View source for KEXP-FM

{{Short description|Public radio station in Seattle}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = KEXP-FM
| logo = [[File:KEXP logo 2022 (one-color).svg|frameless|upright=0.6|class=skin-invert|alt=Four black bars of different heights above the black letters KEXP in a bold sans serif]]
| logo_alt = Four black bars of different heights above the black letters KEXP in a bold sans serif
| city = [[Seattle|Seattle, Washington]]
| country = US
| branding = KEXP
| airdate = {{start date and age|1972|5|10|p=y|br=y}}{{r|airdate}}
| area = [[Seattle metropolitan area]]
| frequency = {{Frequency|90.3|[[Hertz#SI multiples|MHz]]}} {{HD Radio}}
| format = [[Freeform radio|Eclectic]], [[Independent music|indie music]]
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| erp = 4,700 [[watt]]s
| haat = {{Convert|211|m|ft|sp=us}}
| class = C3
| facility_id = 68668
| callsign_meaning = Experience Music Project, the original name of the [[Museum of Pop Culture]]
| former_callsigns = KCMU (1972–2001)
| former_frequencies = 90.5&nbsp;MHz (1972–1987)
| owner = Friends of KEXP
| repeater = {{Radio Relay|92.7|[[KEXC]]|[[Alameda, California|Alameda, CA]]}}
| webcast = {{listenlive|https://kexp-mp3-128.streamguys1.com/kexp128.mp3}}
| website = {{url|https://kexp.org}}
| affiliations = [[NPR]] (music licensing)
| coordinates = {{Coord|47|36|57.4|N|122|18|32.5|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC}}
}}

'''KEXP-FM''' (90.3 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a non-commercial [[Radio broadcasting|radio station]] in [[Seattle|Seattle, Washington]], United States, specializing in [[indie music]] programmed by its [[disc jockey]]s. KEXP's studios are located at the [[Seattle Center]], and the transmitter is in the city's [[Capitol Hill, Seattle|Capitol Hill]] neighborhood. The station is operated by the [[501(c)(3) organization|non-profit entity]] Friends of KEXP, an affiliate of the [[University of Washington]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=FM Station KEXP-FM |url=https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/fm-profile/kexp-fm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103072109/https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/fm-profile/kexp-fm |archive-date=January 3, 2023 |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Public Inspection File | publisher = [[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref> Since March 19, 2024, KEXP-FM's programming has been rebroadcast over [[Alameda, California]]–licensed [[KEXC]], which serves the [[San Francisco Bay Area]].

As well as daily [[Variety (radio)|variety mix]] shows featuring mostly [[alternative rock]] music, KEXP hosts weekly programs dedicated to other musical genres, such as [[hip hop music|hip hop]], [[Afrobeat]], [[punk rock|punk]], [[Ambient music|ambient]], [[alternative country]], [[Latin music]], and [[world music]].<ref name="shows">{{Cite web |title=Shows |url=https://www.kexp.org/shows/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314231657/https://kexp.org/shows/ |archive-date=March 14, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=KEXP }}</ref> The station also regularly hosts live, in-studio performances by artists. Alongside its [[analog transmission|analog transmitters]] serving Seattle and San Francisco, the station offers an online live stream, a real-time playlist with DJ notes, and an actively maintained [[YouTube]] channel.{{r|archive}}

Founded in 1972 as KCMU, the student-run station of the University of Washington, KEXP gained recognition for its influence on the regional music scene. It was the first station to air [[grunge]] bands like [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] and [[Soundgarden]] in the late 1980s. After partnering with the Experience Music Project, now the [[Museum of Pop Culture]], in 2001, the station began to acquire an international listener base thanks to an early investment in internet streaming and its website. In 2014, the university transferred the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] license of KEXP-FM to Friends of KEXP in exchange for on-air [[underwriting spot]]s, granting the station independence in management and programming decisions.{{r|Current062414}}

