WEXP increases broadcast audience by streaming on national site

By Erin Brodbeck
Collegian Editor
February 28, 2007

WEXP, La Salle’s student-run radio station, was recently invited by the music sharing Web site Lala.com to join their line-up of radio stations that are streamed onto the site.

Cody Elam, a representative of La la, got in touch with WEXP general manager and senior communication major Adam Bagni.

“He thought that WEXP had solid programming and asked if we wanted to get involved,” Bagni said.

La la is like Netflix for the audiophile. Members create a list of CDs they own and a list they want. When one member’s “have” list matches another’s “want” list, they are each notified and invited to share. The CDs are then sent through the mail with shipping kits provided by La la.

Each CD costs $1, plus a 75 cent shipping charge, but members are allowed to keep the CD after receiving it.

According to Lala.com, members who send larger numbers of discs are more likely to receive albums from others.

The Web site currently gives visitors access to about 1.8 million albums, which exceeds the library found on iTunes.

“It’s like Napster, but legal,” WEXP Programming Director and sophomore communication major Mike Viso said.

By agreeing to join La la, WEXP will now reach a national audience. The Web site currently has around 250,000 members, and receives thousands of hits a week.

At first, Bagni wondered if the high number of listeners would cause the WEXP server to crash because of its smaller size. However, all broadcasts are hosted on La la’s server, which is built to hold thousands of listeners.

The members of WEXP have already seen the benefits of broadcasting on a national Web site. According to Bagni, WEXP’s stream was ranked sixth among the most listened to featured stations, out of 625 other college and independent radio stations throughout the country.

By broadcasting to a national audience, Bagni has earned some new fans, and has received callers from as far as Texas during his live show.

“This has given us such a great opportunity to reach a wider audience,” Bagni said.

brodbecke1@lasalle.edu