Arts and Literature Laboratory Archives

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!

Mo Apiafo: Art From Ghana

March 15, 2021 by 8 O'Clock Buzz

Each year, Madison’s Arts and Literature Laboratory offers a prize to University of Wisconsin Madison Masters of Fine Arts students who demonstrate outstanding artistic merit. This year, one of the two awards goes to Rita Mauwena Benissan, whose exhibit, “Mo Apiafo,” runs at A.L.L. through May 1, 2021. Rita Mauwena Benissan has a truly globe […]

First Midwest Video Poetry Fest Takes Flight

November 9, 2020 by 8 O'Clock Buzz

Back in April, Madison’s Arts and Literature Laboratory announced its first-ever Midwest Video Poetry Festival. The idea was to bring together one of humanity’s oldest art forms together with one of its newest, and to expand the audience for both. Originally conceived as an in-person screening event, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a change in plans, […]

Stay IN & See A Show This Week!

May 8, 2020 by Sybil Augustine

Here are the latest updates for live-streamed music events. Submit your listings to musicdirector@wortfm.org to be included. ================================================================== MAY 11 GRFF Radio Songwriter #22, 5-6 pm Hosted by Great River Folk Festival This highlight show of our Songwriter finalists will feature a deep dive into David Nash’s “The Man in the Pines” and will start with […]

Arts + Literature Laboratory Gets New Digs

December 23, 2019 by 8 O'Clock Buzz

Ever since it moved from New Haven, Connecticut to Winnebago Street in Madison in 2016, the Arts and Literature Laboratory has sparked Madison’s Schenk-Atwood Neighborhood’s culture scene with a variety of gallery exhibits, musical performances, microcinema screenings, classes and workshops. In the fall of 2019, Arts and Literature Laboratory announced that it was cementing its […]

WORT Weekly Wrap-Up: Arts and Lit Lab, F-35 Jets, and Willy St Fair

September 13, 2019 by WORT News Department and Chali Pittman

This week on the WORT Weekly Wrap-Up: the nonprofit organization Arts and Literature Laboratory gets help from the City for a big transition, more on proposed F-35A jets on Madison’s east side, and check out our stage at the Willy Street Fair this Sunday from noon-7 pm.

The Ghost in The Machine

September 2, 2019 by 8 O'Clock Buzz

Chicago’s Media Burn collective is dedicated to the preservation of and distribution of guerilla television documentaries made in the 1970s and 1980s outside the television industry. Their archives number over 8,000 films. Media Burn asked two American filmmakers: Lori Felker, from Chicago, and Dmitri Devyatkin, from New York and two Russian filmmakers, Dmitri Kalashnikov and […]

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