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Labels Find New Method of Payola
rhadamanthus writes "The Houston Chronicle is reporting on the newest 'legal' payola tactic put forth by the record industry: playing the song as an advertisement. It seems that while it is illegal to pay a radio station to play a song, it is not illegal to play a song as an ad. Quoth the article, 'The practice is legal as long as the station makes an on-air disclosure of the label's sponsorship -- typically with an introduction such as "And now, Avril Lavigne's Don't Tell Me, presented by Arista Records."' Incidentally, that song was played 109 times in one week by Nashville station WQZQ-FM."
I heard about this strategy being used a year or two ago, and if I remember it actually hurt the sales.. the radio station insisted on the full 'any opinions expressed in this piece are not nesecerily blah blah blah....' and the song wasn't that great to begin with, so it managed to drive people from buying their album....
Reece,
I can't believe this is actually coming up as news. The labels have been doing this for years under "Co-Op" and other scams. Ever heard an ad for Tower Records that runs for like a minute with the music playing? I can't remember the exact number but anything played on the radio for a certain duration (maybe 45 seconds - 1:00) gets registered as a spin in rotation. Label promo guys would literally use these "spins" as ammo to gets adds or increase the airplay on existing stations. This is Label promo 101.
No commercials (except for promoting their own stuff sometimes- like "Check out stream xxx for this!" type stuff), and as far as I can tell- no pay for play. Lots of variety, lots of station choices, no commercials, I can listen to the same station all across the country (I do a couple big road-trips a year). I love satellite radio! I can't stand the Clear Channel-ish crap that local radio in Denver (and most other major cities) has become.
I still listen to radio. For the past decade and a half, my tuner has alternated between a nearby NPR/PRI afilliate and our local community radio station. The latter features music selected by volunteer programmers from an eclectic library of folk, blues, jazz, rock, and world beat; no commercials (just brief "day sponsor" announcements read a dozen times over the course of the day, and a semi-annual pledge drive); and a rule against repeating any track that's been played in the last few days. I'm pretty out of touch with what's being pushed on commercial radio these days (I have no idea who this Avril person mentioned in the article is), but I don't miss it one bit.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
That would vary from state to state. Some states might not even have an age of consent for signing contracts so someone young enough to read an write could possably sign a contract.. Common law might have placed an age limit on some situations and of couse some one taking advantage of someone would definatly be looked down on in a court if they ever wanted to get out of it.
The problem comes in when this comes from a conglomerate such as Clear channel, who, in some smaller markets is really the only choice in radio...there is your "why this is bad" It's not he concept of pay to play it is the fact that using this concept the choice is no longer there it's listen to this or listen to nothing, and that's not really a choice.
Hello Kettle,
You, my friend are as black as pitch.
With love, Pot.
While direct payola was made illegal quite a long time ago, it still exists. This is probably not a shock for the more jaded people here. But the extent that it is implemented might be shocking to some that are not in music.
In fact, nothing gets on commercial radio without being paid for. The only exceptions are college radio, and specialty shows like Dr. Demento and local music shows (such as local Anaestetic on WXRT in Chicago).
How does it work if it's illegal? It's actually very simple. Each radio station is locked in with an "Independent Promoter" who helps the labels get their songs played on the radio. The IPs, as they're called in the industry, are also not supposed to pay for songs to be played, but they do anyway, under the table. Also promotions such as vacations and other items end up going to Radio CEOs rather than listeners. The IPs are more like a toll authority for each station. Often, they make exclusive contracts with stations so that they are the sole IP for a particular station. Since they're "Independent" the law does not take them into account.
This is well documented in the industry, and I'd recommend reading Pay For Play if you're interested in the topic.
I learned this from a lot of research. I am in an independent band, and so when we made our first album, I researched this to find out how to get on Commercial radio. I was very surprised to find out the truth. I have a collection of links on our website if you are interested in more articles on this topic.
By the way, as a musician, I'd rather that they abolish the laws on Payola. I want the payments to be on the table, rather than under it. After all, companies pay to get their items on shelves of grocery stores and consumer stores like Best Buy. Is it so shocking that radio is any different? There is too much money bet on bands to succeed that there would be any doubt that airtime is paid for. IPs are an unintended, legislated middleman. They serve no legitimate purpose, and in fact, make it even more expensive to get played on the radio. Let me be specific: If my band's music somehow got played on a radio station, the IP's would bill my band. If we didn't pay, they'd rip it from the playlist. IP's are the enemies of good music, and radio, and I want the artificial legislation that created them to be abolished.
By the way, Avril Lavigne is from Canada (yahoo artist profile), but you're right, legal age varies here too.
"When a ball dreams, it dreams it's a frisbee"
Typically, radio ads are much more expensive than cable tv. Even outside of drive time, in my market (population about 60,000) most radio stations charge between $40 - $200 per 30 second spot. Even a committment of 60 spots a month for 3 months didn't bring the price down much.
I hope they all DIE. As a fan of non-popular music, I can't stand what radio has become. Generic garbage to sell generic, untalented garbage. I never listen to anything other than the news and Howard Stern. A big fuck you to ALL corporate record execs and anyone in between.
PBS (Frontline) did a GREAT series abou;the status of the music biz today. Head over to pbs.org and take a look. Some great info.
That doesn't change the fact that they are RIAA affiliated, making them at least in part an "RIAA label".
-Dizzle
"I most likely AM so interested in myself."
The FCC rules regarding payola started as a reaction to cheating on TV gameshows. There was a big scandal in 1958 because many of the hugely popular TV quiz shows were rigged. One big factor was that, in the minds of many people at the time, is that quiz shows were a type of gambling and were therefore 'dirty'. The US Supreme court had just four years earlier removed TV quiz shows from the category of gambling. The draconian FCC rules that were designed to prevent TV gameshow cheating also got applied to radio airplay. Have you ever wondered why some TV shows say something to the effect that somebody gave promotional consideration (they either paid or provided merchandise in exchange for mention on the show), when it is perfectly obvious that they must have given them something for the on-air plugs? The same FCC rules apply to both TV and radio. Illegal payola is essentially the giving of money or merchandise in exchange for airtime if the giving of the money or merchandise is not disclosed. TV shows can get into trouble for "product placement" items if there is no mention of the product being provided and the items are not returned. This is the reason that some older TV shows have a notice saying who provided the cars used on the show, as the cars were provided by the manufacturer and they were not returned. This is also part of the reason that some TV shows say who provided the clothing worn by the actors.
Pink Floyd reference. "Have a Cigar" from 1975/6's "Wish You Here".
Roger Waters (bassist, main song writer) has an anti-music establishment issue (despite being one of the biggest acts in rock history and making a bazillion dollars out of it)
Steve Albini wrote an excellent article in The Baffler about this very thing a few years back that I still make all of my musician friends read. It's called Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.
-- atomly
Of course, if you live in the UK, you can listen to the BBC. No adverts, so all you hear is what the DJs like. Not in the UK? Listen Online
" Right now internet radio quality is abysmal..."
It is? Have you been checking it out in the last 2 years?
"Derp de derp."
First of all, independants don't pay them to play songs!
Second, the RIAA has made the legal requirements on stations so onereous that they ORDER DJs not to play "unauthorized" music...because the lawyers can't prove it's cleared by the RIAA and they would still have to pay royalties on it! but to who? get it?
Third, most radio stations are corperate owned nowdays...they play a strict playlist scientifically developed by corperate marketing to be properly balanced with political correctness, teen angst, and homogeny. DJs playing their own mix would make the company look bad!