Two years after being fined $12.5 million by the FCC as part of an anti-payola settlement and agreeing to boost airtime for independent label and local artists, major radio broadcasters have not changed their tune when it comes to composing their music playlists, according to a forthcoming report by the Future of Music Coalition. The results of the nonprofit's yearlong analysis will be released the week of April 20, and the group hopes it will spur the FCC to act. Playlist tracking data, which is compiled in the private sector and sold to stations and others who request the information, should be a function of the commission, FMC spokesman Casey Rae-Hunter said. "We're hoping that the FCC considers this data and takes steps to better understand a key sector that they're charged with overseeing," he said of the report's findings. "Without data and clear policy goals, this is very difficult." Some contend the FCC lacked the political will to address the issue during the Bush administration, but they see an opening with President Obama. Read the full story in CongressDaily's PM Edition (subscription required).
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Responded on April 13, 2009 5:38 PM
Jerry King
I was aware of the mandate handed down to the major broadcasters from April of 2007. Two years later the major broadcasters have somehow avoided abiding by the ruling and their requirement to give that airtime to independent labels and local artists. One of the very strong suggestions from the FCC at that time was to inform the public what the ruling was and to get input from the public to inform the FCC that the playlist was not changing. I am estatic (again) that policies will be addressed and I hope the opening they see with the Obama administration will not allow the continuation of these broadcasters to skirt the law. Any person from Main Street would have been under legal duress years ago for disobeying the law, e.g., not giving their community service or keep up with their probationary provisions. It is extremely detrimental to Atlanta which is considered a hub of new music. However, we all know locally, that is a myth full of smoke and mirrors. The main reason given from the stations here was: the memo was not passed down and personal...
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I was aware of the mandate handed down to the major broadcasters from April of 2007. Two years later the major broadcasters have somehow avoided abiding by the ruling and their requirement to give that airtime to independent labels and local artists. One of the very strong suggestions from the FCC at that time was to inform the public what the ruling was and to get input from the public to inform the FCC that the playlist was not changing. I am estatic (again) that policies will be addressed and I hope the opening they see with the Obama administration will not allow the continuation of these broadcasters to skirt the law. Any person from Main Street would have been under legal duress years ago for disobeying the law, e.g., not giving their community service or keep up with their probationary provisions. It is extremely detrimental to Atlanta which is considered a hub of new music. However, we all know locally, that is a myth full of smoke and mirrors. The main reason given from the stations here was: the memo was not passed down and personally got an answer of "not at my stations" Please, let us see if we can give them the memo.
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