==History==
===Early years as KCMU (1971–1985)===
The [[University of Washington]] (UW)'s involvement in radio broadcasting dates to the 1952 launch of [[KUOW-FM]],<ref>{{Cite news|first=C. J.|last=Skreen|page=TV-1|work=[[The Seattle Times|The Seattle Sunday Times]]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/fm-radio-attracts-expanding-audience/xxbnvefbkgpovhnkdvunyqycdddcoffe_ip-10-166-46-172_1724651122103|date=April 23, 1961|via=GenealogyBank|title=FM-Radio Attracts Expanding Audience|access-date=August 26, 2024}}</ref> which moved to 94.9&nbsp;MHz in 1958.<ref>{{Cite news|page=5|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/field-education-uws-new-fm-outlet-nations-most-powerful/wxhhgdqlipyuasncashappxqbeqzydrt_ip-10-166-46-139_1724651282090|title=In Field Of Education: UW's New FM Outlet Nation's Most Powerful|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=July 1, 1958|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 26, 2024}}</ref> The station served as an environment for training communications students and provided classical music, fine arts, and sports programming. In the early 1970s, university budget cuts led to an increased professionalization of that station and decreased student involvement.{{r|lives}} The need for more student involvement had become apparent after a 1970 student strike at the UW, during which time airtime on KUOW was "taken over"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/strike-news-kuow/jlxcmhzhlmynfstpxribmpobsciwvnwl_ip-10-166-46-120_1724651869820|page=C10|title=Strike News on KUOW|first=Victor|last=Stredicke|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=May 13, 1970|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 26, 2024|archive-date=August 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826143418/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/strike-news-kuow/jlxcmhzhlmynfstpxribmpobsciwvnwl_ip-10-166-46-120_1724651869820|url-status=live}}</ref> and temporarily given to a student group known as the Student Communication Coalition and branding itself "Radio Free Seattle".<ref>{{Cite news|page=22|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/happy-ending/xkuofhdbgwnlstgegcmnnpqsflwtfyaz_ip-10-166-46-146_1724651985663|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=June 30, 1970|title=Happy Ending|first=Frank|last=Chesley|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 26, 2024|archive-date=August 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826143555/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/happy-ending/xkuofhdbgwnlstgegcmnnpqsflwtfyaz_ip-10-166-46-146_1724651985663|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, four UW undergraduates—John Kean, Cliff Noonan, Victoria ("Tory") Fiedler, and Brent Wilcox—began planning to create a second UW station to be run by students. Noonan felt that there was insufficient student media in a time marked by student activism and protests; there was only a campus newspaper, [[The Daily of the University of Washington|''The Daily'']], and Noonan had come from San Francisco, where he was aware of other college stations. The four students formulated a proposal and were able to secure the backing of the UW Board of Regents, which promised funding if the students could get a station approved by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC).<ref name="UWMag316">{{Cite news |last=Gilman |first=Hannah |date=March 2016 |title=KEXP rocks its new digs |work=University of Washington Magazine |url=https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/kexp-rocks-its-new-digs/ |access-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-date=June 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612111844/https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/kexp-rocks-its-new-digs/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 13, 1971, UW filed an application for a new 10-watt [[non-commercial educational station]] on 90.5&nbsp;MHz, which would be located in the Communications Building (abbreviated "CMU" on campus maps).<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/eb19519a-6ec1-279e-3742-ee9088affacc|title=FCC History Cards for KEXP-FM|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Victor|last=Stredicke|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|title=Hello to KSEA and KMPS: Multiple messages behind radio station call letters|date=June 15, 1975|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/hello-ksea-and-kmps-multiple-messages-behind-radio-station-call-letters/wucecqgwhcrhkbgjkxhzxbusxkvylxal_ip-10-166-46-113_1723139443130|pages=TV 26, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/hello-ksea-and-kmps-multiple-messages-behind-radio-station-call-letters/jjribqzkturjzcmdkoqypmeizdsyejny_ip-10-166-46-125_1723139481991 27]|via=GenealogyBank|quote=KCMU uses the U. W. registar's [sic] abbreviation for Communications Bldg.}}</ref>
{{multiple image
 | align = left
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | image1 = Communications Building, University of Washington.jpg
 | alt1 = A four-story brick building in Collegiate Gothic style
 | caption1 = The Communications Building, KCMU's namesake and first studio location
 | image2 = McMahon Hall, University of Washington, November 2010.jpg
 | alt2 = A tall, flat-roofed, 11-story dormitory
 | caption2 = McMahon Hall, KCMU's first transmitter site
}}
On October 5, the FCC granted the permit,{{r|hc}} and the UW Board of Regents approved the concept for the station (originally dubbed KPMG, for "Professional Media Group") the next month.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/uw-regents-add-women-affirmative-action-program/ghuoarcwhkwppzlkljumheybhqzbhtpq_ip-10-166-46-169_1724651562833|page=A10|first=John|last=Bell|title=U.W. regents add women to affirmative action program|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|via=GenealogyBank|date=November 20, 1971|access-date=August 26, 2024|archive-date=August 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826063058/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/uw-regents-add-women-affirmative-action-program/ghuoarcwhkwppzlkljumheybhqzbhtpq_ip-10-166-46-169_1724651562833|url-status=live}}</ref> It then fell to the students to put together the equipment and resources necessary to get KCMU going, including old turntables from a northwest Washington radio station and an old transmitter being discarded by [[KNHC]] at [[Nathan Hale High School (Washington)|Nathan Hale High School]] as it was upgrading its own facilities; the students also received a $2,500 grant from the Board of Regents. Construction tasks included retrofitting a third-floor room in the building, erecting a transmitter tower atop McMahon Hall, and manually upgrading a telephone line to send audio from the Communications Building to the facility.<ref name="lives">{{Cite news|date=April 29, 2022|title=The many lives of KEXP, now a more diverse, online global phenomenon|first=Brendan|last=Kiley|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/the-many-lives-of-kexp-now-a-more-diverse-online-global-phenomenon/|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503043833/https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/the-many-lives-of-kexp-now-a-more-diverse-online-global-phenomenon/|url-status=live}}</ref> KCMU began broadcasting on May 10, 1972.<ref name="airdate">{{cite web|url=https://www.kexp.org/read/2022/5/10/kexp-50-revisiting-early-days-kcmu-stations-50th-birthday/|website=KEXP|first=Owen|last=Murphy|title=KEXP 50: Revisiting the Early Days of KCMU for the Station's 50th Birthday|date=May 10, 2022|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511055221/https://kexp.org/read/2022/5/10/kexp-50-revisiting-early-days-kcmu-stations-50th-birthday/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{r|UWMag316}} The station split its airtime between information and "folk-rock and blues" music.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|title=Dean Going Clean|page=D9|first=Frank|last=Chesley|date=May 26, 1972|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/dean-going-clean/rohgrumjcyjrlrzitietoanitdytadwq_ip-10-166-46-143_1723139845365|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808190658/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/dean-going-clean/rohgrumjcyjrlrzitietoanitdytadwq_ip-10-166-46-143_1723139845365|url-status=live}}</ref> That year, it sent reporters to both national political conventions.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Victor|last=Stredicke|title=All-music radio muffles Democrats|page=TV 22|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=July 9, 1972|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/all-music-radio-muffles-democrats/ekddhchuvedrhkutpjvnzjerqnryevcr_ip-10-166-46-85_1723139939882|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808190635/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/all-music-radio-muffles-democrats/ekddhchuvedrhkutpjvnzjerqnryevcr_ip-10-166-46-85_1723139939882|url-status=live}}</ref> The station also produced alternative student-led coverage of UW athletic events, including women's basketball, which was not being aired at the time by the commercial rightsholder for university sports, [[KIRO (AM)|KIRO]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Janine|last=Gressel|title=A Husky voice you may not have heard|page=C6|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=March 3, 1978|via=GenealogyBank|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/husky-voice-you-may-not-have-heard/uhyjayjcsfjaqmphqpvdlpietjuhhmbc_ip-10-166-46-85_1723140092201|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808190738/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/husky-voice-you-may-not-have-heard/uhyjayjcsfjaqmphqpvdlpietjuhhmbc_ip-10-166-46-85_1723140092201|url-status=live}}</ref> The limited-power station served few listeners; a 2007 column recounting the station's early history noted that it "barely reached [[the Ave]]", the commercial heart of Seattle's [[University District, Seattle|University District]],<ref name="Nelson">{{Cite news |last=Nelson |first=Christian |date=March 2007 |title=35 years later, student radio station still has can-do spirit |url=https://magazine.washington.edu/35-years-later-student-radio-station-still-has-can-do-spirit/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428210911/https://magazine.washington.edu/35-years-later-student-radio-station-still-has-can-do-spirit/ |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |access-date=May 16, 2022 |work=University of Washington Magazine}}</ref> and UW administrators ordered a programming overhaul in 1975 to increase the audience.<ref name="radiofree">{{cite news |last=Kingrey |first=Julia |date=July 15, 1998 |title=Radio-free UW: KCMU moves off campus |url=http://archives.thedaily.washington.edu/1998/071598/radio.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041009230329/http://archives.thedaily.washington.edu/1998/071598/radio.html |archive-date=October 9, 2004 |access-date=May 16, 2022 |work=The Daily}}</ref> During the 1970s, the station produced several people who went on to managerial and on-air positions in Seattle broadcasting, among them [[Steve Pool]].<ref name="historylink">{{Cite web|first=Peter|last=Blecha|website=[[HistoryLink]]|title=KEXP-FM Radio (Seattle)|date=July 12, 2019|url=https://www.historylink.org/file/20790|access-date=August 14, 2024|archive-date=May 31, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531101506/https://www.historylink.org/File/20790|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1980, the university filed to increase KCMU's power from 10 watts to 182 in the wake of changes to FCC regulations encouraging many 10-watt stations to increase power. The $5,000 upgrade, carried out in June 1982, also marked the beginning of [[Stereophonic sound|stereo]] broadcasts.<ref>{{cite news|first=Joni|last=Balter|title=KJET gives 'new music' a boost|date=June 8, 1982|page=C7|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kjet-gives-new-music-boost/vkidjbxkrntsywnmjognjlxmdplstbfs_ip-10-166-46-146_1723603036461|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 14, 2024|archive-date=August 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814024150/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kjet-gives-new-music-boost/vkidjbxkrntsywnmjognjlxmdplstbfs_ip-10-166-46-146_1723603036461|url-status=live}}</ref> During this time, the station began programming [[New wave music|new wave]] music on weekdays from 3&nbsp;p.m. to midnight;<ref>{{cite news |last=Hackett |first=Regina |date=April 24, 1981 |title=New wave music: The beat goes on in Seattle despite a few setbacks |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/new-wave-music-beat-goes-seattle-despite-few-setbacks/tltryhhvqvgivfolykabtiayytvsotty_ip-10-166-46-143_1723140272075 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808190738/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/new-wave-music-beat-goes-seattle-despite-few-setbacks/tltryhhvqvgivfolykabtiayytvsotty_ip-10-166-46-143_1723140272075 |archive-date=August 8, 2024 |access-date=August 8, 2024 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |pages=D4–D5 |via=GenealogyBank}}</ref> the station adopted new wave as its full-time musical format in July 1981 after [[KXPA|KZAM (1540 AM)]], a commercial outlet broadcasting the same music, dropped it due to low ratings.<ref name="SPI811212">{{cite news |last=Balter |first=Joni |date=December 12, 1981 |title='New wave' survives on tiny KCMU-FM |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/new-wave-survives-tiny-kcmu-fm/drlowntrovdrazmsjmxoaagofuzxsofp_ip-10-166-46-159_1723140404675 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808190702/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/new-wave-survives-tiny-kcmu-fm/drlowntrovdrazmsjmxoaagofuzxsofp_ip-10-166-46-159_1723140404675 |archive-date=August 8, 2024 |access-date=August 8, 2024 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |page=D8 |via=GenealogyBank}}</ref>

The shift in music and impending technical overhaul came as further university budget cuts meant the end of financial support from the UW's School of Communications; a one-time grant from the university student activities and fees committee kept the station on the air during the 1981–1982 school year and gave its backers time to hold fundraising events,{{r|SPI811212}} the first in its history.<ref name="cityarts">{{cite web|title=Some Impossible Vision|work=City Arts Magazine|url=https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/some-impossible-vision/|date=December 23, 2015|first=Jonathan|last=Zwickel|access-date=August 14, 2024|archive-date=July 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727014817/https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/some-impossible-vision/|url-status=live}}</ref> This marked a permanent shift to being listener-supported,{{r|lives}} though KUOW provided engineering and accounting services.{{r|radiofree}} As part of its operating agreement, the station aired five-minute hourly newscasts prepared by the university's journalism students.{{r|taste}} In 1982, KCMU once again gained commercial competition in the form of [[KLFE|KJET (1590 AM)]], which adopted the new wave format.<ref>{{cite news|title=Seattle radio dial may leave you spinning|page=E1|first=Joni|last=Balter|date=October 3, 1982|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/seattle-radio-dial-may-leave-you-spinning/fwnjktzgereppvvzpefgieeqjhggsycc_ip-10-166-46-115_1723140819162|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191137/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/seattle-radio-dial-may-leave-you-spinning/fwnjktzgereppvvzpefgieeqjhggsycc_ip-10-166-46-115_1723140819162|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Championing the "Seattle sound" (1985–1992)===
KCMU was at the center of a new music scene in the mid-1980s that would eventually emerge as [[grunge]]. In the words of early 1980s music director Faith Henschel, the station had long been "very sympathetic to local bands" and already had a requirement that a local band must be played at least once every hour.<ref name="innocents">{{cite magazine|title=The Age of Innocents|id={{EBSCOhost|65535411}}|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2011/BB-2011-09-17.pdf|magazine=Billboard|date=September 17, 2011|via=World Radio History|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=April 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403201518/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2011/BB-2011-09-17.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|18}} In late 1985, Chris Knab, who co-founded [[415 Records]] and was a former owner of [[Aquarius Records (store)|Aquarius Records]] in San Francisco, sold his interest in 415 Records and became KCMU's station manager.<ref name=Levitin>{{cite web|url=http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/levitin/415.html |title=A Brief History of 415 Records |first=Daniel |last=Levitin |access-date=June 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220030754/http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/levitin/415.html |archive-date=February 20, 2007 }}</ref> The next year, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' featured KCMU and other college stations in an article hailing them as growing "taste makers".<ref name="taste">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-taste-makers-college-radios-growing-clout-105880/|date=September 25, 1986|first=Anthony|last=DeCurtis|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|title=The Taste Makers: College Radio's Growing Clout|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=October 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005184110/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-taste-makers-college-radios-growing-clout-105880/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jonathan Poneman]]—who hosted a music show known as ''Audioasis''<ref>{{cite news|title=Rockin' 'n' rollin' the boat: Seattle's Sub Pop Records defies the usual corporate labels|page=C1|first=Gene|last=Stout|date=March 24, 1990|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref>—and [[Bruce Pavitt]] met at KCMU, leading to the foundation of record label [[Sub Pop]].<ref name="minds">{{cite news|url=https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/uw-had-a-big-role-in-sparking-the-seattle-sound/|first=Charles R.|last=Cross|author-link=Charles R. Cross|date=December 1996|work=University of Washington Magazine|title=Where musical minds met|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513065257/https://magazine.washington.edu/feature/uw-had-a-big-role-in-sparking-the-seattle-sound/|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2011 retrospective on grunge in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', Poneman noted that his "big break" was being a DJ at KCMU.{{r|innocents|p=17}} The role of KCMU—and format competitor KJET—in popularizing bands was further enhanced because of Seattle's liquor regulation regime, which stunted the live events business.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Grunge City|page=43|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 16, 1992|first=Michael|last=Azerrad|author-link=Michael Azerrad|id={{ProQuest|220158281}} }}</ref> KEXP increased its power in 1987 when it moved frequencies from 90.5 to 90.3&nbsp;MHz and relocated its transmitter to a tower site in the [[Capitol Hill, Seattle|Capitol Hill]] neighborhood, using 400 watts.<ref>{{cite news|first=Victor|last=Stredicke|work=[[The Seattle Times]]/[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer|Post-Intelligencer]]|title=Teens to produce show|page=TV 2|date=October 5, 1986|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/teens-produce-show-teens/ymxzuihjxoxuenohegzrnkfewmymtbxw_ip-10-166-46-166_1723140571057|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191136/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/teens-produce-show-teens/ymxzuihjxoxuenohegzrnkfewmymtbxw_ip-10-166-46-166_1723140571057|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Quote box
| quote = There's no doubt KCMU was directly responsible for the cultural flowering in Seattle recently.
| author = Mia Boyle
| source = former KCMU fine arts editor and station board member in 1992{{r|Bill921219}}
| align = right
| width = 250px
| salign = left
}}

