CD102.5 FM

I really do like the music played, the DJs, events and concerts, but one thing i don’t like is their signal occasionally has an echo, and sometimes there is silence regardless of the device used and location…
They have been putting out some awesome sounds recently and the echo has been getting better. I just wish I was fast enough to win some tickets!

Oh CD101. If I could give 6 stars, I most definitely would. Or more. No really, that is how amazing they are. One of the few independently run radio stations even around anymore, and are doing it brilliantly.
First off, I like the music they play because a good portion is the modern alternative stuff that I like. But they also play a lot of classic alternative, and what makes them really special, is they really emphasize the importance of the local music scene and play local bands all the time as well.
The DJs are just too cool. They care about Columbus, their listeners, and of course the music. They are the reason that Columbus gets so many great artists coming through. And when do they come, they often get them to play an acoustic set in their Big Room, which listeners can win tickets to.
What’s really neat to me is that artists appreciate their awesomeness as well. I’ve read in a few CD booklets [yes I still buy those…] where someone would thank the station, or Lesley James or something. And they talk to or about them on social media as well. It always makes me proud that we have that cool connection.
No Repeat Thursdays are the bomb, as are their Low Dough Shows [$ 5], and their Ice Cream Truck, and their guest DJ opportunities, and let’s be honest, everything about them. Most of all is their charity, CD101 for the Kids and their annual event, the Andy-​Man-​A-​Thon.

CD101 (er 2.5) is a breath of monotony-​free fresh air. Ok, so the station does play what’s popular in current times, but has a huge, vast expanse of bands to pick music from, rather than playing the same seven songs every hour in repeat.
I was graced with the chance to do a quarter Internship with the station years ago, and the networking they are involved with is insane — an intense interest in community involvement an getting the word about about this grand ‘ol INDEPENDENT radio station!

I can’t say I’m a fan of everything CD101 (er, 102.5) plays, but what other station in town do you know that plays Siouxsie & the Banshees? Happy Mondays? The Jesus & Mary Chain?
I had the pleasure of being a guest DJ several months ago. It’s amazing what they are willing to let you play. Talk about taking community involvement up a notch!
Because 102.5 is independent, they aren’t restricted to the rigid formats set up by Clear Channel, in which the same five songs get played every hour ad nauseum. Since most people don’t buy albums anymore, this seems like an obsolete practice to me, but it is not something you have to put up with on this station. They also play a lot of local music; something you definitely won’t hear anywhere else.
If you ask me, this is really the only music station in town worth a tenner. It’s worth putting up with Green Day to get to New Order. And yes, DJ Leslie’s voice is divine.

YOU WERE THE BEST THING ABOUT MY ENTIRE TRIP TO COLUMBUS! It hurt my heart on trip back to Michigan when your signal faded. Great variety! Great playlist! Wish I could find a place to stream you online or on my ipod. Your DJ’s could work on their radio voices a bit– haha but I can hardly complain. I keep hoping that one day I will turn on my Detroit radio and somehow some 102.5esque station will magically appear! :(hasn’t happened so far!!! please expand to other cities! or get some crazy mega antenna can reach to Southern Michigan! I AM BEGGING YOU! HAVE MERCY ON MY GOOD MUSIC DEPRIVED SOUL!

CD101 (you can change to 102.5, but I’ll never acknowledge it), I love you. I love your music, I love the wrong report, but there is one very big thing that I do not love.
I don’t know if they have a problem with their signal or maybe their morning DJ isn’t all together fantastic. Often during my morning drive to work, instead of hearing music I heard silence. It’s not static and I’m definitely not out of range as I head towards downtown/​Brewery District. It continues for my entire 10 minute drive (approximately 8am-​810am) at least twice a week. So instead of listening to my favorite music & the wrong report, I have to listen to the crap on other stations. Please fix this problem soon!

