Posted on 04/20/2006 5:33:10 PM PDT by Wolfstar
Clear Channel, CBS, Citadel and Entercom Will Be Investigated in First Federal Payola Investigation in More Than a Quarter Century
April 20, 2006
The FCC has launched formal investigations into pay-for-play practices at Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio, Entercom Communications and Citadel Broadcasting. The story was broken by Charles Duhigg in an L.A. Times Page One story. As Duhigg notes, this is the biggest federal payola inquiry since the congressional payola hearings of 1960.
The story cites two FCC officials as revealing that the FCC had requested “letters of inquiry” from the four radio powers in search of evidence that programmers had received cash, checks, clothing and other gifts in exchange for adding certain songs—which you probably realize is a violation of federal rules. If the feds can prove wrongdoing, it will impose sanctions ranging from fines to the revocation of stations' licenses.
All four broadcasters have been in negotiations with the FCC in an effort to avoid a federal inquiry and in the hopes of getting off with limited fines in exchange for discontinuing illegal and questionable practices. Indeed, it was haggling over the amounts the chains would be required to pay that caused the talks to stall. Last month, Duhigg revealed. Clear Channel had proposed a fine of about $1 million, while some commissioners were pushing for as much as $10 million, sources told the reporter.
Bryan Tramont, who served as chief of staff to former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, told Duhigg he believed the feds acted only after accumulating significant evidence of pay-for-play. "The FCC would only launch a formal investigation if they had information leading them to believe possible violations have occurred," he said. The probe could lead to the uncovering of additional evidence to go with that provided by Spitzer.
Entercom now has a pair of lawsuits to deal with, following the one slapped on the company by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is also investigating CBS, Citadel and Clear Channel. Spitzer is sharing his evidence with the FCC.
Some in radio and the music industry had hoped that Entercom’s decision to take a stand against Spitzer would serve to hasten resolution of the matter, and thereby loosen up playlists, which have tightened significantly as programmers have reacted with caution to potential scrutiny regarding their adds. But that hope is now up in smoke.
Pinging you to this story about a huge fed investigation of payola in the music industry. CBS and Clear Channel among those being investigated.
I thought that was just how businesses functioned. Heck, it's how the GOVERNMENT functions.
I thought I hear that there's hypocrisy in the radio and music business. In that, the music guys try to develop relationships with broadcasters, which help them get their music on the radio, which in turn sells CDs, etc. etc. I know there are laws restricting how far they can go with influencing radio stations on what to play. Why not drop all pretense and just let them pay radio stations to play music? If it's not what the public wants, the ratings will drop and the stations could switch to something else. I guess I don't see why there needs to be federal investigations about what's on the radio.
This is one Fed probe I fully support. So many good artists and bands have been pushed to the side because their labels would rather push the flavor of the week on the public instead. Bands like Journey, Rush, Van Halen,Aerosmith (only recently), Boston, and a number of 80s and 90s rock bands have been limited to only having the same 6 songs on from a particular auditorium tested playlist.
I made the argument with a program director out of Jacksonville that Rush has over 20 Top 10 Album Oriented Rock Chart songs and 30 Top 20 and that they play the same 5-6 songs from them and none after 1982.
He says "well that's what tests well". Those songs were all songs that made their albums top 5 or top 10 on Billboard....ditto for Van Halen.
Pin their asses to the wall...payola is huge with MTV as well but I guess it doesn't apply to them.
"... requested 'letters of inquiry' from the four radio powers in search of evidence that programmers had received cash, checks, clothing and other gifts ..."
Excuse me .. what's with this statement: "in search of evidence" .. if they don't have the evidence .. how can they do anything ..?? That's the same thing the PB attorneys did with Rush .. asking him to provide info so they could go fishing to try to find something.
I really don't know what is illegal about payola. I really don't.
The FCC can't do squat to MTV. It's cable.
Why even bother with music on over the air radio stations anymore? You've got satellite radio and iPods so pretty much you can listen to whatever you want to. I pretty much only listen to talk radio anymore.
I still don't see what the big deal is. The only thing I do see is Spitzer trying to make himself a celebrity out of the story.
I agree that's how business functions. But government goes business one better. It uses an impossible network of obscure, intrusive laws it passes, controlling things it shouldn't be involved in, to coerce "fines" out of business and individuals.
I agree.
This approach seems to be epidemic among prosecutors these days. It sucks. Whatever happened to Constitutional protections about not being forced to testify against oneself?
Jonny, I agree with you on both points. Plus this is a way for government to get its grubby paws on huge fines.
I think the FCC should be dissolved and defunded. Having said that, though, this story gives me quite a chuckle. Payola has been taking place each and every day since it was "banned." Pretty hard to feel sorry for clear channel, which has ruined radio in my area and across most of the country.
It's the government's job to make sure bands you like get airplay?
You're right .. this is becomming epidemic. They suspect something, but you have to tell on yourself in order for them to prosecute you.
If the FCC wants the records, they can just present the "evidence" to a judge and get a subpoena for additional records - the legal way.
This is exactly what the prosecutors did to Rush - so these companies should fight this tooth and nail.
Nice way to twist words. It's about fair market. Artists who sign for 5 albums whether they suck or not are not even given the opportunity today to have their new material played on the radio. It's kind of hard when some idiot PD from a radio station has taken 100k to make sure that 25 slots in the day are taken up by the guy from Sony who gave him 100k to play his playlist.
Total crap. Now add 3 or 4 other record labels to that and payouts across the board...and you have slots filled in playlists around the clock leaving no room for an artist not on the payola list.
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