YFM

YFM (99.2 FM) is a "Youth" radio station in Johannesburg, South Africa. Established in 1997, the station is formatted to mostly play urban music genres such as Kwaito, Hip Hop, and R&B along with minority of its airtime dedicated to talk shows. As noted by the name, the station's core audience consists of young South Africans.

99.2 YFM is Gauteng’s leading youth radio station. The favorite radio station of 16-34 year-olds in South Africa’s most economically vibrant province, YFM is widely considered as the authoritative voice of youth culture.

YFM characterizes their core audience as "young South Africans who are imaginative, curious and ambitious. They are continuously seeking new ways to improve their lives and their communities so that they are able to lead successful and rewarding lives." [YFM Website: www.yfm.co.za] YFM tries to reflect their progressive, youthful audience by providing programming that complements their lifestyles.

YFM describes itself as "the soundtrack to an urban life – fast-paced, energetic and uplifting with a mix of a few quiet moments so that you can catch your breath in the middle of Jozi madness." Hip-house, house, kwaito, and R&B form the core of YFM’s sound, with occasional rock or pop music thrown in. YFM devotes 80% of airtime to music, but the rest goes to talk radio with topics relevant to YFM's audience: the latest trends in music, fashion and entertainment; career and financial advice; inspirational stories and debate about the challenges facing young people today. [YFM Website: www.yfm.co.za]

YFM has also had a very intimate relationship with the development of Kwaito. YFM was one of the very first venues for Kwaito artists, and the station owes much of its success to the success of Kwaito. As YFM's DJ Fresh was quoted by BBC World, "A majority of artists who are big right now - we made them they made us." [BBC World Service Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/rhythms/southafrica.shtml]

History

YFM started broadcasting in 1997 from the inner-city suburb of Bertrams, Johannesburg, in the face of much skepticism. Within one month of broadcasting 600,000 young South Africans had tuned into YFM. This number now stands at over 1.2 million with more than 500,000 identifying YFM as their favorite radio station. Dj Fresh has since moved to another radio station 5fm including Unathi and Adil who both moved to Metrofm. Dre has also left the station. (Rams 2006/1).

Yfm was created by young DJs, some of them very poor. According to a study by the South African government, these DJS stood among the five most influential people in the country. Through Yfm, the DJs established Kwaito music as a commercial genre. Later, the radio was even said to “own” Kwaito and its artists. Today, the Kwaito artists take over the music charts. In 1998 Yfm contributed to publishing the Y Mag, a lifestyle magazine targeting the youth of the nation. In 2000, Yfm introduced its official website: YWorld, which is the "number one urban youth portal in Africa disproving pessimistic theories that black youth do not have computers and do not use the internet." [YFM Website: www.yfm.co.za] The “Y” in Yfm stands for “Youth” because the station was primarily created for black youth. Also, X was the name of the generation fighting in the anti-apartheid period, which had trouble identifying itself in society. So “Y” represents an evolution and defines a new identity for the next generation. [Steingo, Gavin. “South African music after Apartheid: kwaito, the "party politic," and the appropriation of gold as a sign of success.” In Bnet. July 2005.]

Footnotes

Present DJs

* Dineo Ranaka
* Mac Guyver
* Tholi B
* Chilli M
* Jahseed
* A.K.
* Mo flavo
* Bridget Masinga
* Oskido
* Mpho Maboi
* The Admiral
* DJ Monde
* DJ Sbu
* Lee
* Stapura
* The twince

External links

* [http://www.yfm.co.za Official Website]