102.5: greatest radio station known to man. When we travel out of the area, and it doesn’t come in, tears roll down my eyes. Won’t be the first time you’ll here me say, «I miss my CD101» during the car ride, and it won’t be the last.
Since current legislation leaves CD101 in the dark about online streaming, I haven’t been able to listen to them during my work hours. Such a travesty, but I still love you.

I’m in a long term committed relationship with this station and I have to say Columbus is so lucky to have CD101!
Reasons to love CD101:
–Amazing alternative music
–Guest DJs
–No Repeat Thursday
–Awesome prizes in the Lounge Auction every month
–Big Room performances
CD101 Low Dough shows are my favorite night out in Columbus. They bring in amazing acts and only charge $ 5 for tickets. I also love that the station is really involved in the community. The CD101 Ice Cream Truck may show up at your work or you’ll catch them at your favorite bar or local festival. Last year I won a CD101 Raising Cane’s lunch for my office. Great music+free stuff +local= CD101 rocks.

Favorite radio station of all time.
I don’t know who’s idea this was to have radio station that plays only independent music, but I love you so much. I would expect to find a station like this back home in NY, but nope. Not at all. We keep having radio stations that try that for a couple of months and then go back to playing the same crap.
The morning show isn’t stupid like half the other morning shows on radio everywhere. They do quirky stuff like comedians, band interviews, movie reviews, and play more music than most. I don’t have to listen them prank phone calling people or doing some stupid stunt that I could find at the frat house down the road.
Leslie James is amazing. Like Christina C said, her voice is so different than most DJs and yeah its one that I can swallow easily. I think her and I are musical soul mates. She plays lots of Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, and Radiohead and just stuff like ‘OH MAN I LOVE THAT SONG!” I hear all sorts of great things on her section. I’m so happy she’s doing the 5 spot now. Nothing will replace Andyman, but she’s definitely worthy. Also, a hearty laugh to her 4:20pm break where she takes a song out from the ‘stash’.
Also, on my bucket list of things to do before I leave Columbus: Guest DJ. Please please please.
And I docked a star due to that horrid Island Rhythms 2+ hours. Yes, seriously. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t always have somewhere to be on a Sunday and somehow I always forget about it and its a big nasty rasta reggae surprise.
Basically, it’s all independent music all the time, and this station has expanded my musical horizons in ways I’ve never dreamed. They sponsor shows all the time, all over Columbus as well as nonprofit events galore. If I ever move back to the East Coast, I will be sad not take CD101 with me. Thank God I’ll be able to listen to it online!

Gawd, I love CD101.
Yay for independently-​owned radio that doesn’t play the same song 467 times a day!
This alternative rock station rocks my world because of the following:
— The on-​air djs are a blast
— Andyman’s Friday 5pm «Takin’ Calls» bit always makes me laugh, as does the playing of the Beer song after it
— Leslie James’ raspy voice is hot and doesn’t make me want to rip my hair out (like many other local djs)
— The daily guest dj spot is awesome and takes listener appreciation to a new level
— They play reggae on Sundays… makes me think of the beach, even in January
— The CD101 Ice Cream Truck is amazing
— They are local, local, local and support local, local, local

Reasons that this review may be totally biased:
1) My first internship was with CD101
2) I’ve been a CD101 Guest DJ (a dork’s dream come true)
3) I’ve won a ton of awesome crap from CD101, including the most amazing NIN backstage experience eva’
Whew. That being said, CD101 rocks — and I thought so before any of those things, thank you! An «alternative» station covering all facets of the genre, from grunge to indie to reggae to classic to other-sub-genres-I-don’t-feel-like-naming. Such a radio station is unheard of in small town Ohio — Columbus is lucky.
Thursdays are «no-​repeat-​Thursday» so you’ll hear a lot of tunes you haven’t heard in a while, if ever. Friday at noon a guest DJ gets to spin whatever tracks he/​she wants. Sunday morning tunes from «the Big Room» (the small room for live acts in the studio) are played. Ok you get it. I’m kinda excited typing this. I love CD101.
I love the studio, too. When you walk in, the walls are plastered with the things music collector’s dreams are made of, and the Big Room is an AMAZING place to see a live act — just 10 – 20 people, sitting on the floor, while some of the most popular bands rock out an acoustic set. Heaven.
If you’ve never had a chance, stop into CD101 sometime under the pretense of picking up some of the coupons they have lying on the table inside the door.

