04-21-06,8:57am
Wonder why every time you tune into the radio airwaves all the songs sound the same?
Often, they are. And it’s no accident.
Looks like “payola” is back in the airwaves.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially begun is payola investigation into CBS Radio, Clear Channel, Entercom and Citadel, according to FMQB, which focuses on radio-related issues. Yesterday, two FCC officials told the Los Angeles Times the investigation began April 19 with the FCC sending “letters of inquiry” to the four media powerhouses—the next step in investigations that could result in sanctions ranging from financial penalties to the revocation of stations’ licenses.
The payola accusations revolve around whether radio programmers received gifts, cash and other items in exchange for playing certain songs at radio stations without publicly disclosing the deals.
Writes FMQB:
The four ownership groups have been in negotiations with the FCC to stave off the beginning of the official investigations. “We were in the process of trying to reach settlements, but when talks were inconclusive, we decided we needed more information,” an anonymous FCC source told the Times. “We will continue to speak with the parties and to hold those who have violated commission rules accountable.”
…New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has also been running his own, high-profile payola investigation, which began before the FCC’s. The two have worked together, though Spitzer recently criticized the commission for already working towards negotiating settlements.
Says Thomas Lee, president of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM), the world’s largest organization dedicated to representing the interests of professional musicians:
Since the 1930s, federal law has allowed the broadcast industry to use those public airwaves for commercial purposes without charge. But, in return, federal law requires radio station owners to serve the public interest. The American Federation of Musicians believes that those public-interest obligations include providing diversity and local content in music programming. And surely all listeners are entitled to hear music chosen because of its merit rather than as a result of an undisclosed business transaction.
As has AFM, the nonprofit media watchdog Free Press has been on the payola case for years, with a campaign urging passage of legislation that would eliminate the inside dealing that has locked out local musicians, students and independent artists. As Free Press notes:
The concentration of radio ownership has ushered in a new age of payola. Huge recording labels pay off radio conglomerates to play their most bankable performers. Commercial “talent” is pushed to the top of playlists nationwide, shoving local artists off the airwaves. When labels pay big radio to play their most mainstream acts, independent music suffers and radio choice turns into a mind-numbing race to the bottom.
Free Press offers the chance to take action on the payola and other crucial free speech issues.
