While many independent artists spend ways plotting on how to get radio play, Jesse Maguire spends her time deciding on which ones she will play on her show, the Backstage Pass. The Backstage Pass plays brand new exclusive music from major, independent, and unsigned artists. “Once I hear a song receiving regular play at the commercial stations,” I stop playing it on my show, says Jesse. Each show we have exclusive interviews, ticket giveaways, and most importantly MUSIC that you will not hear anywhere else from your favorite artists. You can hear the station All of Orlando and Metro-Orlando as well as online 24/7 at www.wprkdj.org

Who is Jessie Maguire? Jessie Maguire is a 20 year old music loving college student who took advantage of a wonderful opportunity.

How does the station get funded? Because it is a COLLEGE station rather than a COMMERCIAL station, WPRK is funded through Rollins College

What is your position at the station? Hip Hop Music Director as well as Host of the Wednesday night hip hop show called The Backstage Pass with the one and only DJ Skream

How did you get that position and how long have you been there? Freshman year my final exam for a class was to record an audio posting which would then be played on WPRK the following week. I went down to record it and really enjoyed the experience. I decided to see how I could become involved so i applied for a directors staff position. I first began my run at WPRK as the Artist Relations Director, a position that the WPRK Directors Staff created for me. My job was to reach out to talent on all levels and get interviews for the different shows on WPRK. Being around the radio so much, I wanted to get my own show. I have always been a hip hop head so I decided to apply for my own hip hop show. In order for me to get it, I had to spin classical music for a good six months. Finally, a spot opened up and I got my own show. Two other DJ’s at the station told me that WPRK is full of hip hop history because DJ’s like DJ Khaled out of Miami, and DJ Nasty and DJ Caesar out of Orlando used to spin there. Because of this history, I wanted to take it to the next level and talked to the program director at the time about letting me handle all things hip hop. He agreed and for the past 2 years that has been my focus!

What is BDS and why is it important? BDS is a digital fingerprint placed on a song that allows record labels and other industry executives to track when, where, what time, and the number of spins a certain song gets. BDS is very, very, very important to artists on all levels because it tracks how many radio spins an artist gets which sometimes is the deciding factor on whether or not the artist gets a record deal or not. For more information go to the BDS website at www.bdsonline.com

Is your station a BDS station? YES!

How can an artist get heir song on the radio? If its hip hop, an artist can send me their song for airplay consideration directly to [email protected]. Please include artist and song name as well as record label if applicable.

Do the songs have to be clean or are curse words allowed? Not only is WPRK commercial free and BDS, but after 10pm we are allowed to play curse words during “Safe Harbour” hours. Edited songs & physical CD’s are required for an artist to be added into our New Music and Local Libraries. I will contact an artist after they have submitted music to me if we would like to add it to our library.

Is there an online presence? Yes. To listen to WPRK 24/7 online visit www.wprkdj.org and you can also chat with the live on air DJ and check out the past playlists.

What else do you do? I am a student. I am a Junior at Rollins College studying to receive a degree in Sociology.  I am also am blessed to be in a wonderful situation assisting Super Producers: The Runners. I am working for their label, Trac-N-Field Entertainment with their first artist Bali. I am currently working with a lot of producers and unsigned artists. Check out my page (myspace.com/jmoney1) for links.

Any last words/ shouts outs? To all up and coming artists: Don’t walk around with an ego and always keep your eyes and ears open for new opportunities. College radio breaks records and breeds legends. Do not just go after commercial radio because commercial radio DJ’s do not have control over what they can play. I get really annoyed when unsigned artists bring me their music and start calling out all of the commercial radio DJ’s because they won’t play their records on the radio; it is not that they do not want to, it is because they are not allowed too. Educate yourself on the rules and workings of the industry before you spend a penny. Make sure the money that you spend goes in to the recording quality of your music and not on jewelry or any other “luxury item”. Your brand new Jordan’s and $10,000 chain mean absolutely nothing if your music sounds bad. BE PATIENT. The concept of “overnight success” never should be taking literally. Some of the best in the game had to wait 10 years before getting that big break. Surround yourself with people who look out for your best interest. And when you finally do get money, BE SMART with it. Don’t blow it on unnecessary items, save it. Life changes day by day and you’re career will not last forever.
Shout-out to all of the people who have helped me make the WPRK hip-hop scene a success: Dan Seeger, M. Holloway, DJ Lyvwyr, VOS, Smilez, South, and my big brother DJ Skream. And props to all of the DJ’s, artists, and promoters for working hard to make sure Orlando is the next big music market to pop!

For more information check me out at http://www.myspace.com/jmoney1