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Where The Hell Is The FCC ?

R

RipNRead

While Spitzer is making headlines suing Entercom, my question is where is the FCC? We know they are sitting on their collective a$$es in Washington pulling down a nice fat salary; but isn’t that the agency that was created to oversee the broadcasting industry?

So far there are only two members of the FCC (the Democrats) that has displayed any interest in this on-going payola controversy. Maybe the other commissioners have part-time jobs with FEMA and are too busy to address this problem.

Anyway it doesn’t really matter because all of us know that Entercom won’t be fined nor have their licenses revoked at their radio stations in Rochester and Buffalo. Their lobbyists will make sure of that with a nice fat contribution to certain people in power.

Therefore this Spitzer lawsuit is nothing but an exercise in futility. But it sure makes for great publicity in his upcoming run for governor doesn't it?
 
>
> Therefore this Spitzer lawsuit is nothing but an exercise in
> futility. But it sure makes for great publicity in his
> upcoming run for governor doesn't it?
>

It's a misguided attempt to be a champion of the people---because the public doesn't really even care about this! All the public knows is: a song is on, they like it---or they don't. End of story.

In the sheme of things, this is of NO IMPORTANCE to the avergae (or even mildly intersted) person.
 
> >
> > Therefore this Spitzer lawsuit is nothing but an exercise
> in
> > futility. But it sure makes for great publicity in his
> > upcoming run for governor doesn't it?
> >
>
> It's a misguided attempt to be a champion of the
> people---because the public doesn't really even care about
> this! All the public knows is: a song is on, they like
> it---or they don't. End of story.
>
> In the sheme of things, this is of NO IMPORTANCE to the
> avergae (or even mildly intersted) person.
>

I consider myself very average Sammy. I'm just an average white guy who used to work in radio and now paints houses and hangs drywall for a small family business. In the overall scheme of things, issues like this are of more importance to me than say, who was voted off American Idol this week.

I don't deny that most people don't care about complex issues, but at the same time, I feel strongly that more people SHOULD care about governance and what goes on behind closed corporate doors, whether it involves radio; stocks, bonds and mutual funds or commerce laws.
 
Who Cares?

> > It's a misguided attempt to be a champion of the
> > people---because the public doesn't really even care about
> > this! All the public knows is: a song is on, they like
> > it---or they don't. End of story.
> >
> > In the sheme of things, this is of NO IMPORTANCE to the
> > avergae (or even mildly intersted) person.

In the scheme of things, enough people who USED to listen to Kiss care enough to buy an MP3 player, download and/or swap a bunch of songs with their friends, and STOP LISTENING.

The #1 answer to why they stopped listening?

SHOW ME "BECAUSE THE MUSIC SUCKS."

DING! THAT'S THE #1 ANSWER!

Part of the reason the music sucks is because of spin programs, and corporate pressure to "break" an artist because they fit a marketing profile instead of offering real talent. SOMEBODY forgot that the reason radio exists is because of the MUSIC.

Thanks for playing.
 
This (Payola) Has Been Going On For Years.

Before I respond to this post let me say that this payola investigation must be news because the Democrat & Chronicle picked up on the story and actually ran it on the front page of today’s paper. It should be noted however that the local TV stations, and other radio stations had the story days before the paper decided to go with it. (I wonder if the editors at the D&C know Nixon resigned?)

I happen to agree with MCC professor Tom Proietti that payola has been going on for many years and the public is just hearing about it now because someone’s hand got caught inside the cookie jar. I often wondered at the last commercial radio station I worked at in Rochester (before going over to public radio) if someone’s palm was being greased because of the repetitious music the station was playing. That and the fact one of the many general managers the station employed over the 9 years I was there is just a plain scumbag who is capable of doing anything to line his own pockets.

Anyway it all boils down to “what’s next…not who cares”? Spitzer might be able to prove his case in civil court, but then what? A stiff fine and a few top executives losing their jobs is not going to solve the problem. This is where the FCC can actually do something positive by yanking the licenses of stations found guilty of payola. In other words hit them where it really hurts; in the pocketbook.

<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>
 
You Want Pain?

> This is where the FCC can actually do something positive by
> yanking the licenses of stations found guilty of payola. In
> other words hit them where it really hurts; in the pocketbook.