Through the UW at this time were passing a series of future influential figures with ties to bands. [[Mark Arm]] lived in Terry Hall for a time, going on to front [[Green River (band)|Green River]] and [[Mudhoney]].{{r|minds}} [[Kim Thayil]] had moved to Seattle to follow Pavitt; he won a prize on KCMU, was invited to be a full-time DJ, and not only graduated from the UW with a degree in philosophy but got his band [[Soundgarden]] exposure on KCMU, the first station to play them.{{r|minds|Bill921219}} Music director Henschel created a two-cassette compilation of songs by local groups, titled "Bands That Will Make You Money", and sent it to record labels; that led to Soundgarden getting signed to [[A&M Records]].{{r|lives}} Charles R. Cross, editor of music magazine ''[[The Rocket (music magazine)|The Rocket]]'', noted, "It's no exaggeration to say that virtually every volunteer who had an air shift in the late '80s ended up getting a job in the music industry or playing some role in the Seattle scene."{{r|historylink}} Soundgarden was not the only group that KCMU was breaking on the radio: in 1988, [[Kurt Cobain]], looking for airplay for his band [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], knocked on KCMU's door and handed the station a copy of his first single, "[[Love Buzz]]"; they did not play it until Cobain called from a gas station pay phone to request it.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brodeur |first=Nicole |date=January 30, 2017 |title=How to build your band's brand: Upstream workshop aims to help emerging artists |language=en-US |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/how-to-build-your-bands-brand-upstream-workshop-aims-to-help-emerging-artists/ |access-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614101713/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/how-to-build-your-bands-brand-upstream-workshop-aims-to-help-emerging-artists/ |url-status=live }}</ref> That same year, KCMU again became the only alternative music station{{efn|The format label had changed from "new wave" or "new music" to "alternative" over the course of the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite magazine|first1=Paul|last1=Sexton|first2=Robbert|last2=Tilli|pages=13–15|magazine=[[Music & Media]]|date=May 31, 1997|volume=14|issue=22|title=No alternative to the new mainstream?}}</ref>}} in the Seattle market when KJET dropped the format.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 22, 1988|title=KJET changes name & format|first=Gene|last=Stout|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|page=C8|via=GenealogyBank|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kjet-changes-name-format/azofqpwlmbaebfftseofxyexmelgejlv_ip-10-166-46-72_1723141405246}}</ref>

While KCMU was becoming renowned in the grunge scene, its musical offerings were more varied. Under Henschel, the format was broadened to take in blues and African music, among other genres.{{r|lives}} The Sunday night ''Rap Attack'' was the first radio program in Seattle to play such artists as [[Ice-T]], [[Eazy-E]], and [[N.W.A.]]<ref>{{cite news|pages=D1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/hip-hop-poetry-street/wuyjlmicplximcirgiyjnpgvmepykrfd_ip-10-166-46-166_1723141479040 D5]|first=Julie|last=Schuster|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=November 29, 1988|title=The rap on rap: It's ragged, rhythmic—and rife with violent street images, critics say|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/rap-rap-its-ragged-rhythmic%E2%80%94and-rife-violent-street-images-critics-say/ztcyjuuprqdeyaobrylyeqitunmobilm_ip-10-166-46-122_1723141680157|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191139/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/rap-rap-its-ragged-rhythmic%E2%80%94and-rife-violent-street-images-critics-say/ztcyjuuprqdeyaobrylyeqitunmobilm_ip-10-166-46-122_1723141680157|url-status=live}}</ref> By the late 1990s, the program had changed names to ''Street Sounds'', with hosts including DJ Nasty-Nes and Marcus "Kutfather" Tufono;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/can-you-hear-street-sounds/Content?oid=2361|first=Charles|last=Mudede|title=Can You Hear Street Sounds?|date=October 21, 1999|work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=October 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018231850/https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/can-you-hear-street-sounds/Content?oid=2361|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=January 11, 2021|title=Marcus 'Kutfather' Tufono, a DJ who was a major influence on Seattle's hip-hop scene, dies at 48|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/marcus-kutfather-tufono-a-dj-who-was-a-major-influence-on-seattles-hip-hop-scene-dies-at-48/|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US|archive-date=January 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113030748/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/marcus-kutfather-tufono-a-dj-who-was-a-major-influence-on-seattles-hip-hop-scene-dies-at-48/|url-status=live}}</ref> it remains on KEXP's schedule {{as of|2022|lc=y}}.{{r|lives}}

By 1992, ten years after becoming listener-supported, KCMU's budget had grown from $20,000 to $180,000.{{efn|In {{inflation/year|US}} dollars, adjusting for inflation separately: ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|20000|1982}}}} to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|180000|1992}}}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}}} As well as the two technical improvements in the 1980s, it had added more paid staffers and listeners.{{r|Bill921219}}

===Strife and change in the '90s (1992–2001)===
In November 1992, seeking to professionalize the station's sound, KCMU management made the decision to dismiss nine volunteer disc jockeys to add two syndicated radio programs to the lineup: ''[[World Cafe (radio program)|World Cafe]]'' from [[WXPN]] in [[Philadelphia]] and ''Monitoradio'', produced by ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]''. The decision caused an outcry and led KCMU supporters to organize as Censorship Undermines Radio Station Ethics, abbreviated CURSE. Protests centered around the changes and their near-unilateral implementation. Management further inflamed tensions after firing one volunteer reporter, Dick Burton, who discussed the controversy in a newscast; station manager Knab stated that Burton had violated a station policy barring on-air criticism of KCMU and then suspended the station's volunteer news staff. In response, the news staff presented their resignations; one DJ, [[Riz Rollins]], resigned; and CURSE encouraged listeners to withhold donations. It circulated flyers reading "KCMU Is Dying",<ref>{{cite news|title=KCMU management, volunteers embroiled in fight for control|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|page=C3|date=November 12, 1992|first=Lynn|last=Steinberg|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmu-management-volunteers-embroiled-fight-control/tjyxulaenxmtsutxiadeyimgblsresor_ip-10-166-46-89_1723141914366|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191231/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmu-management-volunteers-embroiled-fight-control/tjyxulaenxmtsutxiadeyimgblsresor_ip-10-166-46-89_1723141914366|url-status=live}}</ref> with Poneman arguing that Knab and other paid staff wanted to turn KCMU into a "baby NPR, middle-of-the-road, vaguely alternative, soft-rock radio station".{{r|Bill921219}} Several labels, including Sub Pop, [[Capitol Records]], and [[C/Z Records]], withheld record service to the station.{{r|range}} The dispute reached the front page of ''Billboard'', which called KCMU "one of the most influential commercial-free stations in the country".<ref name="Bill921219">{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1992/Billboard-1992-12-19-N.pdf|via=World Radio History|date=December 19, 1992|magazine=Billboard|first=Eric|last=Boehlert|title=Seattle Station Staffers Quit in P'gramming Row|id={{ProQuest|226993538}}|pages=1, 63, 67|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208142131/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1992/Billboard-1992-12-19-N.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Knab later defended his decisions as stemming from a desire by university leadership to grow the station.{{r|cityarts}}

