There’s a big scandal going on in the music industry over payola, or as They Might Be Giants said, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch your record.”
It’s a standard thing in retail for suppliers to pay retailers for shelf space, and prices are set according to proximity to the customer – adult eye level is the most expensive space. Well, except for kids eye level.
So why is it wrong for a radio station to get paid for what they play?
On the one hand, I figure radio stations are commercial entities, so they can choose what they play by whatever method they want, as long as they play by the FCC rules, laws, etc.
On the other hand, radio stations certainly like to give the impression that their listeners determine (to some extent) what they play. One could argue that this constitutes some form of deceipt on their part. That seems to be the gist of at least part the action against Sony/BMG:
We all know that radio stations receive promotional goods related to the One-Hit-Wonder of the Week or whatever. It appears that the problem here is that the labels are providing incentives directly to program directors, bypassing the stations that employ them. So both the labels and the program directors being bribed are guilty of going against station policy, in all likelyhood.
And once upon a time, pro wrestling pretended it was real. But it’s not, never has been. And it’s been a much more successful business since they dropped the facade. Maybe radio should do the same.
Dropping the facade of “what listeners chose” and replacing it with “what we think listeners want to hear” would get rid of the “nudge-nudge, wink-wink”.
And if they’re breaking station policy, that’s a internal disciplinary problem, not a crime.
Well, remember that radio stations get their licenses from the FCC. Those licenses include terms like “the common good” and whatnot. So the radio stations could be in breach of their license terms.
It would be like a retailer charging for shelf space that they set up in Piedmont Park.
It would be a good idea for everybody involved here if they actually knew the facts.
By Federal Law, the airwaves are public property, governed by the FCC, which issues licenses to broadcasters so they can more-or-less “lease” their band from the people of the US.
According to Section 317 of the Communications Act of 1934, radio stations must clearly identify when material (songs) were payed for and by whom.
Payola in the radio, whether to DJs or to Broadcast Company executives is currently a misdemeanor punishable by $10,000 fine or up to a year in prison for each offense.
Now you know
I’m not saying it’s legal, I’m just saying maybe it *should* be lagal, or maybe the radio stations shouldn’t pretend that they’re not paid for playing the songs they play.
Knowing that your favorite Top 40 station is playing songs the record companies pay them to play probably won’t change your opinion of the songs themselves.
I certainly don’t believe it when radio personalities try to convince me that they just happen to drive a particular car, eat at a particular restaurant, or use a certain weight-loss product. I know darn well that they’re paid endorsements, and I have no problem with that.