Walmart Associates Asked To Check Out Walmart Radio Air Checks

The new-and-improved version of Walmart Radio will utilize a different form of disc than the one pictured above.

It’s too late for aspiring disc jockeys to enter, but it’s not too late to view entries in Wal-Mart’s nationwide search for a Walmart Radio DJ.

Back in June, the Bentonville retailer announced that it was restarting Walmart Radio, which provides music to the company’s stores, after a hiatus of about six years.

The return of music in October for the listening pleasure of customers and employees was just one in a number of initiatives — including store temperature adjustments and a relaxed dress code — to improve worker morale, in addition to earlier announcements of higher pay and better schedules. But it was Walmart Radio that caught associates’ ears when the changes were unveiled in June.

“That announcement got the biggest applause,” spokesman Kory Lundberg told CNN Money.

“Most stores now play CDs over the public address system, and while shoppers probably don’t notice, the employees kept hearing the same songs again and again and again during their shift and during their workweek.”

Wal-Mart launched its search for a DJ from among its employees on Dec. 26. Four-minute video auditions were accepted through Jan. 16, and Wal-Mart employees were to vote on five finalists from Feb. 9-19.

Also judging contestants are a special Walmart Radio Team Panel and Executive Panel. The contestant with the highest combined score will be deemed the winner, who is to be announced “on or about” March 1.

The DJ gig is a full-time job based in Bentonville, site of the Walmart Radio studio.

“Most people don’t associate Walmart with a career in radio, but this individual will have an audience of millions listening on Day 1,” Russell Bloodworth, marketing manager for Walmart Radio, said on the company blog.

A number of associates have uploaded their audition videos to YouTube for those who want to hear the talent.