Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Theses Department of History 12-14-2021 Left of the Dial, Right on the Music: 50 Years of Georgia State FM Radio Andreas Preuss Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses Recommended Citation Preuss, Andreas, "Left of the Dial, Right on the Music: 50 Years of Georgia State FM Radio." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2021. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses/134 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Left of the Dial, Right on the Music: 50 Years of Georgia State FM Radio by Andreas Preuss Under the Direction of Joseph Perry, Ph.D. A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2021 ABSTRACT This study places the Georgia State radio station within the historical context of Atlanta cultural production, career development, and as a voice of the GSU student. Race, gender, and economic factors sparked the necessary tension for the station to adjust alongside the ever- changing trends of popular music and the media industry. WRAS/Album 88 started broadcasting from campus at 88.5 on the FM dial in January 1971. Georgia State students played music that spoke to their generation, music that was at first rejected by commercial broadcasters, then appropriated for profit.