The fight between KCMU management and CURSE, which led to KCMU discontinuing broadcasting between 1 and 6&nbsp;a.m., made its way to the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Washington]] in January 1993. Three listeners and 11 staffers who claimed they were fired without warning argued in federal court that their [[First Amendment]] rights to free speech were being violated by KCMU, owned by the University of Washington, a state agency; they sued Knab and university director of broadcast services Wayne Roth.<ref>{{cite news|title=Former staffers taking KCMU battle to court|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/former-staffers-taking-kcmu-battle-court/zmpfmtwjeciixeneeswhttslgiuiqyke_ip-10-166-46-146_1723142068894|via=GenealogyBank|date=January 6, 1993|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191239/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/former-staffers-taking-kcmu-battle-court/zmpfmtwjeciixeneeswhttslgiuiqyke_ip-10-166-46-146_1723142068894|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="STim930107">{{cite news|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=January 7, 1993|title=Ex-KCMU staffers sue station, UW|page=E2|first=Paula|last=Yoo|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/ex-kcmu-staffers-sue-station-uw/thyraujtjqvicedzkydykjkorwhvkzcw_ip-10-166-46-122_1723142171008|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191704/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/ex-kcmu-staffers-sue-station-uw/thyraujtjqvicedzkydykjkorwhvkzcw_ip-10-166-46-122_1723142171008|url-status=live}}</ref> By the time of the lawsuit, 22 volunteers had left the station within two months.{{r|STim930107}}

In August 1994, federal judge [[Thomas Samuel Zilly]] ruled in favor of the KCMU staffers in ''Aldrich v. Knab'', finding the no-criticism policy set out by Knab was unconstitutional, ordering six of the 11 staffers reinstated;<ref>{{cite news|title=Judge rules against UW radio station's 'no-criticism' policy|pages=B1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/judge-rules-against-uw-radio-stations-no-criticism-policy/mqccmwvamqiximuggegvgexklfstyuuw_ip-10-166-46-173_1723142299370 B2]|first=Chuck|last=Taylor|work=[[The Seattle Times]]/[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=August 14, 1994|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/judge-rules-against-uw-radio-stations-no-criticism-policy/qpblumysrlgisbhemtakuvewenfbrkdn_ip-10-166-46-72_1723142279846|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191644/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/judge-rules-against-uw-radio-stations-no-criticism-policy/qpblumysrlgisbhemtakuvewenfbrkdn_ip-10-166-46-72_1723142279846|url-status=live}}</ref> none of the staffers reclaimed their positions.{{r|radiofree}} By this time, tensions had cooled; ''World Café'' was moved to weekends, and UW gave KCMU $20,000 to help it get financially back on track. These moves reduced the impact of CURSE's decisions and helped bring back listeners and some record labels, resulting in a new KCMU that, per a profile in ''Rolling Stone'', was sounding "more like the old KCMU".<ref name="range">{{cite magazine|id={{ProQuest|220159002}}|first=Bob|last=Morris|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=March 24, 1994|pages=55–57|title=Range wars}}</ref> In a 2020 journal article, Christopher Cwynar noted that the early 1990s CURSE episode and change in focus mirrored the rise of the [[adult album alternative]] format in public radio as well as the demands toward professionalization that similar stations—including WXPN and [[KCRW]] in [[Santa Monica, California]]—experienced.<ref name="cwynar">{{Cite journal |last=Cwynar |first=Christopher |date=2020-01-02 |title=Brick, Mortar, and Screen: Networked Digital Media, Popular Music, and the Reinvention of the Public Radio Station |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19376529.2020.1738438 |access-date=2024-08-14 |journal=Journal of Radio & Audio Media |pages=74–92 |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/19376529.2020.1738438 |archive-date=August 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814024149/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19376529.2020.1738438 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1996, KCMU management opted to eliminate KCMU's 6 p.m. news and information hour, which it argued overlapped with KUOW-FM.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rosy future for Rosie? That's the buzz so far|page=E3|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/rosy-future-rosie-thats-buzz-so-far/jqosiqbpyciwwjwyaxnnbmbnlyndipid_ip-10-166-46-166_1723142424432|via=GenealogyBank|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=June 21, 1996|first=Chuck|last=Taylor|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191711/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/rosy-future-rosie-thats-buzz-so-far/jqosiqbpyciwwjwyaxnnbmbnlyndipid_ip-10-166-46-166_1723142424432|url-status=live}}</ref> It also noted that [[KBCS]] (91.3 FM) aired some of the same [[Pacifica Radio]] output that was on KCMU.<ref>{{cite news|pages=B1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A142FE773BA94746A%40GB3NEWS-181E10471BD47CC4%402450274-1818EA291F0E958F%409-1818EA291F0E958F%40?h=1&fname=&lname=&fullname=&kwinc=KCMU&kwexc=&rgfromDate=5/26/1972&rgtoDate=5/26/1972&formDate=07/09/1996&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=date&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=yfqoyvfzqyavzxtucacsibeimetrnfpl_ip-10-166-46-173_1723142439481 B2]|title=KCMU's choice to ax news called censorship, but station says it's just smart business|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|first=Robert L. Jr.|last=Jamieson|date=July 9, 1996|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmus-choice-ax-news-called-censorship-station-says-its-just-smart-business/jqcjvbmqfqoacnbzxfsfttaeotwbqfcy_ip-10-166-46-154_1723142499486|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191645/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmus-choice-ax-news-called-censorship-station-says-its-just-smart-business/jqcjvbmqfqoacnbzxfsfttaeotwbqfcy_ip-10-166-46-154_1723142499486|url-status=live}}</ref> That year, the station also hired its first three full-time paid DJs, marking the first time since sporadic attempts between 1989 and 1992 that air staff were paid.{{r|radiofree}} The last volunteer DJs were fired in 1997.{{r|gaga}} Two of the DJs that would come to define KEXP in the 2000s and 2010s were already in place in the last decade as KCMU. [[John Richards (radio personality)|John Richards]] joined the station in the mid-1990s and got DJ shifts simply by showing up when others were not in the building.{{r|AP05}} [[Cheryl Waters (radio personality)|Cheryl Waters]] came aboard in 1994, hosting weekly live sessions recorded at the Jack Straw Cultural Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kexp.org/read/2018/7/11/kexps-cheryl-waters-hearing-death-cab-cutie-first-time-and-booking-their-kcmu-studio/|date=July 11, 2018|title=KEXP's Cheryl Waters on Hearing Death Cab For Cutie for the First Time and Booking Their KCMU In-Studio|website=KEXP|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=April 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401113134/https://www.kexp.org/read/2018/7/11/kexps-cheryl-waters-hearing-death-cab-cutie-first-time-and-booking-their-kcmu-studio/|url-status=live}}</ref>

By the late 1990s, rumors of change and actual changes were swirling around KCMU. Reports suggested a possible combination of KUOW and KCMU with [[KNKX|KPLU]], a jazz station in [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]], was in the works, leaving open the possibility of a format change. The UW was preparing to move KCMU out of its namesake—the Communications Building—and into new studios to be shared with KUOW in the Ave. Arcade building at 45th Street and University Way as part of a plan to maximize classroom availability in campus buildings.{{r|radiofree}} In 1999, the university announced it would separate KCMU management from KUOW-FM and place it in the Office for Computing and Communications (C&C), which operated the campus's internet infrastructure, as a test bed for streaming and emerging technologies. Further, consistent rumblings were emerging of a potential partnership between the station and the Experience Music Project (EMP), then set to open the next year. The Experience Music Project—now known as the [[Museum of Pop Culture]]—was financed by Microsoft founder [[Paul Allen]], with whom the UW was in discussions about other philanthropic donations, and Jon Kertzer, a former KCMU station manager, was involved with Allen's investment company, [[Vulcan Inc.]], on the EMP.<ref>{{cite news|page=D5|first=Bill|last=Virgin|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|title=Proposed change for UW's KCMU raises concerns|date=September 23, 1999|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/proposed-change-uws-kcmu-raises-concerns/hovjqnihsgxoqzaxobskrfssgapkguej_ip-10-166-46-113_1723142699029|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191714/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/proposed-change-uws-kcmu-raises-concerns/hovjqnihsgxoqzaxobskrfssgapkguej_ip-10-166-46-113_1723142699029|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, music director Don Yates would call the move under C&C "the best thing that ever happened to the station" because it resulted in major technological advancements.<ref name="archive">{{cite news|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2016/kexp-archives/|work=GeekWire|first=Kurt|last=Schlosser|title=KEXP's digital Nirvana: Radio station bringing vast album collection into new era, comments included|date=May 12, 2016|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027150258/https://www.geekwire.com/2016/kexp-archives/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Seattle UW Kane Hall II.jpg|right|thumb|alt=A three-story Brutalist brick building on a large brick plaza|Kane Hall]]
In 2000, KCMU moved to Kane Hall on the UW campus. That year, it also started [[streaming media|streaming]] high-quality, 128-[[kilobit]]-per-second [[MP3]] [[Lossy data compression|compressed]] audio over the internet, becoming the first station in the world to offer online audio of this quality.{{r|STim010330}}<!--The article mentions "uncompressed", but this is a contested claim.-->

