In the months that followed our launch of the new Radio Milwaukee website, many of you told us — candidly and consistently — that the playlist on the revamped site didn’t meet your expectations. You wanted faster updates, richer song details and an easy way to trace that track you heard last night during your drive down I-94.
I heard you, loud and clear, and I agreed.
Innovating in the face of limited resources
Let's be honest about something: As an independent, community-supported radio station, we face constant budget constraints that larger commercial stations simply don't encounter.
When you've requested playlist improvements in the past, we've had to balance those desires against the reality of our financial limitations. Professional playlist solutions and custom development work can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars — money we simply don’t have available while maintaining our core mission of bringing you diverse, locally relevant programming.
However, what I love about Radio Milwaukee is that we don't let budget constraints stop us from trying to serve you better. We get creative, we think outside the box, and we find ways to make things happen, even when the odds are stacked against us.
So, I'm thrilled to announce that we've developed a brand-new playlist application, built entirely in-house using innovative tools like Lovable, a platform that allowed me to create something sophisticated despite having only basic coding knowledge and database-building skills. This is exactly the kind of resourceful problem-solving independent radio stations must embrace to survive and thrive.
Building homegrown technology, such as the new playlist, is one way we control costs and preserve service. But it only works if we keep the lights on.
This timing couldn't be more critical. With the ongoing threat to Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding that supports public and community radio stations across the country, every dollar of listener support becomes even more valuable. Your membership and donations don't just keep our music playing; they enable innovations like this playlist app that enhance your entire Radio Milwaukee experience.
What makes this playlist special
Our new playlist isn't just an upgrade; it's a complete reimagining of how you can interact with our music programming. Is it perfect? Not yet. However, it's ours, and it's already enhancing your listening experience. Here's what we've built for you:
- Real-time updates — The playlist automatically refreshes every three seconds, ensuring you always see the most current information about what's playing on-air. No more manually refreshing your browser or wondering if you're looking at outdated information.
- Comprehensive song information — We don’t just show you the artist and title anymore. Each entry includes album artwork, record label information, release details and the exact time each song was played. It's the kind of detailed music discovery tool serious music lovers deserve.
- Powerful search and filter capabilities — Want to find that amazing track we played last Tuesday but can't remember the artist? No problem. Our search function lets you filter by text, date ranges and more. Whether you're looking for something from yesterday or digging back through months of programming, the information is at your fingertips.
This playlist app serves multiple purposes that go far beyond simple song identification. It's a music discovery tool that helps you find new artists and tracks. It's a concert information resource that connects you with upcoming shows. It's a historical archive that lets you explore our programming patterns and discover music you might have missed.
Most importantly, it keeps you connected to Radio Milwaukee in real time. Whether you're listening live, catching up on what you missed or planning your music purchases based on what we've been playing, this tool puts you at the center of our musical community.
Building the foundation
We've built this app using several robust data sources, including the Spinitron API for our core playlist data and the Ticketmaster API for concert information.
But where our local expertise truly shines is our ability to add custom events tied to specific artists we play, particularly for shows and events not listed in Ticketmaster's database. This feature — driven by our knowledgeable staff — is crucial for our mission as a community radio station. Milwaukee's music scene is rich with smaller venues, local artists and independent shows that major ticketing platforms often miss.
When our DJs spin a track from a local band playing at Cactus Club next weekend or feature an artist performing at an intimate venue that doesn't use Ticketmaster, our hosts can add that information directly to the playlist in real-time.
This creates a more complete picture of Milwaukee's music ecosystem — not just the big arena shows, but the coffee shop performances, record store events, house concerts and underground venues that make our local scene so vibrant. By leveraging both automated data feeds and human curation from our knowledgeable hosts, we're building something that no algorithm alone could create.
How you can help
This situation represents exactly the kind of challenge independent radio stations face every day: How do we provide the services and experiences our listeners want while operating within the financial realities of community-supported media?
While our playlist is currently in beta (meaning we're continuously improving it based on your feedback and usage patterns), we've proven that with creativity, determination and the right tools, we can compete with much larger organizations in terms of innovation and listener experience.
Every pledge, every business sponsorship, every shared social-media post buys us time to refine tools like this, pay music licensing fees and keep our storytellers on the streets. Your support writes the next line of code, and your active engagement helps us refine and expand all of our offerings, including the playlist.
We'll continue listening to your feedback — send bugs, wishes or praise to digital@radiomilwaukee.org — and we'll publish incremental updates in our newsletter. For now, remember that independent radio succeeds when community members lean in. If you value a station that plays Coltrane at breakfast, Sampa the Great at lunch, and local punk after dark, here's how to help right now:
- Make a sustaining gift — Monthly support provides a stable runway.
- Share the beta — Tell a friend to test the playlist and report back.
- Contact your representatives in D.C. — Urge them to protect CPB funding and the essential services it enables.
You make the difference
The combination of automated data integration and human curation from our hosts creates something uniquely valuable: a playlist experience that's both technically sophisticated and deeply connected to our local music community. This hybrid approach allows us to serve you better than either pure automation or manual processes could achieve alone.
Radio Milwaukee exists because you believe in the value of independent, community-focused radio. This playlist app exists because you've told us what you need, and we found a way to deliver it.
Together, we can keep Milwaukee's soundtrack vibrant — and transparent — without mortgaging our future. Together, we prove that independent radio not only survives in today's media landscape, but also innovates, adapts and serves its community better than anyone else can. Thank you for pushing us to be better and for standing with us as we build tools that match the creativity of the music we play.
Keep listening. Keep discovering. Keep supporting the music and radio that matter to you.
