FCC Settles Payola Squabble with the Big Four. The entire consent decree settled at $12.5 million against CC, CBS, Citadel and Entercom.
NEWS RELEASE WASHINGTON, April 13
FCC settles with Clear Channel, others on payola
Clear Channel Communications Inc. and two other radio station owners agreed to pay a combined $12.5 million to settle investigations into whether they received secret payments to play certain songs, the Federal Communications Commission announced on Friday.
The consent decrees between the agency and the four broadcasters came more than a year after the FCC started investigating possible secret payments made by the music industry to radio stations in exchange for playing certain songs on air. The practice is also known as "payola."
Clear Channel will pay $3.5 million and CBS Radio will pay $3 million, according to the settlements.
Also signing consent decrees were Entercom Communications Corp. , which will pay $4 million, and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. , which will pay $2 million.
In addition to the payments, the companies agreed to limit gifts and concert tickets from record companies to station employees and promised to hold regular training for employees about payola restrictions.
The four radio station owners also separately agreed to set aside 4,200 hours of free radio time for local and independent musicians and agreed .
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, said the settlements showed the agency was taking a tough stand and "will not tolerate" payola or other violations of FCC regulations.
However, Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, said a wave of consolidation in the broadcasting industry has also played a big role in eliminating radio access for independent musicians. Concentration of station ownership "makes for radio that sounds the same everywhere," he said.
Copps urged radio listeners to send an e-mail to the FCC in coming months about whether they are hearing more and better music. "If, in one year, we are hearing more local musicians instead of the same slim crew of nationalized fare over and over again, we'll know we advanced the ball," he said.
The FCC launched its probe of the four broadcasters following an extensive investigation by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, currently that state's governor.
Last year, music companies such as EMI Group Plc and Sony BMG, agreed to pay fines to settle with the New York Attorney General's office over allegations of pay-for-play practices.
NEWS RELEASE WASHINGTON, April 13
FCC settles with Clear Channel, others on payola
Clear Channel Communications Inc. and two other radio station owners agreed to pay a combined $12.5 million to settle investigations into whether they received secret payments to play certain songs, the Federal Communications Commission announced on Friday.
The consent decrees between the agency and the four broadcasters came more than a year after the FCC started investigating possible secret payments made by the music industry to radio stations in exchange for playing certain songs on air. The practice is also known as "payola."
Clear Channel will pay $3.5 million and CBS Radio will pay $3 million, according to the settlements.
Also signing consent decrees were Entercom Communications Corp. , which will pay $4 million, and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. , which will pay $2 million.
In addition to the payments, the companies agreed to limit gifts and concert tickets from record companies to station employees and promised to hold regular training for employees about payola restrictions.
The four radio station owners also separately agreed to set aside 4,200 hours of free radio time for local and independent musicians and agreed .
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, said the settlements showed the agency was taking a tough stand and "will not tolerate" payola or other violations of FCC regulations.
However, Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, said a wave of consolidation in the broadcasting industry has also played a big role in eliminating radio access for independent musicians. Concentration of station ownership "makes for radio that sounds the same everywhere," he said.
Copps urged radio listeners to send an e-mail to the FCC in coming months about whether they are hearing more and better music. "If, in one year, we are hearing more local musicians instead of the same slim crew of nationalized fare over and over again, we'll know we advanced the ball," he said.
The FCC launched its probe of the four broadcasters following an extensive investigation by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, currently that state's governor.
Last year, music companies such as EMI Group Plc and Sony BMG, agreed to pay fines to settle with the New York Attorney General's office over allegations of pay-for-play practices.