WASHINGTON, D.C.– Artist education, research and advocacy organization Future of Music Coalition (FMC) announces the release of a new report that analyzes New York State radio playlists to determine whether the policy interventions resulting from 2003-2007 payola investigations have had any effect on the amount of independent music played on terrestrial radio.
In July 2005, then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced the results of the Office’s examination of the relationship between major labels and commercial broadcasters. Then, in April 2007, the Federal Communications Commission issued consent decrees against the nation’s four largest radio station group owners – Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Citadel and Entercom – as a response to collected evidence and widespread allegations about payola influencing what gets played on the radio.
In addition to paying FCC fines totaling $12.5 million, the station group owners also worked with the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) to draft eight “Rules of Engagement” and an “indie set-aside,” in which these four group owners voluntarily agreed to collectively air 4,200 hours of local, regional and unsigned artists, and artists affiliated with independent labels.
In April 2009, FMC released a comprehensive, data-driven report called Same Old Song. Using playlist data licensed from Mediaguide, FMC examined four years of airplay – 2005-2008 – from national playlists and from seven specific music formats: AC, Urban AC, Active Rock, Country, CHR Pop, Triple A Commercial and Triple A Noncommercial. FMC calculated the “airplay share” for five different categories of record labels to determine whether the major labels’ ratio of airplay share has changed at all in the past four years.
This report serves as a companion piece to “Same Old Song.” Using data licensed from Mediaguide and a similar methodology, it examines playlist data from music stations licensed in New York State, broadcasting in a variety of formats, from 2005-2008.
The data indicate almost no change in station playlist composition in this period. Specifically, the data shows that:
“Same Old Song” views these results through a broad lens, using the data to describe the state of radio thirteen years after the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The report underscores how radio’s long-standing relationships with major labels, its status quo programming practices and the permissive regulatory structure create an environment in which songs from major label artists continue to dominate — despite the independent labels’ 30 percent of the domestic music market.
The report also outlines a brief set of policy recommendations meant to enhance the FCC’s oversight of the airwaves and improve the radio landscape for both listeners and the broader music industry. These include:
Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that seeks a bright future for creators and listeners. FMC works towards this goal through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/public interest groups. More