African Music Archives - WORT 89.9 FM

WORT Music Playlists

What was that song I heard? Who was the artist, what is the album title, where can I get it? Where can I find the entire playlist for a show?

Click on the Playlists button to bring up a calendar where you can choose any date to find the playlists for that day. If you can’t find the right playlist or the song you’re looking for, your best bet is to call the station the next time that program’s on and ask the host yourself. If that’s not possible we may be able to help you, but please have as much information as possible at hand when you contact us, such as: approximate day and time the music was played, what type or genre of music it was, who hosted the show and any other information you remember about the selection and we’ll do our best to track it down.

Once you figure it out, there’s a “Buy It!” link next to each track in online playlists that leads you to a place where you can buy songs and albums, and by doing it that way a small portion of each purchase goes to support WORT.

Contact Information

Music Director: Sybil Augustine – musicdirector@wortfm.org (for music submissions, charts and tracking, promotional exchanges for music events and following up on volunteer applications or other requests. Please include specifics in your subject line, such as “Hiphop Music Submission” etc, )

Music Assistant: Aaron Scholz – musicass@wortfm.org (for record donations and sales, promos recording volunteers, etc.)

Music Calendars: Submit your events online here or send by email to calendar@wortfm.org

How do I get my music played on WORT?

We accept submissions in most genres and styles of music, focusing on noncommercial, out-of-the-mainstream, independent releases (check out our playlists and music charts for more information.) It may take up to a few weeks for us to review and process your submission so we appreciate your patience, and feel free to contact us to follow up. Please send your music, indicating any tracks with language that needs to be aired after 10 pm and including a one-sheet description and any biographical and tour information, to WORT Music Director, 118 S. Bedford St, Madison, WI 53703 and/or to musicdirector@wortfm.org.

We do accept digital files on .wav or mp3, but currently we still prefer CDs to digital submissions because it’s the quickest way to get it into the hands of our programmers and onto the airwaves, though we have a growing digital library. Digital submissions should be .wav or other lossless files, or high quality mp3s [128-320 kbps.]

You can follow up or “track” your submissions by email, or call 608-256-2001 on Wednesdays between 1-4 pm CST to ask if we received it, has it been reviewed, has it been added to our library, and what kind of airplay it’s getting—e.g. light, medium, heavy or charting. Thanks and we look forward to hearing your music!

Interview with Jenny Cathcart, author of “Notes from Africa-A Mu...

May 3, 2021 by Jeff Spitzer-Resnick

PanAfrica host Jeff Spitzer-Resnick had the opportunity to interview Jenny Cathcart, author of “Notes from Africa-A Musical Journey with Youssou N’Dour.” The interview was broadcast previously. You can now listen to it and read a lightly edited (for clarity) transcript. This book is a genuine encyclopedia of African music, and African music audiophiles will surely […]

From Nigeria to Madison-Dipo Oyeleye discusses the impact of African M...

February 2, 2021 by PanAfrica

Pan Africa host Jeff Spitzer-Resnick recently had the opportunity to interview Dipo Oyeleye, a UW Ph.D student, who shared some popular African music which has gone viral in Africa to battle COVID-19 along with his views on the impact of African music around the world. Following is a transcript of the interview which originally aired […]

Festival of Christmas & Midwinter Traditions

December 15, 2020 by Music Department

Folklore Village’s Festival of Christmas & Midwinter Traditions is now in its 73rd year, and its first as an online event! Join us for four days of music, dance, song, crafts, cooking, theater, social gatherings and more. Learn Romanian folk dances with instructors Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu; participate in a virtual singalong with songleader […]

From Virtual WOMEX: Exclusive WORT interview with FOKN BOIS

November 3, 2020 by PanAfrica

WORT world music programmer Jeff Spitzer-Resnick (co-host of PanAfrica and Diaspora) joined three other hosts: Gloria Hays, Ankur Malhotra and Dan Talmo at WOMEX-the Worldwide Music Expo, which was conducted virtually due to COVID. All four hosts are bringing music they discovered at WOMEX to WORT listeners, and they have also arranged for a number […]

Enjoy Audio & Video from Madison World Music Fest!

September 13, 2019 by Sybil Augustine

Enjoy music from unique and unexpected parts of the world and a celebration of cultures, with artists performing at the UW-Memorial Union Terrace.

Curley Taylor & Mokoomba Live from Pursuit of Happiness Festival

June 7, 2018 by Music Department

The first Pursuit of Happiness Session took place on Sun. June 3 in Madison’s McPike Park. WORT hosted a live broadcast of wonderful zydeco & African music by Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble and Mokoomba. Whether you were at the event at all, heard it on the radio, or missed it completely, now you can listen to […]

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WORT Music Playlists

Contact Information

How do I get my music played on WORT?

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