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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT |
WASHINGTON, DC – In a February 15 letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) expressed enthusiasm over recent news reports that the Commission was launching a thorough investigation into allegations that some radio station conglomerates have been engaging in payola. FMC urged the agency to complete this investigation before moving ahead with any rulemakings that would allow for further radio deregulation, or the granting of additional resources to commercial radio broadcasters during the transition to HD radio.
Today’s letter is one of many documents that FMC has sent to the Commission over the past four years, urging the agency to recognize the independent radio promotion structure that developed in the 1990s as a de facto form of payola. Now that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has announced the initial findings of his wide-ranging payola investigation, it is more evident that major radio companies did engage in business practices that deserve a full and immediate investigation by the Commission.
“The payola laws are clear,” said FMC’s executive director, Jenny Toomey. “Stations that engage in this practice are putting their licenses at risk. What is unclear for musicians and citizens, however, is whether the laws will be enforced. We hope that the FCC will take the evidence gathered in numerous proceedings and by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to fully investigate these practices and hold bad actors accountable.”
FMC also urged the Commission to recognize that payola cannot be examined outside the context of the drastic consolidation in the radio industry following the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Referencing its 2002 report “Radio Deregulation: Has It Served Musicians and Citizens?” FMC argued that consolidation in the radio industry, coupled with consolidation in the recording industry, made conditions riper for payola by reducing the number of gatekeepers and facilitating secretive, payola-like business practices.
“We’re at a critical point in the regulatory landscape,” said FMC policy director Michael Bracy. “Congress is working on a revision to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The FCC is about to re-start media ownership proceedings. Terrestrial radio stations just launched dozens HD radio stations in key markets. We need to make sure that the public airwaves are managed in a way that benefits musicians and citizens.”
In the letter, FMC expressed support for the Commission’s full and thorough investigation into allegations of payola in the commercial radio industry. If alleged payola-like abuses are found to be true, FMC advocated that:
Read full letter
About the Future of Music Coalition
The Future of Music Coalition is a national nonprofit education, research
and advocacy organization that identifies, examines, interprets and translates
the challenging issues at the intersection of music, law, technology
and policy. FMC achieves this through continuous interaction with musicians
and through collaborations with other creator/citizen groups.
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