So here’s the deal:
I went to Ohio State and for four years was blissfully unaware that there was better music out there than the crap I was drunkenly dancing to at bars and fraternities. I graduated and was introduced to CD101 on my morning drive to work.
(Side note: I miss you Brian and Joe)
I then moved home to Chicago where the local alternative station should be called Godsmack101 or something equally heavy because it blows. Too much metal.
Enter CD101 with online streaming. The 9 – 5 work day is saved! Thank you Lesley and Andy.

Independent radio is alive and kicking in c-​bus. Having lived in NYC and MIA before migrating to this awesome town, ironically i had little to choose from on the clear channel monopolized airways.
I grew up in NY during a time when most stations were indie and local, featuring ‘new wave’ tunes like the smiths, cure, depeche mode… etc.
CD 101’s library contains these old favorites as well as the new ‘alternative/​mainstream’ sounds of Interpol, Killers, Strokes… etc.
What I like most about this station is the sense of community and awesome give aways. In the last 2 years I’ve scored concert tix to big bands like Duran Duran and lesser known like Your Vegas and a ton of CD’s just by calling in. I just won Franz Ferdinand’s new CD prior to writing this review.
Equally cool, the station’s website that features the lounge where you can earn points and bid on tix and other prizes.

This is by far the best radio station I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.
CD101 is an independent station that totally smashes its moneymaking (Clear Channel) rivals.
CD101 plays a strange, but most always good mix of music, much of it being the kind you don’t hear on other stations. They play the new, the old, the obscure, and the well-​loved. You can go from Feist to The Wombats to Modest Mouse to Flogging Molly to Lily Allen to Green Day and end at Peter Gabriel. And they don’t play the same tracks over and over once per hour. Phenomenal! Though, once I did hear Lenny Kravitz on the station, which seemed very off kilter, even for a mixed bag such as this.
The best part of my day, and this may depress some people, is driving home at 5p and listening to the five spot with Andyman, the top five requested songs of the day. They’re usually great songs that have been in my head all day, and I like finding out what other CD101 listeners are craving. I like the five spot so much that I literally jog down the steps from my office sometimes to find out what’s going to play — well, there’s that reason and then there’s the fact that I want to beat that damn UPS truck that always cuts in front of me and blocks the alley I have to drive through, consequently making me hit rush hour traffic and almost doubling the time it takes me to drive home, but that’s a different story.
I also listen to CD101 in the morning. It’s usually pretty funny, but sometimes the DJs seem a bit unaware of how they sound on air. Krista K is really bad at reading the traffic.
The wrong report is hysterical.
The Independent Playground with Tom Butler features some amazing music by artists who are signed to indie labels.
I’ve discovered some of my favorite bands because of CD101. The launch pad picks great, great bands that go on to make excellent music.
I love Big Room live performances. Some great recordings have come from Big Room sessions like the Violent Femmes Kiss Off. They replay that track a lot on the station.
There is one time of the week that I loathe CD101. I hate driving back from some weekend trip on a Sunday night when that crazy Reggae fest is going on. It’s the worst. Please, someone ax that.
Sometimes the themed weekends are a bit questionable as well.
And what is up with the reception? There are certain places in this city that you just can’t get a clear signal from CD101. Case in point: exit 4 on 670.
CD101 can be spotted out and about everywhere. They support great events. They also bring their ice cream truck, which they use to haul stuff. But in the summer, they sometimes deliver ice cream to businesses for all us hardworking, sweet-​toothed Americans. Last summer they delivered Chipotle too. Mmm, Chipotle.
The Andyman-​a-​thon is the biggest event of the year for CD101. Andyman stays live on the air for the entire weekend while the station accepts donations and plays music all for its big charity cause: CD101 For the Kids. They also raise money for the cause other ways throughout the year.
It’s safe to say that CD101 is my number one preset radio button. I hardly ever push another button unless CD101 is on commercial, sports news or a live broadcast game is on, or that stupid Reggae music is playing. But it’s never long before I come back.

