of fan research and the wider question of GTA 6's music still officially unanswered, the GTA V and Online dial remains the fullest soundtrack Rockstar has ever shipped — and it is still the one being updated.
8. The Albums: Owning the Soundtrack Outside the Game
The soundtrack escaped the game early. The Music of Grand Theft Auto V was released as a three-volume album set covering the original score, the licensed music and further material from the game's world.
Welcome to Los Santos, the album tied to The Lab, collected new tracks created in the spirit of the game by The Alchemist and Oh No's circle of collaborators. It is the clearest example of the soundtrack becoming a real-world music project rather than a game extra.
The most recent release is DāM-FunK Presents The Music of Grand Theft Auto Online Original Score, released in December 2023, which gathered score music written for Online's updates. Between the albums and the dial, GTA's music now has a discography of its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many radio stations does GTA Online have?
Sources disagree between 21 and 22, because some count the Media Player and the PC-only Self Radio as stations and others do not. The game launched with 17 stations and has added The Lab, blonded, LSUR, iFruit Radio, Still Slipping, Kult FM, Music Locker Radio and MOTOMAMI since.
Is the radio the same in GTA Online and story mode?
Yes, the dial is shared — the same stations and hosts appear in both. The exceptions are MOTOMAMI Los Santos and Kult FM, which exist only in GTA Online, and the Media Player mixes earned through Online collectibles.
Who composed GTA V's original score?
The score was composed by Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist and Oh No. GTA V was the first game in the series to have an original score alongside its licensed radio music.
What is Still Slipping Los Santos?
It is Joy Orbison's pirate radio station, added with the Cayo Perico Heist update in December 2020 and broadcasting from Mirror Park. Its range was limited at launch and expanded after players repaired radio antennas around Los Santos.
Who hosts Kult FM?
Kult FM 99.1 is hosted by Julian Casablancas of The Strokes and The Voidz, whose track "Alien Crime Lord" premiered on the station. Guests have included Mac DeMarco, David Cross and Tony Mac.
What is the Media Player in GTA Online?
The Media Player is a slot on the radio wheel that plays mixes unlocked by finding media stick collectibles around Los Santos. Los Santos Tuners added sticks carrying CircoLoco mixes, among others.
Can I play my own music in GTA Online?
On PC, yes — Self Radio builds a station from your own music files. There is no equivalent on PlayStation or Xbox, where the Media Player's unlockable mixes are the closest alternative.
Did Dr. Dre make music for GTA Online?
Yes. The Contract update in December 2021 featured Dr. Dre as a character and included six exclusive tracks, a refreshed Radio Los Santos, and a "Dre Day" takeover of West Coast Classics hosted by DJ Pooh.
What albums of GTA music have been released?
The main releases are The Music of Grand Theft Auto V (three volumes), Welcome to Los Santos, and DāM-FunK Presents The Music of Grand Theft Auto Online Original Score, released in December 2023.
Are tracklists available for every station?
Full official tracklists are not published for every station, and this article deliberately avoids track-by-track dumps. Station wikis and fan databases maintain detailed listings if you need a specific song identified.
In Short
One dial serves both games: 17 launch stations, a landmark original score, and a decade of additions that peaked with Cayo Perico's 250-track update and The Contract's Online-only MOTOMAMI. Count it at 21 or 22 stations depending on your definition — either way, it is the deepest soundtrack in the series, and it is still growing.
