Unhappy with media conglomerates deciding what you hear? Know there’s lots of great music out there – somewhere?

You’ll find the music you crave on the new WYMS.

Soon WYMS will begin spinning fresh sounds, from non-commercial rock to blues to jazz to folk to country to international. And everything in between.

And great sounds from Milwaukee.

Features on local musicians. Live performances by local musicians. And nationally known musicians who stop by to chat or play when they’re in Milwaukee. You name it,
you’ll hear it.

The new Milwaukee sound.

You already know that Milwaukee’s hot music scene is one of America’s best kept secrets. With the new WYMS, the secret will soon be out.

As Radio For Milwaukee co-founder and local musician noted: "Radio generally doesn't support musicians and plays the same artists and songs over and over. With radio industry people calling good songs 'too good for radio,' you know there's got to be a better way."

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What will WYMS play once the format changes?

A: We expect to play an exciting mix of contemporary music, with short news and arts reports and features interspersed throughout the day.

Q: What type of music?

A: We’re beginning to seek community input into what types of music Milwaukee residents want to hear. We’re focusing our research on three diverse and overlapping target audiences – MPS parents not being served by existing radio options, young professionals and the creative community.

Q: Will it be a rock station?

A: We don’t know the new format yet since we haven’t completed the research that will answer that question.

However, we do know that the station:

• Will feature a new type of public radio format, customized for Milwaukee listeners.
• Will focus on upbeat contemporary music, with a mixture of genres.
• Will be musician-run.

We also know that the station:

• Won’t concentrate on over-exposed, over-played commercial music.
• Won’t follow a narrow public-radio focus of only one or two styles of music.
• Won’t sound like any other station in Milwaukee – or any other station in the country. We are creating a unique radio format just for Milwaukee listeners.

Q: Will you end the current jazz programming and other shows now on WYMS?

A: The jazz-only format and other shows will not continue. With satellite and Internet radio, every type of specialized music and ethnic programming is available for little or no cost.

We do expect that urban music including some jazz will part of our diverse mix of music. And we hope to ease the transition to the new format by helping fans of the jazz-only format to locate alternative sources.

[Note: We will continue WYMS’s tradition of live broadcasts of the Milwaukee Public Schools board meetings.]

Q: How can I have input into what music WYMS plays?