The recording industry is still locked in a battle with the radio business, saying that radio needs to help them fatten their profit margins to pre-Napster levels pay royalties on the songs it plays, because music is the lifeblood of radio and this whole “free play” thing that’s been in effect for years is just not fair. The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents the terrestrial-radio industry, claims that the reason it doesn’t pay royalties for playing music involves radio’s value as a “promotional tool,” which stems from the idea that, perhaps, maybe people will actually be moved to acquire music after actually getting a chance to hear it and decide whether or not they like it. But musicians and record labels and songwriters are not having it. They want their money now! As musicFirst spokesman Martin Machowsky told Wired‘s Threat Level: “[Broadcasting songs on radio is] a form of piracy, if you will, but not in the classic sense as we think of it… Today we gifted them a can of herring, about their argument that they provide promotional value. We think that’s a red herring.” (What is this, Clue?) “Nobody listens to the radio for the commercials.” Tell that to the guy who sings the Foxwoods commercial, Martin!
Radio listening is down across the board, but there’s a difference in just how much one socioeconomic group has been tuning out: “Over the last decade, college graduates ages 25-54, who make up an increasingly large portion of the population, have abandoned radio eight times faster than… More »
Obviously, if you own a chain of radio stations, corporate board meetings have to be a real delight these days. Ratings are down, the satellite radio merger makes them a vastly more viable player in the industry, advertisers are fleeing left and right, the majority of your programming sucks…there’s very little happy news going around. But then again, maybe you’re just understood. Things aren’t as bad as they seem, right? What’s the only solution? EXECUTIVE ROAD TRIP!
Looks like the Supreme Court has the opportunity to put its review of FCC indecency policies to test in the real world, as New Jersey’s Montclair State University has opened an investigation into the on-air behavior of disc jockeys at the university’s student-run station, WMSC 90.3.
Will the last smooth jazz station to leave the air blow out the candles? Houston’s own The Wave has flipped formats from the soothing sounds of Paul Hardcastle and Candy Dulfer to a contemporary hits format which according to the station manager will feature tracks from “Alicia Keys, Beyoncé,… More »
Radio ad revenue was down two percent from the previous year in 2007, with fourth-quarter revenue down a whopping five percent from the same frame in 2006, according to figures released by the Radio Advertising Bureau yesterday. More »
Another smooth jazz station bites the dust: Citadel has abandoned the format on Washington, D.C. station WJZW, flipping the channel to a ’60s/’70s hybrid that’s being called “True Oldies 105.9” and that focuses on rock and Motown hits from the two decades. More »
More on the brand-new NYC rock station WRXP: To answer a commenter’s question, it’s apparently hoping to differentiate itself from its crosstown rock-radio competitor K-Rock by not having idiots like Opie & Anthony during AM drive time* and claiming that its format merges “New Music, Classic Rock, Alternative & Local Rock into a new adult blend called ‘The New York Rock Experience.” (The press release also says that the station’ll be hiring “live and local on-air talent for the station”; if any Emmis reps are reading this, I’d like to say hello.) To help listeners figure out just what they’ll be, um, experiencing as part of their New York Rock Experience, the release lists 22 artists; as Chris Molanphy said when I showed it to him, it’s “comforting comfort food” and as heavy on the dudes as you’d expect from a commercial rock station. But hey, it is Seether-free. Full list after the jump.
Since many people find it hard to tell the great from the godawful when it comes to 21st-century mainstream rock, welcome to “Corporate Rock Still Sells,” where Al Shipley (a.k.a. Idolator commenter GovernmentNames) examines what’s good, bad, and ugly in the world of Billboard‘s rock charts. This time around he gives Billboard‘s current rock radio charts a once-over:
Since many people find it hard to tell the great from the godawful when it comes to 21st-century mainstream rock, welcome to “Corporate Rock Still Sells,” where Al Shipley (a.k.a. Idolator commenter GovernmentNames) examines what’s good, bad, and ugly in the world of Billboard‘s rock charts. This time around, he tries to find out just how Arbitron’s new ratings systems are impacting the modern rock radio landscape:
