Universal Soul Explosion In The Media

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.

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, )

Digital Production Director: Aaron Scholz – aaron@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!

Rebecca Barber, aka “608Bosslady” on the air with hiphop Saturday nights from midnight-3 am on WORT’s Universal Soul Explosion, was recently a featured guest on Breyon Oneofmani Sommerville‘s podcast “LookLocal1st.” Breyon gives her much respect for bringing the beats and even more for airing the shout-outs from prisoners which can be heard on U.S.E. every week. Click here to listen to the podcast episode focusing on Rebecca and her work with WORT and elsewhere in the community, such as her “day job” as Nehemiah Re-Entry Staff/Housing Coordinator for Dignity Housing Program and volunteering with Urban Community Arts Network (UCAN), as a Board member for the Madison Hip Hop Awards and more. Now celebrating a decade of hosting U.S.E., since the quarantine started she’s also helped keep the Fanjacker Radio show (Friday nights 2-5 am) on the air – it’s currently being produced by Wazzup Radio (host D Teck is the A&R Manager of Konvict Records) and they also simulcast the Soul Explosion on their network Saturday nights.

Justified Anger, an initiative of Nehemiah, brings stories and conversations from staff and the community that inspire, educate, and engage people toward justice action. The goal is to eliminate racial disparities by provoking moral conscience and directing collective action at the grassroots and systemic levels. In the first episode of Justified Anger Podcast, the staff of Nehemiah’s Reentry Team explored experiences and issues occurring in Wisconsin correctional facilities during the coronavirus pandemic. Through the stories and relationships of the staff, the voices of those impacted by incarceration are heard in phone calls, letters, and interviews. Rebecca Barber and Shannon Ross provide perspectives on conditions in the actual prisons and jails right now during the COVID outbreaks of the past year.

Rebecca’s actually been involved with all of the Justified Anger podcasts since February 2, when the first episode of their series on the COVID Corrections Crisis was released. All episodes listed below can be heard on their website here.

Ep.1-COVID Corrections Crisis: Who’s Paying Attention?

Ep.2-COVID Corrections Crisis: Less Than Human

Ep.3-COVID Corrections Crisis: Running For Their Lives

Ep.4-COVID Corrections Crisis: What’s The Weather Like In Your Mind?

In February, Rebecca was also interviewed by Krista & the Morning Rush on local hiphop station 93.1 JAMZ, where she talked about all the wonderful things she’s doing in our community and shared some of the heartbreaking challenges that currently and formerly incarcerated individuals are going through. In solidarity with other women hosts in the media, Krista says “It’s important in our industry to be supportive and uplifting, especially when it comes to rooting for our sisters in radio! Thank you girl for making a difference and letting voices be heard outside the bars.”

The Morning Rush episode is available to stream or download on-demand here.

WORT has also been a useful vehicle for Barber’s many ideas. In a 2014 interview with Maximum Ink, she stated “The show has become more than just playing music. It’s turning into a place where members of the Hip Hop community can get together and share music and ideas with each other and the listening audience. And it’s also, if the number of letters in my radio mailbox each week is any indication, very popular with the Southern Wisconsin prison population.”

“The Shout Out,” she explains, “is a way for someone to get a personal message to someone listening to the show. A close friend or family member calls the station, I put them on the air and their loved one hears their individual message of love and support. The inmates have countless positive and meaningful messages that the public, especially young people, should be hearing. But all those voices are inside. There has to be ways to bring them out.”