[Dixielandjazz] Re: PAY FOR PLAY EXPLAINS A LOT

[DWSI at aol.com]

In case you are wondering why all radio stations seem to be playing the  same 
(bad?) songs, Jacob Slichter's editorial in the New York Times Op  Ed 
Section, p. A23, Friday July 29, 2005, explains a lot. Here is my synopsis:  I'd be 
interested in comments from the "Pros" out there:
 
Independent record promoters act as gatekeepers to the air waves. It works  
like this: Current payola laws forbid a radio station from accepting  payment 
to play a song without disclosing such payment to their listeners. To  get 
around the law, the promoters pay radio stations, as a sort of  consulting fee, 
"to look at play lists," then charge the record  companies for this hidden 
promotion much later. The station managers know  that the "fees" paid are to buy 
air play but the lines of pay off are  sufficiently blurred to dodge the law. 
The pay off to the promoter just takes  longer so it's sometimes called 
"Show-ola." The defenders of the practice claim  you can only buy air time 
exposure--not a guarantee of having a hit record.  The obvious problem is that this form 
of payola restricts access to the airwaves  for any group not able to afford 
the big time costs. The article quotes one  group, Semisonic, as having to 
shell out $500,000 for their new single. Whatever  happened to playing music 
because you liked it?

Dan Spink