Have you seen those bright orange newspaper boxes popping up all over the city? They are for a new free daily newspaper from the folks who bring us the Baltimore Sun. b is a revolutionary new publication designed to kick start the day’s conversation about news, culture and, music.

Music!  That’s where WTMD comes in.  A few weeks ago, the b team called us and invited WTMD to be the paper’s radio partner.  You’ll see WTMD programming in print everyday starting Monday, April 14^th! We're thrilled to be a part of this new and exciting publication and the possibilities it offers now and in the future.

Here’s what you’ll be reading and hearing starting Monday:

• On Monday, you’ll be able to read transcripts of Baltimore Unsigned interview and Mike Matthews' choice for CD of the Week.
• b will publish the WTMD top 15 songs of the week on Tuesday along with a print version of the New Music Sampler complete with all the information you need to decide if these records belong in your collection.
• On Wednesday, we’re creating a feature about a new band, album or song you just have to hear. It will be written by one of the WTMD DJs.  We want you to know what we’re listening to even before the CD makes it to the stores or the show is announced.
• Tyler’s Thursday Night Mixtape show gets the b treatment too. You’ll find the playlist and notes from the listener who submitted that week’s mixtape. That’s in Thursday’s b of course! 
• Fridays continue to be altered when John Mathews gives a preview of the Old School Segment.  Altered Fridays has become WTMD’s most requested feature and it looks as good in print as it sounds on the radio. Plus transcripts of Morning Sessions from the WTMD Morning Show.

b’s website, bthesite.com, is designed to keep you up to date on the day’s news and you can participate on-line too. We will be sharing on-line content with b as well.  You’ll find videos of in-studio performances on both wtmd.org and bthesite.com. We think this will be a great way for Baltimore Bands to get even more exposure.

As you can see, this is a big partnership. One we think will be a great service to our listeners and the artists we play.  It’s going to take a big time investment from the WTMD staff. To make sure  you get the best music news and information from WTMD both over the air and in the pages of b.

So we’ve created a new position at WTMD called Editorial Coordinator to make sure the radio world and the newspaper world work smoothly together.

We’re thrilled Melissa Goode has jumped on this new responsibility.  Melissa’s exceptional organizational skills and music knowledge makes her the right person to lead WTMD’s air staff into this new journey. 

Melissa will be stepping out of her mid-day show to focus on the writing, editing and other activities associated with b.  As part of this new adventure, we’ve asked Melissa to come up with a new show to follow the Grateful Dead Hour on Wednesday nights.  If you’ve heard Melissa’s interviews from Bonnaroo and other live music events, you know she’s a big fan of live Jam-Band based music.  We know Melissa will take us somewhere exciting!

To make room for Melissa’s new show, E-Town will move to Friday at 10pm and the groovy Keller’s Cellar moves to Sundays at 6am.  We also want to give more exposure to our home town artists. We’ll do that by airing an encore of Baltimore Unsigned Saturday mornings at 9am.  These changes start Saturday, April 12^th.

We believe this partnership is going to bring music lovers together in so many new ways. We hope what you find in the pages of b enhance your love of music, the artists that create it and your WTMD listening experience.

Steve Yasko, General Manager

Mike Matthews, Program Director