===Expansion as KEXP and Experience Music Project affiliation (2001–2011)===
[[File:Tom Mara 02A.jpg|thumb|Executive director Tom Mara led KCMU and KEXP for more than 30 years.|alt=Refer to caption]]
On March 29, 2001, the UW unveiled a partnership with the EMP to transform KCMU in every way except its format. The license would still belong to the university, but the station would relocate to fully upgraded studios in the former home of KZOK at 113 Dexter Avenue North and change its call sign to KEXP-FM, increasing its power to 720 watts.<ref name="STim010330">{{Cite news|pages=B1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmu-be-kexp-backed-allen-emp/cdayvgxaohjanscuznsrrapcgllfpqme_ip-10-166-46-166_1723142923458 B5]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmu-gets-new-name-new-digs/fihghcxuuxvkfwxwtfmwhiqpfqlzepen_ip-10-166-46-89_1723142894978|first=Melanie|last=McFarland|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|date=March 30, 2001|title=KCMU gets new name, new digs: EMP, Allen, UW to raise station's profile|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191717/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmu-gets-new-name-new-digs/fihghcxuuxvkfwxwtfmwhiqpfqlzepen_ip-10-166-46-89_1723142894978|url-status=live}}</ref> The partnership combined the university, the radio station, the EMP, and the Allen Foundation for Music, which provided up to $600,000 over four years to UW.<ref name="SPI010330">{{cite news|pages=B1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kcmu-affiliation-will-allow-us-do-more-cooler-stuff/ppiublqyujraojbkyvatlqusaiadixbn_ip-10-166-46-113_1723142960873 B6]|first1=Bill|last1=Virgin|first2=Ruth|last2=Schubert|date=March 30, 2001|title=Paul Allen's support is new music to KCMU ears|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/paul-allens-support-new-music-kcmu-ears/haaaxrvjuqgmvocekfgiuqqmlmszzanc_ip-10-166-46-143_1723142941384|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808191718/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/paul-allens-support-new-music-kcmu-ears/haaaxrvjuqgmvocekfgiuqqmlmszzanc_ip-10-166-46-143_1723142941384|url-status=live}}</ref> It also generated some concern over whether the station would lose its edge with the involvement of Allen, who owned two commercial stations in Portland,{{r|SPI010330}} and whether the station needed listener support if it now had Allen's backing.<ref name="gaga">{{cite news|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=7007|title=Radio Ga-Ga: With Paul Allen's Money at Its Disposal, Does KCMU—Wait a Minute—KEXP Really Need Any More of Your Money?|first=Jeff|last=DeRoche|work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]|date=April 12, 2001|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511030357/https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=7007|url-status=live}}</ref> The EMP partnership also marked the end of any UW student involvement with the station; Associated Students of the University of Washington started a new online-only campus station, Rainy Dawg Radio, in 2003.<ref>{{cite news|pages=B1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/rainydawg-starts-webcasts-uw-campus/lakaeperohzikmrecbdarwzzeqwxkdto_ip-10-166-46-134_1723143272078 B7]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/uw-unleashes-its-rainydawg-after-2-decades-student-disc-jockeys-webcast-music-shows-campus-station/yldmivvalgtgmaazhfkoycpuemmhnurw_ip-10-166-46-173_1723143238195|via=GenealogyBank|title=UW unleashes its RainyDawg after 2 decades: Student disc jockeys Webcast music shows on campus station|work=The Seattle Times|first=Stuart|last=Eskenazi|date=January 22, 2003|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808192149/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/uw-unleashes-its-rainydawg-after-2-decades-student-disc-jockeys-webcast-music-shows-campus-station/yldmivvalgtgmaazhfkoycpuemmhnurw_ip-10-166-46-173_1723143238195|url-status=live}}</ref> Cwynar noted that the change in call sign represented the station's shift "from campus-based community broadcaster to community-funded music experience provider".{{r|cwynar}} The KCMU call sign later recurred on [[KCMU-LP]], a low-power station in [[Napa, California]], whose founder worked at KCMU in Seattle while a student at the UW.<ref name="Napa180514">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101910115/eclectic-radio-station-launches/|date=May 14, 2018|first=Jennifer|last=Huffman|page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101910099/radio/ A2]|title=Eclectic radio station launches|newspaper=Napa Valley Register|location=Napa, California|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 15, 2022|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516074748/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101910115/eclectic-radio-station-launches/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon -->
{{Quote box
| quote = Our main motivation in transitioning old-media-based KCMU into broadband-Internet-based KEXP was to try to use Internet technologies to springboard DJs and listeners into a wider global audience. We hoped that by using the Internet to tie together those otherwise niche communities across the globe that we could make KEXP a viable force supporting truly authentic music.
| author = Ron Johnson
| source = former head of the Office for Computing and Communications at the UW{{r|cityarts}}
| align = right
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Over the next several years, KEXP grew considerably and brought in much more money. In 2002, the EMP financed 52 percent of KEXP's budget;{{r|AP05}} it was self-reliant by 2006, when it brought in $3.3&nbsp;million in revenue.{{r|lives}} In 2001, UW engineers invented CD players that could retrieve song metadata from the internet to build a real-time playlist. The next year, the station started offering a rolling archive of its last two weeks of programming, later adding an archive of past in-studio performances.<ref name="AP05">{{Cite web |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002563599_webradio15.html |title=Tiny Seattle station emerges as leading force in indie radio|date=October 15, 2005|agency=Associated Press|work=The Seattle Times|first=Gene|last=Johnson |access-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218153631/http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002563599_webradio15.html |archive-date=December 18, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The station's streaming audience was growing and becoming more geographically diverse. From 2004 to 2005, weekly online listenership jumped from 26,000 to 50,000.{{r|AP05}} A map in KEXP's studios, filled with yellow pins for listeners around the world, sprouted pins in places as far from Seattle as Tokyo, London, Mongolia, and Antarctica.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|title=Casting a wide net: Indie station KEXP beams its quirky sounds around the globe via the Internet—and New York, London and Tokyo are wired in|first=Mark|last=Rahner|pages=D1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kexp/zqjhgatjtdpxtlqpybbvzqsyrdpfpxul_ip-10-166-46-122_1723143378623 D2]|date=June 22, 2004|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/casting-wide-net/uqqlkvokcpkekjabsnzwzgpaddevgfqo_ip-10-166-46-173_1723143349179|via=GenealogyBank|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808192150/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/casting-wide-net/uqqlkvokcpkekjabsnzwzgpaddevgfqo_ip-10-166-46-173_1723143349179|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="News041210">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101913347/kexp-shakes-up-music-scene-locally-and-a/|date=December 10, 2004|page=Go 6|first=Ernest A.|last=Jasmin|title=KEXP shakes up music scene locally and around the world|newspaper=The News Tribune|location=Tacoma, Washington|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516074751/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101913347/kexp-shakes-up-music-scene-locally-and/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2001, KEXP has been affiliated with [[NPR]], although the station only plays music and does not carry any NPR news programming.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Learned |first=Andrea |title=National Radio Week: KEXP on the Social Impact of Community Radio |url=https://www.kexp.org/read/2017/8/18/national-radio-week-kexp-on-the-social-impact-of-community-radio/ |access-date=May 11, 2023 |website=KEXP |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511013425/https://www.kexp.org/read/2017/8/18/national-radio-week-kexp-on-the-social-impact-of-community-radio/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2001 |title=NPR Annual Report {{!}} 2001 |url=https://media.npr.org/documents/about/annualreports/npr2001.pdf |access-date=May 10, 2023 |website=NPR |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315013852/https://media.npr.org/documents/about/annualreports/npr2001.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The station's NPR affiliation coincided with the 2001 creation of the [[Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel]] (CARP), which would eventually issue a new rule mandating smaller internet broadcasters to pay $0.14 in royalty fees per listener per song. Due to its new NPR affiliation, KEXP was exempt from the higher fees imposed by the CARP ruling.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Reid |date=January 3, 2003 |title=KEXP Seattle |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/kexp-seattle |access-date=May 11, 2023 |website=Paste Magazine |language= |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511013424/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/kexp-seattle |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Fri -->
[[File:Capitol Hill from Columbia Center (3794608670).jpg|alt=Three radio towers in the middle of midrise apartment buildings.|thumb|KEXP-FM is broadcast from a transmitter  site on [[Madison Street (Seattle)|East Madison Street]], in Seattle's [[Capitol Hill, Seattle|Capitol Hill]] neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carder |first=Justin |date=September 12, 2018 |title=E Madison towers not to blame for KEXP dead air |url=https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2018/09/e-madison-towers-not-to-blame-for-kexp-dead-air/ |access-date=August 22, 2023 |website=CHS Capitol Hill Seattle |archive-date=August 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814024149/https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2018/09/e-madison-towers-not-to-blame-for-kexp-dead-air/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
KEXP also added a terrestrial signal in Western Washington for a time. In 2004, [[KYFQ|KBTC]], the radio station at [[Bates Technical College]] in Tacoma, was sold to Public Radio Capital for $5&nbsp;million; the EMP then leased it under the call letters KXOT to expand KEXP's signal.<ref name="News040302">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101946269/kexps-music-comes-to-tacoma/|date=March 2, 2004|page=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101946250/kbtc/ B6]|first=David|last=Wickert|title=KEXP's music comes to Tacoma|newspaper=The News Tribune|location=Tacoma, Washington|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516074750/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101946269/kexps-music-comes-to-tacoma/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> This agreement proved a strain on KEXP's finances to the point where there was a possibility in late 2004 that the station would not make payroll; a 2005 article in ''Seattle Weekly'' revealed that several staffers had counseled Mara against entering into the pact.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Expensive Expansion of KEXP: It's globally popular and flush with donations, but Seattle's seminal eclectic-music radio station is under financial strain that is affecting morale.|first=Nina|last=Shapiro|work=[[Seattle Weekly]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051210020031/http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0549/051207_music_kexp.php|url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0549/051207_music_kexp.php|date=December 7, 2005|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 10, 2005|access-date=May 16, 2022}}</ref> The Tacoma simulcast agreement was wound down in March 2006 because the EMP was ceasing to underwrite KEXP's losses; that same year, KEXP increased its effective radiated power to its present 4,700 watts that year.<ref name="SPI051104">{{cite news|title=KEXP-FM will end KXOT simulcast|first=Bill|last=Virgin|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=November 4, 2005|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kexp-fm-will-add-kxot-simulcast/wwevmnsalmkjtlfcsniebztvselhogeq_ip-10-166-46-82_1723143518448|via=GenealogyBank|page=E3|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808192215/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/kexp-fm-will-add-kxot-simulcast/wwevmnsalmkjtlfcsniebztvselhogeq_ip-10-166-46-82_1723143518448|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="News060203">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101946404/flow-of-tunes-from-kexp-finally-stops-in/|date=February 3, 2006|page=Go 18|first=Ernest A.|last=Jasmin|title=Flow of tunes from KEXP finally stops in Tacoma|newspaper=The News Tribune|location=Tacoma, Washington|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516074751/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101946404/flow-of-tunes-from-kexp-finally-stops/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri -->

