Is Payola Settlement Good for Indies?

I guess I must have been sleeping in March when news broke that four major radio companies -- Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Entercom and Citadel -- agreed to pay a $12.5 million payola settlement with the FCC.

Jonathan Adelstein, an FCC Commissioner and amateur musician, has been credited with working out the settlements. "I love music and I want radio to sound fresh, dynamic and real," he said. "But payola gets in the way of authenticity because money drives the music, not its quality."

Another FCC commissioner, Michael Copps, said pay-for-play "cheats radio listeners and will not be tolerated." Radio, he said, is "supposed to be our pipeline to exciting, local undiscovered acts -- not more nationalized pablum from big media companies."

Wow. Is this really a government bureaucracy talking? I'm floored!

Here's an interesting side note: In a separate deal with the American Association of Independent Music, the stations pledged to give 4,200 hours of free airtime to independent and local artists.

This is an encouraging development. During my two trips to Nova Scotia I was impressed by the way the Canadian government supports homegrown talent and requires radio stations to play a certain percentage of Canadian artists. It looks like some version of that principle is coming to the U.S.

What do you think? Is it the dawn of a new day for radio? Or just a Band-Aid to temporarily fix a broken system?

-Bob


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