88Nine Radio Milwaukee

It’s my favorite radio station in town. Their new building is also super hip and includes a big stage for performances right next to Stone Creek Coffee. A great focus on local talent, local stories, and local happenings. Proud to be a supporter.

Dear 88Nine ,
Did you know you are the bees knees? The most epic amazing radio station of all time? did you know your also beautiful? i mean really look at your building now its gorgeous really makes the soul happy. Plus I am so glad to see you hooking up with Stone Creek I love stone creek could not have picked a better mate. Gosh, 88.9 you make a girl so happy, you bring such awesome events to your space. Always finding new ways to engage the community. Yes 88.9 Your a true gem, a rockstar, a lover and a friend.

Great music selection, very little commercials, fun programs. Always my #1 provider of local events and concerts. I listen to this station every time my radio signals reach. Otherwise it is my go to station to stream and listen live while at work.

Love this station. I started listening to it in Richmond, VA as we prepared to move to Milwaukee. Everybody there exposed to it liked it. Its always number 1 on my presets here.

88Nine Radio Milwaukee is a pretty fantastic local addition to the MKE radio/​music scene. Their commitment to keeping it local and keeping it real is impressive; they rock a diverse music catalog without being SO all over the place that there lacks a discernible undercurrent/​common thread to it all. (While maybe not the easiest to put into words, once you spend enough time listening to Radio MKE you’ll just sort of «get» that ubiquitous, unifying commonality within their diversity of sound.)
The DJs are so great and just full of real person personality, which I adore. AMKE is a lovely way to start the day, and Sound Travels is an accessible way to expand one’s world music horizons. I’m a big fan of the 5 o’clock shadow as well, it’s an interesting avenue in which to hear cover tracks that I might not otherwise. Plus, Kallao rocks that time slot and he’s probably my favorite DJ at 88Nine of only because of his whole stream of consciousness-​style delivery on-​air, which makes me laugh. (I feel like if I were a DJ I’d probably operate similarly. Plus, he played Michael McDonald the other day just for the hell of it, which was AWESOME.)
If I’m being honest, the one big thing I wish were a little different at 88Nine? Frequency with which specific tracks are played… it’s pretty dang obvious which tracks see heavy rotation on purpose and while that’s par for the course in radio, it sucks to notice it happening on a great local/​independent channel. That said, I can’t complain too much, and they have to cover their operating costs, so I totally get it.
They have a lovely station adjacent to the Stone Creek on Barclay, and sometimes they do live in-​studio stuff for their members/​the public. Fingers crossed that one day 88Nine will want to do an event with Unilocal in that space, too! ;)

The arrival of this radio station was long overdue in Milwaukee!
Most of the programming is great, with lots of exposure to new music not played elsewhere in Milwaukee.
But the best thing about this station is their investment in the community. They strive to champion community organizations and non-​profits and promote the efforts of those groups tirelessly.
Radio Milwaukee has made themselves synonymous with Milwaukee!

I can’t say enough praise for a radio station that was founded and evolves after my own pulse. If people don’t get this station then they weren’t born in raised in my home town. I feel like if there were ever a soundtrack to the movie of my life, it would be Radio Milwaukee. It’s a product of MPS as was I. I love when they randomly play something that takes me back to 1994 when I started my freshman yeah at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. I learned so much about music in high school and 88.9 continues musication each and every day.

This is entirely subjective of course.
The music is a variety of hip hop, indie, older stuff like dinosaur jr or local h. Basically break into college dorm, steal ipod and hit shuffle.
That right there is the fail. The songs are so shuffled that there is no flow. If you wanted to cover multiple genres perhaps a format like 91.7 would work? At least I know that when I hear the blues I get 3 hours of it. I just have to memorize the time slot and day of the week.
On 88.9 it’s a mixed bag that really doesn’t play the crowd. The idea is there but the overall execution is not. Having worked on a station producing a show perhaps I am biased though.

I wish I could give 4.5 stars.
I love, love, love 88.9, but there is one major problem.
I live directly across the street from where they broadcast, so I can’t tune in at home, because I am too close to where the signals come out. I can’t listen to my favourite radio station at home, ever!
I have won many wonderful tickets and have met some great bands thanks to 88.9. They rock.