====Joint venture with WNYE New York====
New York City was one of the largest markets for KEXP streaming,{{r|AP05}} and an opportunity arose for the station to expand there. In August 2007, [[WNYE (FM)|WNYE]] (91.5 FM) "Radio New York", part of the [[NYC Media]] division of the New York City government, approached KEXP to begin a joint venture. Management was planning to overhaul the station's programming, and the deal also would help WNYE—long a station with a modest budget—gain an identity.<ref name="Dail080324">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101947718/indie-scene-can-be-heard-now-on-wnye/|date=March 24, 2008|page=80|title=Indie scene can be heard now on WNYE|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York, New York|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516074751/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101947718/indie-scene-can-be-heard-now-on-wnye/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon --> KEXP output would be simulcast for 39 hours a week, including from 6 a.m. to noon each weekday, under the banner of "Radio Liberation".<ref>{{cite press release | title = KEXP and Radio New York liberate listeners from the norm | publisher = Pyramid Communications | date = February 11, 2008 | url = https://kexp.org/newyork/press.aspx | access-date = February 18, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080214130658/https://kexp.org/newyork/press.aspx | archive-date = February 14, 2008 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Radio nirvana: KEXP-FM, indie-music powerhouse, expands its act to New York|work=The Seattle Times|date=March 24, 2008|pages=D1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A17EAA3915A386914%40GB3NEWS-18B82174613DFF2A%402454550-18B5D0AAA46D35E6%4035-18B5D0AAA46D35E6%40?h=1&fname=&lname=&fullname=&kwinc=KEXP&kwexc=&rgfromDate=5/26/1972&rgtoDate=5/26/1972&formDate=03/24/2008&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=date&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=nstzdvwmqtzqbvgzerkjvgorxgfilykz_ip-10-166-46-143_1723143577526 D6]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/radio-nirvana/swvcgptovigrgkhljahakwhhwimkbjsc_ip-10-166-46-134_1723143631715|via=GenealogyBank|first=Florangela|last=Davila|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808192226/https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/radio-nirvana/swvcgptovigrgkhljahakwhhwimkbjsc_ip-10-166-46-134_1723143631715|url-status=live}}</ref>

On March 24, 2008, KEXP DJ [[John Richards (disc jockey)|John Richards]]'s morning show, ''John in the Morning'', was heard on both KEXP and WNYE for the first time. The other three programs produced for Radio Liberation—''Wake Up'', ''Music That Matters'', and ''Mo'Glo''—were custom for New York and did not air on KEXP.<ref name=RadioLib>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kexp.org/newyork/aboutradioliberation.aspx |title=About Radio Liberation |access-date=March 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080326154856/https://kexp.org/newyork/aboutradioliberation.aspx |archive-date=March 26, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The plan was for KEXP to broadcast live from New York several times a year; Richards began splitting his time between live broadcasts in both New York and Seattle in June 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kexp.org/newyork/qa.aspx|title=KEXP/WNYE - Q & A<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214120445/https://kexp.org/newyork/qa.aspx|archive-date=February 14, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The venture was never truly successful, largely because some of the intended audience was already streaming KEXP; the [[Great Recession]], which began months after the alliance started, reduced marketing budgets and led to the layoffs of KEXP's New York-oriented operations staffers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-is-kexp-doing-in-new-york-city/Content?oid=2929628|title=What Is KEXP Doing in New York City?|first=Michaelangelo|last=Matos|date=December 10, 2009|work=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=October 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026131322/https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-is-kexp-doing-in-new-york-city/Content?oid=2929628|url-status=live}}</ref> The relationship ended on June 1, 2011: WNYE replaced KEXP programming with a morning [[simulcast]] of [[Fordham University]]-owned 90.7 [[WFUV]] in New York, airing [[adult album alternative]] (AAA) music.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/a-new-radio-home-for-alternative-music/|work=The New York Times ArtsBeat|date=May 29, 2011|title=A New Radio Home for Alternative Music|first=Elizabeth|last=Jensen|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=October 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003023913/https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/a-new-radio-home-for-alternative-music/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Move to the Seattle Center (2011–2020)===
[[File:KEXP Gathering Space 04.jpg|thumb|The Gathering Space, the public area of KEXP's studios at the [[Seattle Center]], which opened in April 2016|alt=A large, bright, cafe-type space]]
In 2011, the station announced that it would relocate its studios to the [[Seattle Center]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Chris|last=Grygiel|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|title=KEXP to rock on at 90.3 FM for until 2041|date=June 3, 2011}}</ref> The new facilities, to be located in the Northwest Rooms area of the center, would enable community members to watch performances and provide more room.<ref>{{cite news|title=KEXP gets help on way to new home|date=November 26, 2013|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|page=B1|first=Nicole|last=Brodeur}}</ref> The Seattle Center facility opened in December 2015 with a $15&nbsp;million capital campaign, chaired by [[Mike McCready]] of [[Pearl Jam]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://current.org/2017/07/development-leaders-say-capital-campaigns-require-commitment-from-executives-community/|work=Current|date=July 18, 2017|first=April|last=Simpson|title=Development leaders say capital campaigns require commitment from executives, community|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518172335/https://current.org/2017/07/development-leaders-say-capital-campaigns-require-commitment-from-executives-community/|url-status=live}}</ref> nearly complete; a group of staffers paraded from the Dexter Avenue facility to the new studios.<ref name="STim151209">{{cite news|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/clouds-part-and-fans-march-to-help-kexp-christen-new-studio/|work=[[The Seattle Times]]|title=KEXP christens sleek new studio at Seattle Center|first=Paul|last=de Barros|date=December 9, 2015|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=March 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316140723/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/clouds-part-and-fans-march-to-help-kexp-christen-new-studio/|url-status=live}}</ref> By the time of the move, KEXP was reaching 206,000 listeners a week, a quarter of them streaming the station.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 8, 2015|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/technology/in-the-stream-of-internet-radio-music-stations-hold-their-own.html|first=Nick|last=Wingfield|work=The New York Times|title=In the Stream of Internet Radio, Music Stations Hold Their Own|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=September 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919023127/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/technology/in-the-stream-of-internet-radio-music-stations-hold-their-own.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Friends of KEXP, the non-profit created in 2001 to manage the station as part of the EMP partnership, purchased the station license from the UW in 2014 for $4&nbsp;million in a transition suggested by university officials amidst the Seattle Center capital campaign. The $4&nbsp;million was provided in $400,000 a year of on-air announcements and advertising over 10 years.<ref name="Current062414">{{cite news|title=University of Washington files to transfer KEXP license to friends group|work=Current|first=Andrew|last=Lapin|url=https://current.org/2014/06/university-of-washington-files-to-transfer-kexp-license-to-friends-group/|date=June 24, 2014|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=May 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517012307/https://current.org/2014/06/university-of-washington-files-to-transfer-kexp-license-to-friends-group/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, KEXP announced that it had received a bequest of nearly $10&nbsp;million from an anonymous out-of-state listener identified only as "Suzanne", which would be used to establish a permanent endowment, fund an education and outreach team, and deepen the station's work with musicians.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/arts/music/kexp-10-million-donation-suzanne.html|work=The New York Times|first=Gregory|last=Scruggs|date=April 17, 2018|title=Seattle Radio Station KEXP Celebrates a $10 Million Gift|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204083503/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/arts/music/kexp-10-million-donation-suzanne.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The station attributed its ability to secure the bequest to efforts to grow relationships with donors started during the capital campaign.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://current.org/2018/07/stations-networks-see-potential-for-planned-giving/|date=July 9, 2018|work=Current|title=Stations, networks see potential for planned giving|first=April|last=Simpson|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=April 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403021606/https://current.org/2018/07/stations-networks-see-potential-for-planned-giving/|url-status=live}}</ref> That year, the station also announced that it would be the "official music partner" of the [[Seattle Kraken]], responsible for all in-game music and music entertainment surrounding the team.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/hockey/kexp-to-handle-in-arena-music-for-seattles-new-nhl-team/|title=KEXP to handle in-arena music for Seattle's new NHL team|date=December 18, 2018|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US|access-date=December 19, 2018|archive-date=December 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219090859/https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/hockey/kexp-to-handle-in-arena-music-for-seattles-new-nhl-team/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:KEXP Seattle Center Studio LED Scroll Screen.jpg|alt=The side of a building with long LED sign near the roof, which includes the yellow KEXP logo and the song title|right|thumb|The [[1st Avenue (Seattle)|1st Avenue North]] side of the Seattle Center studio building]]