In that case, it appears that every major broadcast company is in danger of losing virtually all of their CHR, Urban, Rock/Active Rock, AC, Hot AC, and Country stations. Now THAT would be realignment, huh?

Wouldn't it be ironic if a "Modern Christian" station got popped for payola...
 
Re: You Want Pain?

>
> In that case, it appears that every major broadcast company
> is in danger of losing virtually all of their CHR, Urban,
> Rock/Active Rock, AC, Hot AC, and Country stations. Now THAT
> would be realignment, huh?

Actually that might be the start of something positive. Breaking up the monopolies and allowing for more competition. But that won't happen. After all this is America. I'm just surprised that radio doesn't outsource its music and announcers from India, China, or some other country where labor is cheap.

>
> Wouldn't it be ironic if a "Modern Christian" station got
> popped for payola...
>
The only thing some “Modern Christian” stations are guilty of is discriminating against potential employees because of their religious affiliation. Someone I know, who is Catholic, claims he was fired from the religious station he worked at because he wasn’t affiliated with “ the right religion”. He claims they called him a “heathen” and he threatened to sue them in court. Days later he was fired. Now that’s his story. There maybe another side to it.<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>
 
> While Spitzer is making headlines suing Entercom, my
> question is where is the FCC? We know they are sitting on
> their collective a$$es in Washington pulling down a nice fat
> salary; but isn’t that the agency that was created to
> oversee the broadcasting industry?
>
> So far there are only two members of the FCC (the Democrats)
> that has displayed any interest in this on-going payola
> controversy. Maybe the other commissioners have part-time
> jobs with FEMA and are too busy to address this problem.
>
> Anyway it doesn’t really matter because all of us know that
> Entercom won’t be fined nor have their licenses revoked at
> their radio stations in Rochester and Buffalo. Their
> lobbyists will make sure of that with a nice fat
> contribution to certain people in power.
>
> Therefore this Spitzer lawsuit is nothing but an exercise in
> futility. But it sure makes for great publicity in his
> upcoming run for governor doesn't it?
>


I wonder why the radio and music industry don't fight back. Is there really a need for the Payola rules in this day and age anyway? I see nothing wrong with a radio station forcing a record company to pay for play.<P ID="signature">______________
Jon Scaptura
Binghamton Radio Archive
http://www.BinghamtonRadio.com
</P>
 
Victimless Crime?

> I wonder why the radio and music industry don't fight back.
> Is there really a need for the Payola rules in this day and
> age anyway? I see nothing wrong with a radio station forcing
> a record company to pay for play.

Jon, have you read the AG's complaint? The issue isn't "play for pay", the issue is the radio station identifying songs that they "play for pay".

In a nutshell, the public has the expectation that a radio station is picking music because of its merit, and that the limited playlists represent the best of a particular genre. If you tell the public you're playing Jessica Simpson because the recording company gave you a laptop, the public may have a different reaction to having to listen to the latest Jessica Simpson recording every two hours.

Not only that, but the music companies are essential being defrauded when radio stations bury recordings in a hot overnight rotation to increase their "spin count" while most listeners aren't hearing the recording.

Stockholders are defrauded when recording companies tell them that they have hot new artists with thousands of "spins" when the spins are happening outside normal listening hours. The recording companies then blame "file sharing" for the fact that they're not selling that recording.

Artists are defrauded because the recording companies are paying serious money to radio stations for spins, and the recordings are essentially going unheard. New artists can have a recording that gets to the top of the chart based on sping count, but doesn't sell enough copies to offset the $200,000 "promotion" budget because guys like Dave Universal demanded - and got - compensation like travel and tickets for Yankee games in return for burying their recording on the overnight show.

So, is there a need for Payola rules in this day and age? The music industry was being raped, and they're most likely the ones who blew the whistle on the whole scheme in the first place.

SONY settled for $10-million. Not chump change by any measure, but WKSE in Buffalo - market #52 - collected nearly $1-million per year from the music industry (not just Sony). Imagine what radio stations in NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, and the rest got. $10-million is a cost of doing business when it allows you to tell the indies and broadcast execs that the money train ain't leavin' the station anymore.

PS - Not to mention that Payola is ILLEGAL. You want to change the law? Write your Congressman, don't just ignore the law.
 
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