Payola Settlement Will Not Prevent Radio World From Collapsing Around Our Ears

Yesterday’s settlement between four major radio-broadcasting groups and the Federal government, in which radio stations will be required to pay out fines and give chunks of time over to indie labels, is being hailed as an historic moment by the more optimistic members of the media. But Jerry Del Colliano, a USC professor, isn’t so sure:

These four major “angels” will give up a collective 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for indie record labels and local artists according to the AP report. I’ll bet these half-hours will be in morning drive at about 7:20 am, right? I was talking to an old PD friend of mine and we were kidding about how early Sunday morning these half hours of freshness will run. Hell, 8,400 half hours is only a pimple on the program director’s butt — an insignificant amount of time.

What’s been interesting to us is the press –with headlines like “FCC payola probe boosts indie music,” “Settlement opens radio giants to independent music,” and “Payola deal could be big for indie labels,” you’d think that the indies were actually getting their music mixed into stations’ everyday playlists, instead of ghettoized half-hours that are chopped up and distributed through the wee hours of the morning all over the country. Is the deal actually better than that? Or are independent labels just supposed to take whatever’s offered them, and lap it up, even if the offers that are extended their way amount to little more than a slap in the face?

The Hypocrisy of The Payola Settlement [INSIDE MUSIC MEDIA™] Earlier: Payola Settlement Forces Radio Stations To Give Up Entire Half-Hours Of Programming