By what methods did WXRT build respect among Chicago music fans?

Building respect was about signal consistency and playlist curation, not hype. They maintained a 7.5 kHz audio bandwidth when competitors rolled off at 5 kHz, giving them punchier drum transients and clearer vocal sibilance. Couple that with the fact their music library was assembled by people who actually read the liner notes and knew the B-sides-they’d spin a live version of a track instead of the album cut, and that attention to detail made listeners trust them as curators, not just a jukebox.