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Liner Notes
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RADIO IN
SPACE: How Satellite Radio Impacts the Music Industry on Earth
by Darcie-Nicole Wicknick, Special to MusicBizAdvice.com
PART
ONE
With the compression of commercial FM radio, and an increased gentrification
of college stations, who often follow commercial models for their FM
programming, the music industry's changing. The reduction of funding to
non-profit and AM stations, combined with the consolidation of radio
broadcasting companies who control the airwaves, has impacted the radio
industry.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Commercial radio stations (those whose revenue depends heavily on
advertisement sales and/or those who play only national recording artists)
have dissolved slowly in their freedoms. DJs used to have control over
programming and could spin what THEY thought was hot. And prior to the
Payola laws (that prohibited stations and their staff from taking money or
high-ticket gifts in exchange for airplay) it was a free-for-all.
After payola was outlawed in the 80's, and more clearly again in the 90's,
radio began to adopt a more corporate persona. Policy evolved to filter up
rotation decisions to the Music Director, and finally the Program Director.
Through the mid-1990's, Program Directors struggled to balance relationships
with record company radio promoters from multiple record labels. PDs were
always trying to keep everyone happy and were doing the balancing act
between giving enough rotation to all their label contacts in exchange for
artist appearances, tickets and listener giveaway items. Then, Clearchannel™
upped the ante.
By the time 2000 rolled in, Clearchannel had cornered much of the commercial
radio market. Like a vortex, they sucked up many once free-standing radio
stations - in addition to controlling commercial ones – through buyouts or
squeezing them out by controlling the market in a given city. CBS™ radio is
the second leading corporate entity for brick and mortar controls. And, the
ownership carries over to many online stations as well.
With fewer choices, Program Directors were weighed down with a much tougher
job, at the mercy of the Corporation who came to employ them. And, because
of the consolidations among record companies that took place in the
mid-1990's, record companies were now aligned with services and products
that had nothing to do with music: alcohol, cars, food and beverage, hotels,
AOL…you name it.
That said, record companies would partner with their non-music divisions and
buy up big blocks of advertising on stations via Clearchannel. The result?
Severe lack of variety in radio programming, and ferocious competition in
the market for that precious airplay. This was also bad news for
songwriters, who suffered loss of radio airplay due to this type of
gentrification. To make matters worse, all FM frequencies had been absorbed
by 2000. So if you didn't get one, you were out of luck or relegated to AM
radio, which to some was the radio equivalent of the word "Nee!" from the
infamous Monty Python classic "The Quest for the Holy Grail."
NEW HORIZONS
In response to an opportunity in the market, independent radio stations got
hip. With the advancements in MP3™ and RealAudio™ technology, many college
stations and independents circumvented commercial confines by starting
online stations. This allowed for much more freedom in rotation and
permitted independent artists to have some added, worldwide, exposure. The
good news for songwriters didn't arrive until 2003, when performance
rights royalty legislation included internet revenues. (While colleges are
covered as a "venue", many independent online stations are not compliant
with performance rights society internet broadcast licensing protocol and
most likely slip under the door unnoticed.)
The online/streaming radio phenomenon is popular even with commercial
stations. Gathering that their offices may not have radios, or that people
are not always in their cars, the commercial stations have adopted this
process to broadcast their on-air programming. In addition, they
increasingly use websites to build up the marketing (which translates to new
ways to garner ad revenue, including online ad space) and enhance the
"celebrity" of their DJs.
In addition to online radio, cable networks have brought in several
"stations" on the deluxe packages with "cable radio." Recycling the notion
that DMX (Digital Music Express) rang in during the late 1980's early
1990's, companies such as Music Choice are granted dedicated space on
several upper cable channels: one for each genre, on a 12 hour rotation so
almost every station gets 2 genres. Along with playing more selections,
Music Choice offers historical and editorial content for each artist being
played, and when possible, a photo of the album. In addition, Music Choice
is open to independent artists for programming consideration. (Author's
note: there are several similar cable-based "radio" stations, but Music
Choice appears to be the most comprehensive.)
In addition to online and cable options, downloadable retailers like iTunes
from Apple, and similar options from Microsoft and now, Napster, made
headway. Clearly, their popularity rose, in part, due to the customizable
listening and playlist creation, giving the audience the power to be their
own DJ.
Part 2
Conclusion |
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