This is an example of the useless legislation politicians come up with. They call it the "Ask Musicians For Music" Act. The two sponsors have obviously never worked in radio. If they had, they'd know our phones are constantly ringing from labels, artists, and publicists asking US to play their music. Not just asking, but sometimes pleading. They offer us free tickets to see their musicians play. Just play their music.
Last week at the CMA Awards, Jennifer Nettles, half of the Grammy-winning duo Sugarland, walked the red carpet wearing a long cape on which was embroidered the words "Please Play Our Music." They're not attaching a bill to that request. All they want is free airplay. They know if we play their records, fans will go to their concerts, and that's where the real money is made. But the politicians don't understand that. So they want us to ask each artist we play if they want us to play their records. Of course they do. But this is really a scam to require us to deal with even more government bureaucracy. As if the FCC doesn't already do that.
The fact of the matter is we in radio have far more music available than we have airtime. In addition, a large percentage of the music we get stinks. It's our job to sift through the hundreds of new releases each week and find one or two songs worth adding to the playlist. I'm sure everyone in radio would gladly comply with requests from artists NOT to play their music. Just let us know if you'd rather us not play your records. Save us the time of having to sift through all the junk.
So read about the latest scam. Next time a label promotion person calls you to play their record, ask them what they think about the AMFM Act.
https://radioink.com/2019/11/21/politicians-coming-after-radio/
Last week at the CMA Awards, Jennifer Nettles, half of the Grammy-winning duo Sugarland, walked the red carpet wearing a long cape on which was embroidered the words "Please Play Our Music." They're not attaching a bill to that request. All they want is free airplay. They know if we play their records, fans will go to their concerts, and that's where the real money is made. But the politicians don't understand that. So they want us to ask each artist we play if they want us to play their records. Of course they do. But this is really a scam to require us to deal with even more government bureaucracy. As if the FCC doesn't already do that.
The fact of the matter is we in radio have far more music available than we have airtime. In addition, a large percentage of the music we get stinks. It's our job to sift through the hundreds of new releases each week and find one or two songs worth adding to the playlist. I'm sure everyone in radio would gladly comply with requests from artists NOT to play their music. Just let us know if you'd rather us not play your records. Save us the time of having to sift through all the junk.
So read about the latest scam. Next time a label promotion person calls you to play their record, ask them what they think about the AMFM Act.
https://radioink.com/2019/11/21/politicians-coming-after-radio/