Melanie Zepeda

Programming Director Rubi Reyes posing with record. April 19, 2026.

Vinylthon is not only a cultural phenomenon keeping physical media alive in the digital age, but it also serves as part of a fundraiser for scholarships supporting the upcoming generation of broadcasters.

Celebrated by radio stations across the country on April 18 and 19, Vinylthon is a 48-hour extravaganza of diverse vinyl records and CDs. It allows college stations and their radio hosts to display new worlds of music to the public, with each host getting their own slot of time to showcase their music tastes.

The College Radio Foundation (CRF), founded in 2014, started Vinylthon in 2016 to encourage the revival of “dropping the needle” and has since raised over $50,000 to boost the continuous growth of the radio industry and future radio hosts’ education at universities.

As for KRUX, the event aligns with the station’s belief in self-expression and creativity in music, especially in providing the chance for a variety of hosts to play their personal favorites from their own collections.

“It’s a great way to kind of come together and have a dedicated set time to kind of appreciate our different physical representations of music, as technology grows and time goes on,” Bryce Beals, an intern at KRUX, said. “A lot of people aren’t buying CDs or vinyls anymore, and I think it’s very important to kind of keep that alive and have a CD or record player at home, because it’s a whole different experience listening to it in that way than it would be just on your phone or from a streaming platform.”

KRUX members pride themselves on supporting indie and smaller artists rather than Top 40 or strictly trending artists and songs, and Vinylthon gives them another chance to support the community and promote local voices.

“We get CDs from promoters as well, [and] we get sent in CDs, so there’s, like, hundreds of CDs in our studio,” Music Director Ella Marquez said. “We are always, like, if you don’t have any CDs, [or] if you don’t have any vinyls, just play something that’s in there. Play something, it’ll be good, and it’s highlighting a musician.”

Despite the modern expansion of streaming services, physical music media sales have risen 8.6% in recent years, according to Forbes, and sold almost 47.9 million records across the industry. This year, 2026, marks the nineteenth consecutive year of growth.

“You know, everything’s online, and it’s so easy to lose things, or to forget that music is created with hands and it’s so hands-on, and it’s a tangible thing,” Marquez said.

During Vinylthon, both new listeners and longtime audiences alike tune in to KRUX 91.5, sparking a rising interest in the uniqueness of physical media in local radio and the students behind the scenes. 

“I’m advertising on my social media, I’m being like, ‘Come listen to me spin vinyl,’” Marquez said. “And so, a lot of my friends will tune in for me.”

This year, with over 230 radio stations participating, the College Radio Foundation aims to raise $3,000 toward the Vinylthon 2026 Scholarship Fund, and encourages membership subscription to The College Radio Society, aiming to fuel the future of the university radio field for years to come. 

“When I advertise [Vinylthon] to a lot of my friends and, smaller, niche little groups, a lot of them are like, ‘Oh my god, what is that? There’s no way, I’ve never heard of that,’ DJ Blaze Acosta said. “It does bring in a lot of new listeners, because they’re like, ‘Oh, KRUX isn’t just some radio station.’”

Both KRUX and the CRF’s main missions and visions are brought together in harmony by Vinylthon, spreading the idea that “Radio didn’t die, it just went to college,” as KRUX’s website says. Those in the Las Cruces area can tune in to the live radio show on 91.5FM, or can listen through the KRUX website, where additional information about the station can also be found.