KEXP Seattle

It’s the last day of the fall pledge drive at noncommercial FM station KEXP Seattle, and as is usual on Saturday mornings, reggae pours out from the broadcast booth, over the airwaves and around the world on the Internet.

Behind the board, DJ Kyle "Kid Hops" Hopkins has so much going on that an extra arm would be handy. He digs for vinyl—most of what’s heard on Positive Vibrations comes from his own collection of 12-inch sides—cues up CDs, types every song, album and label into an automated playlist continuously posted on the Internet, answers e-mail and runs the board. He also has to say something interesting on the mic now and then.

Fortunately he has help, at least today, from fellow DJ John Richards, a popular morning host who holds sway on weekdays. And true to form, Richards is taking the opportunity to have some fun, cracking on stereotypes of reggae fans.

"Get out of your van, find a pay phone, and call," says Richards, stifling a giggle.

A few moments later, the stereotypes fall apart when Membership Director Cheryl Waters walks in to announce a $1,000 donation, well on the way to exceeding the pledge drive goals for the program, as defined by the number of people responding.

At many public radio stations, pledge drives are grim, as employees fight to keep their endeavor alive in the face of seeming public indifference. But as this particular morning at KEXP illustrates, the drive boosts staff morale as they see their audience embrace the station and its mission.

That mission? "To culturally enrich people's lives, provide listeners with a meaningful experience and to become the nation's most significant eclectic music station." As the station’s DJs put it on the air, it’s "where the music matters."

"[The pledge drive] gives me energy," Richards says. "It totally reminds me why I’m doing this. I also get to rip into commercial stations, which I love."

A new old approach

In its approach to programming, KEXP relies on methods so much a throwback to the past that they seem fresh. DJs help program their own sets, play requests (even for artists not currently "in rotation"), develop a rapport with their audiences and champion bands they deem worthy.

There are no computer-formatted playlists, "indie" radio promoters paying for airplay, market research or overpaid consultants. The station also is remarkably free of such left-of-the dial annoyances as under-informed DJs who can’t pronounce artists’ names, programming that jars listeners with chill-out electronica sequenced next to thrash-metal and a lack of humor.

At the same time, KEXP has taken a pioneering role in its use of online technologies such as streaming media, archiving and real-time use of the Internet to take its approach to everyone in the world who finds it worth supporting.

The result pays rich and often unexpected dividends. As Kid Hops cuts and backcues a pair of dub sides on his turntables, a volunteer visible on a closed-circuit television holds up a card that says: "SWEDEN."

"Someone just pledged from Sweden," Hops says. "That just totally blows me away."

While the pledge raises eyebrows, the station’s reach is broad enough to make it happen without too much difficulty. Maps in the broadcast booth covering the U.S. and the world and labeled "KEXP’s Internet Audience" have red pins stuck in points ranging from Kandahar to Antarctica to Ulan Baator, Mongolia, in addition to a dense scattering across Europe and the U.S.