I can’t see giving any Columbus radio station more than a three star review. We have the WORST radio, and I can’t believe I haven’t gone satellite yet. With that being said, CD101 has been one of my presets ever since I first brought the old turbo LeBaron to OSU in ’90 something. Several cars have come and gone since those days, but CD101 remains at preset #4 to this day.
CD101 is dubbed as and «alternative rock» station. I would say more mainstream indie (anyone else love an oxymoron as much as me?) than anything else (think Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks, et al…). CD101 gets the most props from me for throwing in the alt. rock stuff like the Cure and Violent Femmes in between the Vampire Weekend and Cold War Kids.

If I was really into modern alternative rock– whatever that is– I’d be all over CD101. An indie station with the bells and whistles of a full-​fledged station (like a roster of competent deejays) is a rare treat. Unfortunately, I’m just not the kind of person who enjoys a lot of the stuff that gets played on CD101. It’s really a shame.
On the other hand, the other day I was listening, and, hey, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds! I can dig that. And then today they were playing Flogging Molly. Right on. Every once in awhile I hear some Dead Milkmen, and that’s really happytimes.
But for the most part I pass by CD101 simply because it’s not quite my station. If you like the bulk of their library, though, you’re sort of a fool to not listen to CD101.

CD101 is one of the few radio stations (aside from 90.5 and AM 820) in Columbus that I can stomach on a regular basis. It plays «alternative» rock along the lines of Coldplay, the Flaming Lips and Radiohead. They also toss in some rad classics like The Cure or The Clash. They mix it up even more on Sunday nights with a reggae show and late at night with underground music.
There are too many Blue Jackets’ games during hockey season on the air for my taste. I suppose someone has to cover them.
The best part: they are independently owned — not under the iron fist of Clear Channel. The DJs are real locals picking real music!

my fav radio station.
i still try to stream though i’m a gazillion miles away.
my fav dj was smitty but i guess she’s no longer there

I am thankful I grew up in a city where a radio station like CD101 can exist. It almost makes up for not having a college radio station (or one that actually plays music on the radio). And even though I don’t listen to CD101 as much as I once did, it’s certainly not for a lack of appreciation. My tastes just change and I can’t keep up with all these new indie bands the kids are listening to these days.
But CD101 plays my favorite «oldies» like The Clash, Pearl Jam, Beck, and the B-52’s, and every once in awhile you’ll hear The Dead Milkmen. One thing I really dig about CD101 is their various shows, like the «Invisible Hits Hour» or their reggae themed «Island Riddims» show on Sunday nights. And who can forget CD101’s support of local and independent music with their «Independent Playground».
CD101’s involvement within the community is beyond compare. Even if you’re not a big fan of the music, they deserve your support!

CD101 is Columbus’s independent alternative station. They are not owned by a corporate giant, and in fact they drove a Clear Channel «alternative» station out of the Columbus market a few years back. They have real dj’s with real personalities who pick the music. For an idea of what the «alternative» format is on CD101, Cold War Kids, the Fratellis, Modest Mouse, Silversun Pickups, and Spoon were some of their most played in 2007. They mix in older music like the Clash and early U2, invite listeners on to guest dj, and do some interesting theme weekends. In addition to their broadcasting, CD101 promotes interesting concerts, appears at community events, and works with various local charities and volunteer groups. I don’t listen to radio as much as I used to, but CD101 is definitely a Columbus favorite.