apply

who can be a DJ?
Anyone!

Preference is given to Rice students, including graduate students, but we do take a limited number of local “community” DJs as well as Rice staff and faculty.

can I play anything I want?
No! Well, not at the beginning anyways.

We require all first-semester DJs to play music from the ktru stacks, which include tens of thousands of CDs, vinyl, and even cassettes! After that, you can apply for a specialty show, to be able to play your own music.

do I need radio experience or obscure musical knowledge?
No!

KTRU is focused on educating both the listeners and the DJs.

do I get paid?
No!

DJs are volunteers who do it for the love of the music.

what is ktru looking for?
Insatiable intellectual curiosity about all sorts of music.

We always need DJs, but you can also help with things like reviewing and sorting new music, helping out with live events and concerts, and creating graphics or new ktru content.

what do I have to commit to?
Once you’re done with training, you have the option of applying for a weekly DJ shift.

DJ shifts are one to two hours long, and we expect volunteers to show up to a majority of the shifts they’re signed up for.

If you don’t want to commit to a weekly shift, you can also partner up with an existing show or just ‘sub’ for DJs when they can’t make their weekly shifts. We could always use more subs!

how do I become a DJ?

Apply at the bottom of the page!

We have two main hiring periods: at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters. Depending on interest, we sometimes also train at the beginning of summer/winter.

The hiring period involves an interview, training, shadowing other DJ’s shifts, a tech. review and an open-note exam (it’s easy, I promise).

what if I want to help some other way?
That’s great!

Please let us know. As a general rule, we prefer our volunteers to be DJ-trained, though. It’s a great way to learn more about the station and how we operate. You don’t have to have a weekly shift to help out!

i have more questions
Please email a DJ Director.