Payola, big media, and the crap we are fed on the radio
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Many times I wonder what must go through the minds of the program directors at stations throughout the country. What makes them over-play some music to death, while completely ignoring other music that is every bit as good, if not better, than what they've ground up and spit out all over us, the listening audience.
Well, we need not wonder much any more. It's an old problem, but it's apparently back again and with a vengeance.
What am I talking about -- read the headline again -- PAYOLA.
Need to know what Payola is? From Dictionary.com:
pay·o·la
n.
Why am I talking about Payola, because several record companies, and several radio station executives have been caught passing out or receiving payola. Fairly blatantly at that.
For original sources, try here, or here. The second of these two sources has the better version of the news, as it goes into more detail on the story, though it's not the story that had lit the spark on me writing this article. Unfortunately I can't find that article currently (haven't hit the right google search terms, sorry).
In the article I wanted to reference, it was alluded to that several Clear Channel programmers were incredibly blatant about payola type requests and demands. That is not to say all of the Clear Channel system is that way. In fact the second source article referenced in the paragraph above includes the typical denials and claims that Clear Channel takes the issue very seriously and won't tolerate it, etc. But the source I originally read over the last few days had gone on to say that the investigations had found the problem to be much bigger than just one or two isolated instances as one would believe if they only read the stories above.
It's been obvious for some time that the music we hear on the radio waves is still over-processed and full of the same old, same old. For a while I was participating in some sort of music survey system where I'd get called and go through about 40 recordings being asked whether I was tired of them, liked them, really liked them, etc. After the first couple of times participating I had noticed quickly that the list of musicians was too short, and the content I was being asked about pretty closely mirrored what I was hearing on the radio. Hearing what was on the radio was understandable, but the survey folks weren't even bothering to try to introduce anything new and ask if I might like it, hoped to hear more, etc. It was always stuff that had been played on the radio, and never anything that I would hope to hear there later.
Some artists have virtually come and gone and never had their content played on the radio. Were it not for having encountered the artist elsewhere, such as American Idol, Nashville Star, or similar venues, I wouldn't know them at all. It's not as if I can count on the local stations to introduce me to up and coming artists, or at least not very frequently.
The articles referenced above tell a good part of the reason why not. Because someone, somewhere, wasn't paid enough or didn't receive enough gifts to encourage them to play other artists, or there just wasn't enough room on the airwaves after dealing with the folks that were paying for space there.
I hope that Mr. Spitzer and his compatriots throughout the states are able to clean this mess up and leave the public with the type of radio they deserve. Whether or not it really happens, I somewhat doubt, but we should at least try.
Well, we need not wonder much any more. It's an old problem, but it's apparently back again and with a vengeance.
What am I talking about -- read the headline again -- PAYOLA.
Need to know what Payola is? From Dictionary.com:
pay·o·la
n.
- Bribery of an influential person in exchange for the promotion of a product or service, such that of disc jockeys for the promotion of records.
- A bribe or a number of bribes given to an influential person in exchange for a promotion of a product or service: “I do not mean to imply that most Wall Street analysts typically receive payola for touting particular stocks” (Burton G. Malkiel).
Why am I talking about Payola, because several record companies, and several radio station executives have been caught passing out or receiving payola. Fairly blatantly at that.
For original sources, try here, or here. The second of these two sources has the better version of the news, as it goes into more detail on the story, though it's not the story that had lit the spark on me writing this article. Unfortunately I can't find that article currently (haven't hit the right google search terms, sorry).
In the article I wanted to reference, it was alluded to that several Clear Channel programmers were incredibly blatant about payola type requests and demands. That is not to say all of the Clear Channel system is that way. In fact the second source article referenced in the paragraph above includes the typical denials and claims that Clear Channel takes the issue very seriously and won't tolerate it, etc. But the source I originally read over the last few days had gone on to say that the investigations had found the problem to be much bigger than just one or two isolated instances as one would believe if they only read the stories above.
It's been obvious for some time that the music we hear on the radio waves is still over-processed and full of the same old, same old. For a while I was participating in some sort of music survey system where I'd get called and go through about 40 recordings being asked whether I was tired of them, liked them, really liked them, etc. After the first couple of times participating I had noticed quickly that the list of musicians was too short, and the content I was being asked about pretty closely mirrored what I was hearing on the radio. Hearing what was on the radio was understandable, but the survey folks weren't even bothering to try to introduce anything new and ask if I might like it, hoped to hear more, etc. It was always stuff that had been played on the radio, and never anything that I would hope to hear there later.
Some artists have virtually come and gone and never had their content played on the radio. Were it not for having encountered the artist elsewhere, such as American Idol, Nashville Star, or similar venues, I wouldn't know them at all. It's not as if I can count on the local stations to introduce me to up and coming artists, or at least not very frequently.
The articles referenced above tell a good part of the reason why not. Because someone, somewhere, wasn't paid enough or didn't receive enough gifts to encourage them to play other artists, or there just wasn't enough room on the airwaves after dealing with the folks that were paying for space there.
I hope that Mr. Spitzer and his compatriots throughout the states are able to clean this mess up and leave the public with the type of radio they deserve. Whether or not it really happens, I somewhat doubt, but we should at least try.
) I do get tired of the repetitiveness of their programming though, which is part of why I got satellite radio to begin with.