[Dixielandjazz] Re: Payola - more in an editorial from today's San Jose Mercury News

[David Richoux]

On Jul 30, 2005, at 6:41 AM, Richard Broadie wrote:

> I recommend this article for your consideration.  Just 
> pondering...should we start a "Payola for OKOM" organization.  Sorry 
> I've been so busy that I can't even browse the list in recent months.  
> Hope things slow down in these, my retirement years, so that I can 
> actually start retiring!  Dick Brodie
>
> http://tinyurl.com/bw9th
>
Payola? It's the same old song


Mercury News Editorial
There was a reason why listeners couldn't escape Jennifer Lopez and 
Celine Dion on the radio dial. Sony BMG was plying disc jockeys and 
radio stations with everything from concert tickets to plasma TVs to 
endlessly play CDs by the pop divas.

In a scene reminiscent of the payola scandal that ensnared deejays 
Murray ``the K'' and Alan Freed in the late '50s, Sony BMG recently 
agreed to a $10 million fine and admitted it broke the federal law 
banning undisclosed gifts to radio stations in exchange for air time.

Other Big Five recording companies may soon be confessing. They too are 
being investigated by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who's 
becoming a modern-day Wyatt Earp of regulators.

The practices were pervasive and brash. They included bribes (expensive 
vacation packages to radio programmers); payments to cover stations' 
operational expenses; and the use of independent promoters to funnel 
payments. One station manager who allegedly accepted gifts wrote in an 
e-mail to Sony BMG executives: ``I'm a whore this week. What can I 
say?''

The revelations underscore how monotonous much of commercial radio has 
become in recent years. Favored tracks within limited playlists are 
pumping up sales of a few over-promoted, often bland artists. Giant 
broadcasters, led by Clear Channel Radio and Infinity Radio, dominate 
major markets. Pop stations air what a handful of recording companies 
offer.

But there are cracks in the cartel. Podcasts, Internet radio, satellite 
radio, portable music players, file-sharing networks and digital video 
recorders are freeing people to listen to and download what commercial 
radio stations won't play.

About 4 million people listen to radio on the Internet and 2 million 
people subscribe to XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. That's a small 
number compared with the 110 million Americans within Clear Channel's 
range. But the alternatives are growing, and the effects are showing. 
CD sales are down. Clear Channel's radio revenue has been flat. The 
average radio listening time in major markets is dropping.

Cash under the table shouldn't determine what's on the public airwaves. 
Spitzer's scrutiny should dampen the most blatant practices. But payola 
may reflect the desperation of corporations under siege. Emerging 
technologies, not the efforts of regulators, promise the most choices 
for listeners.

----------------------------------------
(FYI - I have not gotten anything more than a few  CDs from struggling 
bands in my 20+ years of non-commercial radio ;-)

Dave Richoux