I am not a big fan of Radio Milwaukee.
I have been listening to this station since the beginning, when it split time almost evenly with Milwaukee Public School Board Meetings, and only seemed to have 16 songs in its rotation (Mika, anyone?).
Once in a while, I will hear a song that I am grateful for, but most of the music sounds the same.
One thing, however, that I LOVE about Radio Milwaukee, is that this is HANDS DOWN the most connected radio station to the city of Milwaukee. Though the music is not what I would consider particularly diverse, the Summer Passport is a GREAT way to connect people to random facets of the city that they may not have known existed otherwise.
Though the music is not to my style or liking, the community involvement is INVALUABLE!

Basically corporate radio flying the flag of an «independent» station. Their playlist is as stagnant and stringent as KISS FM, but they shove the «variety» note down your throat, making you believe you’re getting something different. What you’re getting is a station with an often-​cursory knowledge of music, but a keen knowledge of marketing.
Diverse music? just cuz you play plain vanilla backpack hip-​hop doesn’t mean you’re diverse.
They were a great station in the beginning, but this past year or so, have really gone down the tubes.

Well, I think this station sucks.
They basically play the same songs, in a different order, every day. Just like most commercial stations. When listened to regularly it becomes almost as grating as KISS FM. Like other reviewers said, they mish mash genres in their sets. It doesn’t make much sense. You can tell the DJ’s don’t pick the songs they play, unlike real independent/​college radio stations.
I was really hoping for something more when I first heard another independent music station was coming to our airwaves. Now I really miss the old 88.9 «Mainstream Jazz». They almost always were playing something worth listening to.

While it can be annoying at times, Radio Milwaukee is definitely the best thing to happen to Milwaukee radio. I could do without the broadcasts of meetings and whatnot at City Hall, but I do appreciate their commitment to local music and issues. I do wish they’d play more of *other* cities’ local music, but I might just be saying that because I’m from Minnesota and I want to hear Mpls bands like Cloud Cult and Arms Akimbo sometimes. (Btw, when I need Mpls music, I stream Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current).

I get so frustrated listening to this station. Diverse music doesn’t have to mean listening to Santana, then a song by Common, then a song by My Morning Jacket. I really wish they had a better format. If this rating was based on their format alone it would be one star. I turn them off a lot because of this alone.
I love ALL of the diverse types of music that they play, but playing them in the way that they do makes my head hurt because there is no FLOW! ok, rant over.
Plus a BIG star, for reaching out to the community and also another BIG star for promoting local music. Some of the DJs are cool, others are kinda annoying. I’d like to see them play up the cool DJs a little more.
Bottom line for me is that it’s a very young station that has a great start and I love their commitment to the community. Please support them as they grow and develop into a wonderful station.

I came upon 88.9 on a recent trip to Milwaukee, and was amazed by the variety and quality of the music. Upon returning to San Francisco I searched for a stream of the station on the internet, and now access it via iTunes.
What an excellent showcase for for Milwaukee music too! I end up buying a lot of new music each week. San Francisco needs a similar station!
After several months, 88.9 Milwaukee radio remains my first choice station. And I have become a listener $upporter.

88.9 radio Milwaukee added one of my band’s songs to their playlist this past year and they also gave that song an award. I figured I should get that out of the way so you know where I’m coming from. I’m not going to give a crazy high rating only because I think this station could get better and better. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very cool option on the Milwaukee radio dial but I do find myself wandering away at times to the other listener-​supported option on the left side of the dial.

This is one of the greatest radio stations that i’ve ever listened to. Think college radio, but consistently diverse and constantly good. Marcus Doucette is a killer DJ, but the rest of the staff is fantastic. The format is the type of format that all of the bigger and corporate stations would wish to have, but could never pull off. In one sitting you might hear Sheryl Crow, The Brothers Johnson, Mos Def and the Dead Kennedy’s. What? The variety blows my mind. Living in Chicago, I would kill to have a station like this. With the fall of 88.7 and the utter shit that stations like The Drive play, Chicago may have the worst radio stations EVER. Good thing I can stream Radio Milwaukee on the net. I don’t know what I’d do without them!

This station plays such a huge range of music it’s always exciting to turn it on. You never really know what to expect. It is listener supported and they seem to be very interested in Milwaukee life, what listeners are listening to, and local events/​issues. It’s a gem! Great DJ’s.

I just stumbled on this radio station a couple a weeks ago and am hooked, they play everything from Bonnie Raitt to Erykah Badu, they really do a good job putting a spotlight on music by local artistes in Milwaukee. It’s a listener supported station. You can call and recommend new music to the staff to add their playlist. We need more radio stations like this in this city.