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A Tribute to Tim Sweeney’s Vital WNYU Radio Show ‘Beats in Space’

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March 19, 2021

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After 21 years, Beats in Space will be “taking a break.” Though it may not be the end, here’s a tribute to one of our favorite radio shows.

Mix lovers worldwide are all gutted by the recent news that the vital WNYU radio show Beats in Space will be ending. Host and BIS founder Tim Sweeney assured us it is simply a hiatus, but there is still a collective sadness in knowing we won’t be able to tune in Tuesday nights and hear a new masterfully curated live BIS set.

Tim Sweeney began Beats in Space as a student at NYU in 1999, and has held down the Tuesday 10:30PM-1AM slot at WNYU-FM ever since. The show in its early days was closely related to the DFA imprint, and helped bring the genre-inclusive club sounds of the city’s nightlife to the airwaves. Introducing sides of dance music that were rarely given a larger platform, the show has influenced the birth of numerous dance-oriented online radio shows today.

Over the last 21 years, Beats in Space has developed a worldwide following and also launched its own record label putting out releases by beloved artists such as Powder, Tornado Wallace, Andras, E Ruscha V, Palmbomen, and more.

Here is Sweeney’s farewell from last week’s final episode:

“It’s been a crazy journey the past 21 years here at WNYU. Every week doing a new show, no breaks, but now it’s finally time. I want to thank everyone who’s tuned in. I hope you’ll stick with me in the future, whenever that might be.”

Sweeney also launched a mix series with Powder in early 2019, and we hope Beats in Space will continue in that form. As for the radio show, it offered us an incredible amount of music over the years, and though it may not be the definitive end, here are a few of our favorite BIS mixes over the years.