WLOY, Loyola’s student radio station co-founds international local music exchange

Loyola University Maryland’s student-run radio station, WLOY, is co-founding the International Local Music Exchange (ILME) to support local musicians in time for World College Radio Day (WCRD) on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. The ILME gives the opportunity to share local artists with more than 600 college radio stations and stations from 33 countries participating in World College Radio Day. 

“The International Local Music Exchange is a chance for WLOY to give back to the amazing local artists that have supported us and worked with us for years,” said John Devecka, operations manager of WLOY. “Co-founding the ILME will give students a new understanding of their power and what they can achieve in support of their community. It will help them learn about other communities around the world.”

The goal of World College Radio Day is to raise international awareness of college and high school radio stations. On this day, people who may not ordinarily listen to college radio are encouraged to tune in.

“Where we were once terrestrially limited by our AM or FM signals, we now have the ability to connect with listeners globally,” Devecka. “The mission of many college stations and especially at WLOY is to support their local music scene. One of our strengths is the access to amazing globally unknown local artists. Who better to curate and share the best of their hometown music scenes than college radio stations?”

College radio stations KBVR (Oregon State University) and KCSU (Colorado State University) and the College Radio Foundation are also co-founders of the ILME.

As part of the ILME, college and high school radio stations are invited to create one-hour programs hosted by their students and share them with all WCRD participants. A podcast will also highlight different cities each week. More information on the submission process can be found on the World College Radio Day website.

WLOY’s slogan is Support Local Music Because Music Matters, and the student-run radio station aims to showcase the talented artists in Baltimore from a variety of genres such from Folk to Punk. Mackenzie Britt, ’21, WLOY general manager, created the one-hour show from WLOY that will air globally on WCRD featuring a variety of genres from local Baltimore artists.

“The event is a great way to show solidarity with other stations and show students how many people are like them around the world—passionate about music, engaged with their communities, and developing real job skills in an experiential environment,” said Britt. 

Loyola students involved in WLOY will curate, create, and host shows and select which shows from other colleges will be carried on WLOY each week.  

On World College Radio Day, WLOY’s local music show will be heard on college stations across the United States from Oregon to Florida and as far as Goteborg, Sweden, where student radio K103 is joining the ILME.

More about WLOY:
WLOY, which operates 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, provides entertainment through various radio programming and events. The student-run radio station offers a diverse, creative, and educational environment for students to have hands-on experience in broadcast radio, and is committed to integrating itself into the greater Baltimore community through programming, events, and outreach. Through all these endeavors, WLOY lives out the Jesuit ideal of people with and for others.

Pictured above: Eddie Fine, '22, is at work in the WLOY production studio.