=== Programming during and after COVID-19 (2020–present) ===
The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in 2020 posed substantial financial challenges for KEXP. This resulted in staff layoffs, budget cuts, and a heightened reliance on direct support from listeners to compensate for the loss of underwriting revenue from businesses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hodgins |first=Randy |date=June 4, 2021 |title=From the VP: When the pandemic separated us, KUOW and KEXP kept their communities connected, informed and entertained |url=https://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/2021/06/04/from-the-vp-when-the-pandemic-separated-us-kuow-and-kexp-kept-their-communities-connected-informed-and-entertained/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Office of External Affairs, University of Washington |language=en |archive-date=August 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808192218/https://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/2021/06/04/from-the-vp-when-the-pandemic-separated-us-kuow-and-kexp-kept-their-communities-connected-informed-and-entertained/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At the same time, KEXP had to adapt its programming to meet the increased demand from listeners who turned to online streaming. DJs continued to be on air, but had to broadcast remotely and would adjust their music selection in real-time in response to an influx of listener messages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rietmulder |first=Michael |date=April 1, 2020 |title=Live from Quarantine City: KEXP's steady voices 'see us through' coronavirus pandemic |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/live-from-quarantine-city-kexps-steady-voices-see-us-through-coronavirus-pandemic/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509090534/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/live-from-quarantine-city-kexps-steady-voices-see-us-through-coronavirus-pandemic/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As the performance space was closed and musicians cancelled tours, KEXP introduced "Live on KEXP at Home", a format in which artists would prepare recorded performances that were played on air while discussing them live with a DJ virtually.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Covid-19 Resources and Information |url=https://www.kexp.org/covid-19/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418195147/https://www.kexp.org/covid-19/ |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=KEXP}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Josh |date=March 10, 2021 |title=Watch Alex Lahey and Gordi's set for KEXP's at home sessions |url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/watch-alex-lahey-and-gordis-set-for-kexps-at-home-sessions-2897876 |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=NME |language=en |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509185516/https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/watch-alex-lahey-and-gordis-set-for-kexps-at-home-sessions-2897876 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under the backdrop of the [[George Floyd protests in Seattle]] in July 2020, KEXP revamped its lineup and its programming as part an initiative to increasing the diversity of the music and its staff. Several DJs were promoted to new executive positions, and two shows hosted by Black DJs were added to daytime slots that had been held solely by Richards, Cheryl Waters, and Kevin Cole.<ref name="RI200715">{{cite news|url=http://radioinsight.com/headlines/191169/kexp-unveils-new-programming-schedule-focusing-on-broader-diversity/|work=RadioInsight|date=July 15, 2020|title=KEXP Unveils New Programming Schedule Focusing On Broader Diversity|first=Lance|last=Venta|access-date=May 16, 2022|archive-date=July 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715182257/https://radioinsight.com/headlines/191169/kexp-unveils-new-programming-schedule-focusing-on-broader-diversity/|url-status=live}}</ref> After a 2019 analysis by [[Tableau Software]] found that 24 of the top 25 artists played on the station in 2019 were predominantly White, the station broadened its mix of music.{{r|lives}}

Tom Mara, who was executive director of KCMU and KEXP for 31 years and who had volunteered for the station in the late 1980s as a UW student, announced his retirement as of June 30, 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yamazaki Stewart |first=Jade |date=November 9, 2021 |title=KEXP executive director to retire after building the Seattle radio station into a global music institution |language=en-US |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-executive-director-to-retire-after-building-the-radio-station-into-a-global-institution/ |access-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-date=January 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127054321/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-executive-director-to-retire-after-building-the-radio-station-into-a-global-institution/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Under Mara, the station had grown to $12.5&nbsp;million in annual revenue by 2020;{{r|lives}} its average rating in Seattle had more than tripled from 1.1 to 3.7 between 2019 and 2022.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Leight |first=Elias |date=2023-01-17 |title=Public Radio's Winning Strategy: Music Discovery |url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/public-radio-kexp-kutx-growing-audiences-new-music/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |language=en-US |archive-date=June 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627090121/https://www.billboard.com/pro/public-radio-kexp-kutx-growing-audiences-new-music/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The station opted to promote its chief operating officer, Ethan Raup, to CEO.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Venta |first=Lance |date=June 28, 2022 |title=KEXP Promotes Ethan Raup To President/CEO |language=en-US |work=RadioInsight |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/230500/kexp-promotes-ethan-raup-to-president-ceo/ |access-date=June 28, 2022 |archive-date=June 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628214128/https://radioinsight.com/headlines/230500/kexp-promotes-ethan-raup-to-president-ceo/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Mara later announced that he would become the executive director of the [[Seattle International Film Festival]] instead of retiring altogether.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenstone |first=Scott |date=June 16, 2022 |title=KEXP's leader to become new executive director of SIFF |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/kexp-head-tom-mara-to-become-executive-director-of-siff/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509090529/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/kexp-head-tom-mara-to-become-executive-director-of-siff/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, KEXP celebrated its 50th anniversary of broadcasting dating to the start of KCMU. For the occasion, the station hosted a series of concerts named KEXP50, which featured two stages located in the courtyard and within the [[KEXP-FM#Gathering Space|Gathering Space]]. Prior to the event, KEXP had been actively celebrating its anniversary with special programming highlighting the music history since its establishment in 1972, focusing on one year of music every week.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Owen |date=August 3, 2022 |title=Here's what to expect at KEXP's free 50th anniversary concert Saturday |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-celebrates-50th-anniversary-with-free-community-concert/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509090533/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-celebrates-50th-anniversary-with-free-community-concert/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, KEXP announced several changes to its schedule effective in September, including the removal of several existing shows and the addition of new programs focusing on Asian and indigenous music.<ref name="RI230719">{{Cite news|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/254990/kexp-sets-host-schedule-revisions/|work=RadioInsight|date=July 19, 2023|first=Lance|last=Venta|title=KEXP Sets Host & Schedule Revisions|access-date=July 20, 2023|archive-date=July 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721010113/https://radioinsight.com/headlines/254990/kexp-sets-host-schedule-revisions/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Expansion to San Francisco===
{{see|KEXC}}

In October 2023, Friends of KEXP bought [[KEXC|KREV]] (92.7 FM), a radio station licensed to [[Alameda, California]], and serving the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], at a [[Liquidation|bankruptcy auction]] for $3.75 million. The acquisition was financed through the investment fund set up after anonymous donor Suzanne's $10 million bequest in 2018. The station was slated to air most of KEXP's programming as well as a Bay Area music program featuring local artists in the mold of KEXP's ''Audioasis''. KEXP management expects the deal to result in positive cash flow "within the first few years".<ref name="STim231116">{{cite news |last=Rietmulder |first=Michael |date=November 16, 2023 |title=KEXP bought a San Francisco radio station |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-bought-a-san-francisco-radio-station/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=November 16, 2023 |archive-date=November 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116232957/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-bought-a-san-francisco-radio-station/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|title=KEXP acquires bankrupt Bay Area radio station for $3.75 million in auction|first=Aidin |last=Vaziri|date=November 16, 2023|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/kexp-krev-radio-bankruptcy-18496707.php |accessdate=November 16, 2023}}</ref> KREV was relaunched as KEXC on March 19, 2024, following a weekend-long period of [[Stunting (broadcasting)|stunting]].<ref name="SanF240312">{{Cite news |last=Vaziri |first=Aidin |date=March 12, 2024 |title=Exclusive: KEXP sets date for first Bay Area radio broadcast. Here's what to know |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/kexp-bay-area-launch-date-18891405.php |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312145242/http://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/kexp-bay-area-launch-date-18891405.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Venta |first=Lance |date=March 17, 2024 |title=92.7 San Francisco Stunting Ahead Of KEXP Launch |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/266181/92-7-san-francisco-stunting-ahead-of-kexp-launch/ |access-date=March 17, 2024 |work=RadioInsight |language=en-US |archive-date=March 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317220117/https://radioinsight.com/headlines/266181/92-7-san-francisco-stunting-ahead-of-kexp-launch/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On August 6, the show was announced as ''Vinelands'', hosted by [[Kelley Stoltz]] and Gabriel Lopez from the studios of [[KQED-FM]] as part of a partnership between the two public media broadcasters to house KEXP's San Francisco staff and studio broadcasts in KQED's facility.<ref name="RI240806">{{cite news|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/277306/kexp-launches-first-bay-area-exclusive-show/|work=RadioInsight|first=Lance|last=Venta|date=August 6, 2024|title=KEXP Launches First Bay Area Exclusive Show|access-date=August 8, 2024|archive-date=August 6, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806213512/https://radioinsight.com/headlines/277306/kexp-launches-first-bay-area-exclusive-show/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Programming ==
On weekdays, KEXP airs five daytime shows in a [[Variety (radio)|variety mix]] format—''Early'' (5-7{{Nbsp}}a.m.), ''The Morning Show'' (7–10{{Nbsp}}a.m.), ''The Midday Show'' (10{{Nbsp}}a.m.–1{{Nbsp}}p.m.), ''The Afternoon Show'' (1–4{{Nbsp}}p.m.) and ''Drive Time'' (4–7{{Nbsp}}p.m.). Since 2020, the station has also made major changes to its programming and DJ lineup, and it airs specialty shows throughout the week to diversify from its traditional focus on alternative and indie music.{{r|lives}} As of April 2024, KEXP's specialty shows include the following:{{r|RI230719|RI200715|shows}}

