Clear Channel

Commercial Radio Seeks More Consolidation While Laying Off Hundreds

This post was co-authored by FMC Policy Consultant Adam Holofcener.

Here at FMC we’re pretty keen on technology. But we still have a spot in our hearts for old(er)-school media like over-the-air radio. We’ve been touting the virtues of the original spectrum-based platform since we launched this org more than a decade ago. Unfortunately, there are still those who don’t understand why a diverse, competitive radio marketplace is a good thing. read more

Reply Comments In FCC Ownership Review Aim At 'Subcaps'

All Access Music Group

July 29, 2010

The FUTURE OF MUSIC COALITION criticized CLEAR CHANNEL's earlier comments promoting the salutory effects of consolidation on format diversity, saying that "increased consolidation in the commercial radio sector runs counter to the FCC's goals of competition, localism and diversity on the public airwaves. As the Commission undertakes a review of its current media ownership rules, we urge it to consider radio’s monolithic transformation following the elimination of the national ownership rules and the relaxation of local ownership rules under the 1996 Telecommunications Act."

The Week in News

Last weekend, our man Alex Maiolo was at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago for three days of skinny jeans, warm beer and music. But it wasn’t all R&R: Alex was there to talk to musicians and managers about FMC’s Health Insurance Navigation Tool (HINT). From July 16-18, Alex was there hepping the hepcats to their health insurance options and how the new health care reforms might impact musicians. If you were there, we hope you got to say hello!

Here’s some more of what’s been happening in the wide world of music-tech-policy-law… read more

Last.fm Promotes Indie Artists, Sans Royalties

If you're a Last.fm user, you may have noticed some changes at the popular music site, one of which is that the company will no longer offer on-demand track streaming, but instead refer users to third-party partners like MOG and read more

FMC's Kristin Thomson Talks Indie Access on Mediageek Radioshow

On Tuesday, July 9, FMC's Kristin Thomson -- author of "Same Old Song," FMC's latest report(s) on indie music on the airwaves -- gave an interview on the Mediageek Radioshow.On Tuesday,

Mediageek is a weekly half-hour syndicated public affairs radio program covering grassroots and independent media, hosted and produced by Paul Riismandel at WNUR 89.3 FM on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Mediageek can be heard throughout Chicago and the northern suburbs, and also on the web. read more

Commercial Radio Plays the Same Old Songs

Mediageek Radioshow

July 9, 2009

Nearly four years ago the four largest commercial radio owners promised to play more independent music as part of FCC consent decrees resulting from recent payola investigations. Future of Music Coalition has been tracking radio playlists to see if commercial stations have been keeping their promises. FMC?s Kristin Thomson joins the Mediageek Radioshow to discuss the situation.

San Francisco and the State of Local Radio

By Eric K. Arnold

SF Weekly

June 30, 2009

According to an April 29, 2009 report by the Future of Music Coalition entitled “Same Old Song” , in the two years since FCC fines were levied against corporate radio for payola — resulting in those stations promising to play both more local and independent artists — “the report indicates almost no measurable change in station playlist composition over the past four years.”

Congress Tunes Into LPFM

On Thursday, June 11, 2009, the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet held a legislative hearing on H.R. 1147, aka the Local Community Radio Act of 2009. FMC arrived at the Hill bright and early to catch all the action.We know we've talked a lot about Low Power FM (LPFM) stations lately -- this is our second post this week -- but that's because there are so many exciting developments in the land of Low Power! read more

Clear Channel Gets Local. Sort Of. Maybe. Not Really.

Yesterday, Clear Channel sent out two press releases that seemed to contradict each other on some pretty fundamental levels. The first described a "commitment" to a "higher minimum level of service" in the communities in which its stations operate." read more

Clear Channel Responds to FMC's complaint

Clear Channel responded Friday to FMC’s Request for a Declaratory Ruling, which we filed at the FCC over the chain’s attempts to strip indie artists of performance royalties in exchange for airplay.

Clear Channel officially announced it had revised the language on its licensing agreement (for a fuller discussion see this blog posting). In media reports, Clear Channel officials said, “FMC’s allegations of a ‘payola-like scheme’ are irresponsible and totally false.”

Here is why we made the complaint and why it’s significant. read more