PASSPORT APPROVED

20 June 2016 - Press release

GLOBAL NEW MUSIC PRE-DISCOVERY RADIO PROGRAM PASSPORT APPROVED EXPANDS ACROSS THE U.S.A., ASIA, GERMANY & WORLDWIDE

Passport Approved (www.passportapproved.com), the pioneering global new music pre-discovery radio program, has unveiled another round of affiliates that see the show expanding its footprint further across the U.S., Germany and Asia as well as worldwide. Among the new station homes for Passport Approved are: WKQX (Chicago, IL); FM 94/9 (San Diego, CA); 106.1 “The Underground Alternative” WZRH (New Orleans, LA); ALT 101.9 KHTB (Salt Lake City, UT); and The Summit.FM WAPS (Akron-Canton, OH) & WKTL (Youngstown, OH), almost all of which are officially monitored BDS and/or Mediabase markets.

Passport Approved is also confirmed to launch on one of the world’s largest streaming platforms, Saavn, which will introduce the multi-billion Asian population market to some of the best new music from around the world. Saavn’s Editor In Chief, Sneha Metha, says of the launch, "Big news - I'm excited to announce that Passport Approved is coming to Saavn this summer. You probably already know Saavn as your passport to discover great, new music - in 12 different languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Saavn is available on app stores across Asia and the world.”

Passport Approved has also built upon its relationship with longtime influential new music affiliate FluxFM in Berlin as it joins Flux Music – the German station’s streaming platform available online and through mobile app across Germany.

Host & Program Director, Sat Bisla added, “It’s incredibly inspiring and humbling to see the phenomenal response to the radio show. Many of our affiliates have seen strong increase in ratings, research and audience reaction from Passport Approved. It’s also been great to see so many artists getting massive breaks from being featured on the program and our radio affiliates being there ‘first’ with us to unveil the most promising new international talent before they break elsewhere.”

Passport Approved has spent more than 12 years acting as the first point of “radio contact” for introducing many great new artists to worldwide audiences before they were signed, or officially released in many countries including: Adele, KONGOS, Lorde, LMFAO, Gotye, Bastille, Frank Turner, The Temper Trap, Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Gavin James, Lily Allen, White Lies, The Naked & Famous, Milky Chance, Caro Emerald, The Ting Tings, Tove Lo, The Griswolds, Sheppard and hundreds of others.

The radio show currently broadcasts on stations on six continents worldwide including: The World Famous KROQ 106.7FM Los Angeles; KNRK “94/7FM” Portland, OR; KNDD “The End” Seattle, WA; Flux-FM Berlin, Germany; 2XM Ireland; WLKK “Alternative Buffalo” New York; Radio Doble Nueve FM, Lima, Peru; KKDO “94.7FM” Sacramento CA; KRML “102.1FM” Carmel CA; PUKS-FM Johannesburg, South Africa; KUKQ-FM & KWSS-FM Phoenix, AZ; KFRR “104.1FM” Fresno, CA;  “Fuzz 92.1FM” WFUZ Scranton, PA; WCNR Charlottesville, VA; KIWR “The River” Council Bluffs, IA; KRZQ-FM Reno NV; KMAX Windsor/Ft. Collins, CO; KAFA “97.7FM” Colorado Springs, CO; WITH “90.1FM” Ithaca, NY; UCFM 87.8FM Australian Capital Territory, Australia; WRUR 88.5FM Rochester, NY; WCRU-FM Hamilton, NY; Triple M Rock Digital Australia; online at www.indie1031.com and The Independent FM (iHeart Radio); PUK-FM Johannesburg, South Africa and East Radio Shanghai, China.

As the world’s leading weekly, fully independent new music radio program, Passport Approved brings the best in great new international talent pre-discovery to even the most avid music fan no matter what continent it comes from. The program "acts local and thinks global," by unearthing new music gems from local regions, and then sharing them with a worldwide weekly audience via its radio partners. The program has generated consistently strong ratings and audience research for many of its affiliates, as well as ownership in the “new music first” position within their market.

About Passport Approved: Passport Approved is a weekly syndicated radio program that shares the world’s best new music with its pre-discovery approach. The show broadcasts a weekly two hour program (with a one hour option) and a “Passport Approved Daily” segment to radio stations in multiple continents worldwide. Passport Approved is the brainchild of its host and Program Director Sat Bisla and first launched on the late and acclaimed Indie 103.1FM in Los Angeles back in 2003. Indie 1031.FM was voted the “Best Radio Station in America” for several consecutive years by Rolling Stone magazine. Sat Bisla got his first start in radio back in 1984 and has hosted and programmed “international new music radio shows” for over three decades. In addition, Bisla played a key role in creating the original blue print for Clear Channel Radio’s New Music Network, which has now evolved into iHeart Media.

For more information on Passport Approved, or its syndication availability contact: Sat Bisla at sat@passportapproved.com or 323.782.0770.

Music submissions can be sent to the attention of Josh Woodard, Assistant Music Director, Passport Approved at josh@passportapproved.com