Eight Sounds, One Love

By Kimberly Garcia
Blog Content Contributor

For College Radio Day, I listened to eight different radio station from around the United States and the world. I thought it would be difficult to find station from other countries but it wasn’t. Check out these amazing stations from around the world:

United States

University of Washington – KEXP 90.3 FM

Okay, when I first saw their website, to say I was impressed is an under-statement. Their home page has scrolling video recordings from artists that have played in their studios and reviews of recent achievements they have made. They also have highlighted podcasts and music reviews from their bloggers. I liked the songs that they were playing when I listened in, and one thing they had that I thought was pretty unique were the charts they created for each genre they played. Some of the charts went back at least 15 years.

Michigan State University – Impact 89FM – WDBM

The songs they played were nice and easy to listen to. They sounded similar to what KTSW usually plays. I liked that they had a DJ spotlight series that highlights different DJ in what they like to do and when they are on air. I thought that it was nice that they gave a face to the people that run the station. I also liked the way their website was laid out. It was easy to find different posts and reviews they wrote for different albums and topics.

Gettysburg College – WZBT 91.1 FM

This radio station caught my eye because of their logo, which is Abraham Lincoln’s hat with their call letters underneath. I liked the music they played and the songs they introduced me to while I was listening in. One thing I thought was unique was that whenever there was no one in the studio, they had “DJ Bot” on air. I thought this was funny because of the effects this “DJ” had.

Arizona State University – The Blaze 1330 AM

One thing I appreciated about this radio station was how clean their website looked. I was easy to find everything from the program schedule to the different specialty shows they had. I listened in during one of their games, and I am not usually a sports person, but I felt like I was there with them watching the game. I like the way they described the players and what was going on at the field.

International

SOUTH AFRICA – Rhodes University Grahamstown – Rhodes Music Radio 89.7 FM

I liked this radio station because even listening during the day in San Marcos, they had some good music playing. I enjoyed listening to their playlist and hearing the variety of music from South Africa.  The sounds they had were different and unique, although there was the odd song now and then that would sound similar to an EDM song from the United States.

AUSTRALIA – SYN Media Learning Program SYN 90.7

I chose to listen to this program’s station because of how easy it was to find the player. It caught my attention right away, and once I hit play, there was no going back. I immediately appreciated the music that they were playing, and it even reminded me a little of the music that is played here at KTSW.

SPAIN – UNIradio – Universidad de Jaén

I noticed this radio station because of their adorable logo. I liked the bright orange they used and the way the U-N-I stood out. I think this logo says that they are proud to be college radio station. I also liked that they had all of their shows recorded and available to listen to online at any time. They had a different variety of shows about everything from sports to classic folklorico music.

CANADA – University of Calgary- CJSW 90.9 FM

I really enjoyed listening to cjsw. Their DJs made me feel like they were talking directly to me. I liked the different icons that they had for each of the shows on their schedule. They work creative and unique. I also liked that they had their player on the bottom of the screen so that it was easily visible.

After listening to the different radio station, I noticed that most stations had the same goal, which is to play good music. All of the stations had their variety of specialty shows and playlists. It made me feel grateful to learn that even though all these stations are in different places and time zones, they all shared the love for good music.

Be sure to check out KTSW 89.9 for 24 hour live coverage of College Radio Day.

Featured image by Devin Lee.