Do it yourself. It’s a concept that most college radio stations maintain as a core ideology.

After all, these radio stations are run almost entirely on a volunteer basis, non-commercial and not for profit.

Although some discrepancies exist between college radio stations across the nation, one thing remains the same: put simply, it is an immense and unrestrained enthusiasm for music and the desire to share this passion with the masses.

While some stations, like Iowa State’s student run station (88.5 KURE), have spent years striving to achieve an audience and battling the university bureaucracy in search of funding, others have been widely embraced by their respective university communities.

Since college stations offer programming with no commercial interruptions, they attract listeners who like to hear something different than same-old commercial radio. Music fans like college radio because it brings them more variety and is devoid of convention.

Rather than playing the same dozen or so songs over and over from a play list devised by a guy in a business suit, college radio gives more freedom to the DJs, relying on them to choose what music to play.

“We’re trying to open up people’s listening tastes and broaden their horizons,” said Tom Carlson, music director at University of Iowa station KRUI. “We provide a feasible alternative to what is out there and I think if you listen to us, you can hear a lot of things you wouldn’t normally hear.”

Experimental bliss

Northwestern University’s student-run radio station, WNUR, is located in Evanston, Ill., with a signal that reaches much of the Chicago area.

“WNUR probably has the largest broadcast radius of any Chicago-area, non-commercial station,” said Darren Pakravan, a DJ at the station. “Our listenership is pretty much people who don’t like Chicago’s other radio offerings. They tune into WNUR to hear something besides the same stuff that’s always on the radio.”

According to Pakravan, WNUR is a unique station because many of its listeners are not students and may not even live anywhere near the school’s campus. They just happen to stumble upon the station.

Pakravan stressed the importance of playing music from many different genres. With the slogan “Chicago’s Sound Experiment,” WNUR plays a very diverse mix of music, including everything from indie rock to punk, ska, gothic, industrial, electronica, country, world music and more.

“If you’re gonna do a well-rounded interesting show, you should have the knowledge to do so. Even if it means playing some music you don’t like,” Pakravan explained.

“I like being able to share the music I love with others and entertaining them. It’s really cool when a caller says they listen to your show every week and thanks you for playing good music,” he added.

Although most of the stations’ staff is made up of students, community members are welcome to volunteer. However, each show must have at least one student on its staff.

Like KURE, WNUR faces the endless challenge of getting the word out to the college community about the station.

“Most of the students seem surprised to learn that Northwestern even has a radio station,” Pakravan said. “Most of the student body is into more mainstream music than what WNUR plays.”

Expanding their horizons

Some stations, on the other hand, have been very successful in capturing the attention of their constituencies.

WDBM, the college station at Michigan State University, is one of the few college stations to subscribe to Arbitron, a company that measures audiences and determines ratings.

Station manager Pete Collman has been working in college radio for the past seven years at three different stations and is extremely pleased with WDBM’s success.

“It’s nice for a lot of people at the station to know they compete with commercial radio in the Lansing market,” he said.

In fact, WDBM has been so successful that it has achieved a third place rank in a market of 30 stations whose target demographic is between the ages of 18 and 25.

Despite the fact that WDBM is not for profit, Collman said the station has never had problems with funding.

WDBM is primarily financed through a $3 student tax paid by each student.

“We are very lucky that we have the tax, so that we don’t have financial problems. Other stations don’t have that,” Collman said.

He added that WDBM is one of the few stations to offer a live broadcast of programming over the Internet. Listeners all over the world can tune in to the station any time of day and listen through Real Audio.

“I think it gives volunteers here an extra boost because it lets them know people are listening all over the world,” Collman said.

Because the station has such a wide listenership, WDBM never runs into problems of not having enough volunteers. The station broadcasts seven days a week and 365 days a year.

WDBM is not the only college station taking advantage of technology. WSUM at University of Wisconsin Madison completely depends on the Web in order to keep the station on its feet. Music director Matt Spinner said the station is currently only available broadcasting through its Web page.

In the past four years, the station has been trying to get a tower built so it can be found on the radio dial, but it is still fighting for their cause.

However, Spinner said that WSUM still receives an audience despite not being on the radio airwaves.

“We do get a lot of people from all over the country, that come from Alaska or even foreign countries,” he said.

Best of the bunch

KALX, at University of California in Berkeley is one of the strongest advocates of musical diversity, said Monica Herms, Operations Manager.

“We give DJs a lot of freedom, which allows the DJs to really create an identity for themselves and create a unique sound for the station,” explained Herms, who has volunteered at KALX for eight years. “Our unofficial slogan is that if you don’t like what you’re hearing now, you will in 10 minutes.”

KALX makes it a policy for DJs to play at least three distinct genres of music during their three hour shifts, which gives the station an eclectic flavor.

This variety of programming has helped the station to be named Best College Radio Station by Gavin, a radio trade magazine.

The station has done all of this single-handedly, without any sort of profits from advertising sales, which the non-commercial station does not have.

The university helps KALX with some of their budget, but the majority of financing comes from the station’s own fundraising efforts.

KALX has done everything from benefit concerts and on-air fundraisers to record swaps.

Rage against the machine

Working on college radio also gives students a chance to rebel against the corporate giant that is commercial radio.

“With commercial stations, it’s not just about playing music, it’s more about making money,” said Emily Villhauer, Program Director of KRUI at University of Iowa.

Collman gave his ideas about college vs. commercial radio: “You can learn as you go with college radio. In the industry, there’s more of a ‘you-better-do-this right’ mentality,” he said.

Herms took the opportunity to add a suggestion to college radio volunteers and commercial radio listeners.

“Don’t give in to the corporate monster,” she said. “Keep on doing what you feel is best and don’t let major labels get on your case.”

And college radio plays on.