Corporate Radio Payola

[kaygore]

Ever wonder why commercial radio has become a mind-numbing repetition of the same songs by Jessica Simpson and Celine Dion? It's not just you. Corporate radio in every town has become a wasteland. And in many cases, it's a crime.

An investigation airing tonight on ABC News "Primetime" exposes illegal payola across the radio dial. Radio conglomerates that control hundreds of local stations are taking bribes to endlessly spin major label acts, keeping independent artists off the air.

FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adlestein calls big radio payola "potentially the most widespread and flagrant violation of FCC rules in the history of American broadcasting." But the FCC's Republican leadership remains reluctant to crack down against the corporate radio giants that have sold off our airwaves.

Tell the FCC to Bust Corporate Radio Payola

This new age of payola is the product of consolidated radio ownership. Several of the largest radio conglomerates in America -- including Clear Channel, Viacom/CBS radio and Cumulus -- are among those now under subpoena in a criminal investigation by the New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Spitzer has exposed a shadowy network of promoters hired by the recording industry to launder hundreds of millions in cash and prizes each year, lining the pockets of big radio broadcasters who agree to spin corporate acts nationwide.

"They thought the FCC was asleep, and they shot someone in front of the policeman," Adelstein tells ABC News. "The policeman is obligated to act when evidence is so clear."

Tell the FCC to Stop the Abuse of Our Airwaves

The airwaves belong to the public -- not the media companies with the fattest wallets. Any broadcaster in violation of payola statutes could face severe FCC sanctions and even the loss of their broadcast licenses.

But the FCC won't act unless they feel pressure from you. Please take action today.

Onward,

Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net

P.S. Activists, musicians, students and independent broadcasters are joining with Free Press to stop payola and reclaim the public airwaves. Learn more at www.freepress.net/payola.

P.P.S. Want to do more? Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold has introduced a bill to stop record labels from paying off radio stations in exchange for airplay. Urge your senators to co-sponsor the "Radio and Concert Disclosure and Competition Act" (S. 2058).

http://action.freepress.net/campaign/payola/i7id55w4ajnb5tm?

[Ksec]

1. I just signed the thing

before I read your post. Coincidence? I think not. You must be controlling my brain somehow. Fess up.

[RufusEarl]

2. Signed it,

and thanks for the link. It's very difficult for indies to get airplay, take it from someone who knows.

[kaygore]

5. OK, I'm an arm of the NSA!!!

[OnyxCollie]

3. Signed it.

Six years ago, I used to work for an alternative rock station in a top 20 market. I was closely acquainted with the program director/music director. Each week, I would sit in his office as he would go through the new adds to the playlist. "Why not add this record?" I would ask. "Because that group is on a small label and we need someone to provide bands for our annual ___Fest concert," he would reply. "We'll play so-and-so for a week, give it about thirteen spins, and then drop it."

Occasionally, he would call me up while I was on the air. "The song you're playing now. Play it again. Let BDS (the automated tracking system that monitors airplay) record another spin."

We had a "consultant" to inform us on how to improve our ratings. (Our problems were obvious to everyone on the staff: No promo budget and a crappy signal.) What the PD/MD told me was that the consultant said our problems were budget and signal, but if he (the PD) were to tell the GM that, there would be no reason to keep him as a consultant and pay him his $35,000 fee. "You scratch my back," he said, "I'll scratch yours." So, what nugget of wisdom did he pass on to us?

"Play more Pearl Jam and Nirvana."

The PD went down in flames through his own self-destruction. The station was sold and changed format. The consultant became the VP of programming for a major broadcast network.

[OzarkDem]

4. Done

k&r