RTRFM (call sign: 6RTR) is a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popu ...

station based in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the state capital of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. It is self-funded, largely through listener subscription and fund-raising events. However, it does carry some "advertising material" (called sponsorship with all community broadcasters in Australia) at a maximum of 5 mins per hour. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, on 92.1 in the FM band. The name RTRFM is a contraction of "aRTy Radio". Some 309,000 people over the age of 15 listen to RTRFM in any given month; that’s around 17% of those over 15 in Perth. Regular RTRFM listeners tune in for an average of around fifteen hours a week. The programming on RTRFM is diverse and broad, providing air time for local music,

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

metal A metal (from ancient Greek, Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, e ...

, indie, LGBTQIA news, current affairs and more.

History

The station that became RTRFM started off at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

. It was started on 1 April 1977, broadcasting with the callsign 6UWA. Shortly afterwards,

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...

got involved and the station's callsign was changed to 6UVS. On 26 November 1990, the

UWA The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilities ...

Senate decided to close the radio station down and transmission was terminated that night. 6UVS was off the air for six months while negotiations between the University, volunteers at the station, and the

Australian Broadcasting Authority The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications. The Authority took over the functions of the Australian Broadcasting Trib ...

were carried out. A public hearing was held, and it was determined that Universities Radio Ltd. (a joint company of

and

) could become Arts Radio Ltd. with the callsign of 6RTR. The station remained based at

Murdoch Murdoch ( , ) is an Irish/Scottish given name, as well as a surname. The name is derived from old Gaelic words ''mur'', meaning "sea" and ''murchadh'', meaning "sea warrior". The following is a list of notable people or entities with the name. ...

remained involved through the program Murdoch Magazine (later to become Morning Magazine and now The Mag). In 2005, RTRFM moved from its old home in the Sanders Building at the

to its own premises on Beaufort Street in Mount Lawley, which is where it is located today. In 2017, RTRFM celebrated its fortieth anniversary with a
exhibition at the State Library
a birthday celebratio
Neon Picnic

donor drive
and
concert at the Perth Concert Hall in November

Programming

RTRFM programming consists of fifty different programs which cover a host of issues and music genres including indie rock, indigenous music and current affairs, music of the 1960s and 1970s, experimental music, punk and hardcore, dance and electronic music, chill wave and many more. Daily programs include Breakfast with Taylah (hosted by Taylah Strano), Out to Lunch, Full Frequency and Drivetime. A recently released local feature album and RTRFM feature album are chosen each week to feature across all relevant RTRFM programming.

Events

RTRFM has many flagship annual events including Dis-Order, Harbour Sundays, Neon Picnic, In the Pines, Radiothon, the Fremantle Winter Music Festival and Courtyard Club.RTFM , Events
rtrfm.com.au. Retrieved 23 December 2011.

Dis-Order

Dis-Order showcases some of Perth's finest heavy and punks acts.

Harbour Sundays

Since 2016, RTRFM and The Western Australian Museum have been working together to put on a live music series, Harbour Sundays, on the balcony of the WA Maritime Museum. The event usually runs across four Sundays in the month of February.

Neon Picnic

RTRFM's Neon Picnic, held at the Hyde Park Amphitheatre, features some of the best local music from bands on the radio now, and those that always have been. Neon Picnic is family friendly and free.

In the Pines

RTRFM's 'In the Pines' event is hosted annually at the

's Somerville Auditorium and celebrates local music talent from a variety of different genres.

Fremantle Winter Music Festival

RTRFM established the Fremantle Winter Music Festival in 2007, which has since been held annually in multiple venues throughout Fremantle. The event showcases both well-known and up-and-coming bands from Fremantle and Perth.

Radiothon

RTRFM's major fundraiser is known as Radiothon. The event is hosted over a ten-day period in August and encourages listeners to subscribe to the station. Radiothon is kicked off each year with an Opening Party event (and in some years, also features a Closing Party event).

Courtyard Club

Since 2014 RTRFM and The State Theatre Centre of WA have been putting on free concert series' in the State Theatre Centre Courtyard. The free event runs on Friday nights in the lead up to Christmas.

References

External links

RTRFM official website

Listen Online
{{coord, -31.9349, 115.8720, display=title, format=dms Radio stations in Perth, Western Australia Community radio stations in Australia