* ''Astral Plane'': [[Psychedelic music]] across multiple decades and genres.
* ''Audioasis'': [[Music of the Pacific Northwest|Pacific Northwest music]]. When this show airs in Seattle and online, [[KEXC]] listeners hear ''Vinelands'', a local music program for the Bay Area.{{r|STim231116|RI240806}}
* ''The Continent'': [[Music of Africa|African music]], including [[Afrobeat]].
* ''Eastern Echoes'': [[Music of Asia|Asian music]] and music from the Asian diaspora.
* ''El Sonido'': [[Latin music]], with a focus on the growing Latin alternative scene.
* ''Mechanical Breakdown'': [[dark wave]] and [[post-punk]].
* ''Positive Vibrations'': [[ska]], [[roots reggae]], and "all styles of [[Music of Jamaica|Jamaican musical expression]]".
* ''The Roadhouse'': [[Americana (music)|roots]], [[blues]], and other traditional styles of [[American folk music]].
* ''Street Sounds'': KEXP's weekly [[Hip hop music|rap/hip-hop]] show.
* ''Wo' Pop'': World music.

KEXP has also maintained a YouTube channel since 2007, when it started to experiment with bringing video cameras into its live room.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schlosser |first=Kurt |date=2016-11-29 |title=More music fans looking and listening as Seattle's KEXP hits 500M views on its YouTube channel |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2016/music-fans-looking-listening-seattles-kexp-hits-500m-views-youtube-channel/ |work=GeekWire |access-date=April 3, 2024 |archive-date=April 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403030322/https://www.geekwire.com/2016/music-fans-looking-listening-seattles-kexp-hits-500m-views-youtube-channel/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The YouTube channel sees a wider global reach than its music broadcasting. The station is estimated to have 180,000 weekly listeners on the airwaves; its YouTube channel now has more than 3 million subscribers, and 75% of the channel's views come from outside the United States.{{r|lives}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=KEXP |url=https://www.youtube.com/@kexp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331141042/https://www.youtube.com/@kexp |archive-date=March 31, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=YouTube }}</ref> In addition to live performances recorded at the station, KEXP has started covering music festivals outside the U.S., hosting annual sessions at [[Iceland Airwaves]] and [[Rencontres Trans Musicales]]. Kevin Cole, KEXP's DJ and chief content officer, attributes [[Of Monsters and Men]]'s early success to the station's Iceland Airwaves coverage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rogers |first=John |date=2018-10-09 |title=From Iceland — All About The Music: KEXP's 10 Years Of Airwaves Sessions Have Over 85m Views |url=https://grapevine.is/news/2018/10/09/all-about-the-music-kexps-10-years-of-airwaves-sessions-have-over-85m-views/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=The Reykjavik Grapevine |language= |archive-date=April 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403030324/https://grapevine.is/news/2018/10/09/all-about-the-music-kexps-10-years-of-airwaves-sessions-have-over-85m-views/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chosnyk |first=Morgan |date=2019-12-03 |title=KEXP Heads to Trans Musicales 2019 |url=https://www.kexp.org/read/2019/12/3/kexp-heads-trans-musicales-2019/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=KEXP |archive-date=April 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403030325/https://www.kexp.org/read/2019/12/3/kexp-heads-trans-musicales-2019/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Gathering Space ==
KEXP maintains a public communal space known as the Gathering Space, situated on the northwest corner of the Seattle Center at the intersection of Republican Street and [[1st Avenue (Seattle)|1st Avenue North]]. Inaugurated in December 2015, the Gathering Space was planned as part of KEXP's relocation from its previous Dexter Avenue facility.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elliott |first=Gwendolyn |date=November 8, 2017 |title=Most Influential Seattleites 2017: The KEXP Gathering Space |url=https://seattlemag.com/arts-culture/most-influential-seattleites-2017-kexp-gathering-space/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Seattle Magazine |language=en |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509080729/https://seattlemag.com/arts-culture/most-influential-seattleites-2017-kexp-gathering-space/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Seattle Center building is four times larger than the old studio and features amenities such as a public performance stage, a courtyard, an indoor viewing gallery, and dedicated shower and laundry facilities for musicians.{{r|STim151209}}
[[File:KEXP Live Room from Hallway.jpg|alt=A room with many rows of purple and blue orbs hanging in a vertical line|thumb|upright=1.15|The live room seen from the studio hallway, with lighting inspired by twinkly Christmas lights]]
As well as the public performance stage, the Gathering Space also features a live room, along with a viewing gallery that holds up to 75 performance attendees. The live room serves as the backdrop for the station's video podcasts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Barros |first=Paul |date=December 9, 2015 |title=KEXP christens sleek new studio at Seattle Center |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/clouds-part-and-fans-march-to-help-kexp-christen-new-studio/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316140723/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/clouds-part-and-fans-march-to-help-kexp-christen-new-studio/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The lighting system, donated by [[Microsoft]], features [[festoon]] lights that respond to the motion of performers through the use of three [[Kinect|Microsoft Kinects]] connected to the control room.<ref name="geekwire">{{Cite web |last=Nickelsburg |first=Monica |date=January 10, 2017 |title=Inside Microsoft's groovy high-tech makeover of KEXP's iconic Live Room |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2017/inside-microsofts-groovy-high-tech-makeover-kexps-iconic-live-room/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=GeekWire |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509080727/https://www.geekwire.com/2017/inside-microsofts-groovy-high-tech-makeover-kexps-iconic-live-room/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The background harkens back to that used in the videos on KEXP's Dexter Avenue studios,{{r|geekwire}} a series of Christmas lights that Cwynar credits for providing a distinctive look to KEXP's video output, analogous to the set for NPR's [[List of Tiny Desk Concerts|Tiny Desk Concerts]].{{r|cwynar}}

The Gathering Space has included a coffee shop since its inception. The first coffee shop was operated by [[La Marzocco]], an Italian espresso machine manufacturer whose U.S. operations were based in Seattle, and featured an espresso machine showroom and a monthly rotation of roasters from around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=April 20, 2016 |title=World's first La Marzocco cafe and showroom opens in Seattle |url=https://seattlemag.com/worlds-first-la-marzocco-cafe-and-showroom-opens-seattle/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Seattle Magazine |language=en}}</ref> In 2021, La Marzocco handed its cafe operations to [[Caffé Vita Coffee Roasting Company|Caffé Vita]], and a new coffee shop called Vita at KEXP opened in place of the old cafe.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Nick |date=January 5, 2022 |title=Caffe Vita Reinvents the Former La Marzocco Cafe at KEXP in Seattle |url=https://dailycoffeenews.com/2022/01/05/caffe-vita-reinvents-the-former-la-marzocco-cafe-at-kexp-in-seattle/ |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine |language=en |archive-date=August 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814024147/https://dailycoffeenews.com/2022/01/05/caffe-vita-reinvents-the-former-la-marzocco-cafe-at-kexp-in-seattle/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The current site of the Gathering Space is near a proposed location for the new Seattle Center [[Link light rail|light rail]] station, which is being built as part of the [[Ballard Link Extension]]. If constructed, the underground train station would be excavated adjacent to the north walls of the building housing KEXP and close to its studios. In 2022, KEXP and four other arts organizations wrote to [[Sound Transit]], Seattle's regional transit agency, expressing concern that the construction of the new station could displace them for as long as five years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rietmulder |first=Michael |date=March 9, 2022 |title=KEXP and Seattle Center arts groups warn Sound Transit 3 could displace them |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-and-seattle-center-arts-groups-warn-sound-transit-3-could-displace-them/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613174315/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/kexp-and-seattle-center-arts-groups-warn-sound-transit-3-could-displace-them/ |archive-date=June 13, 2022}}</ref> Despite an alternative proposal by city officials suggesting the use of a site on Mercer Street, situated a block north, the Sound Transit board ultimately voted in favor of a Seattle Center station on Republican Street on March 23, 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 23, 2023 |title=Motion No. M2023-18: Confirming or modifying the preferred light rail route and station locations for the Ballard Link Extension Final Environmental Impact Statement |url=https://www.soundtransit.org/st_sharepoint/download/sites/PRDA/ActiveDocuments/Motion%20M2023-18.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404071223/https://www.soundtransit.org/st_sharepoint/download/sites/PRDA/ActiveDocuments/Motion%20M2023-18.pdf |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |access-date=May 9, 2023 |website=Sound Transit}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|https://kexp.org/}}
* {{FM station data|68668|KEXP-FM}}

{{Seattle Radio}}
{{NPR Washington}}
{{University of Washington}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Seattle|EXP-FM]]
[[Category:University of Washington]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1972]]
[[Category:NPR member stations]]
[[Category:1972 establishments in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Seattle Center]]