Radio Ink - Radio's Premier Management & Marketing Magazine

WASHINGTON -- April 29, 2009: The Future of Music Coalition has looked at radio playlists since Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Citadel, and Entercom signed consent decrees with the FCC in 2006 over pay-for-play allegations, and says it has found "no appreciable change in station playlists" since the agreements.

Along with financial settlements, those agreements included eight "rules of engagement" drafted by the radio groups and the American Association of Independent Music, and a collective 4,200 hours to be set aside for local, regional, and unsigned artists, and artists on independent labels.

The FMC looked at Mediaguide data for 2005-2008, using national playlists and data for the AC, Urban AC, Active Rock, Country, Top 40,Triple A, and noncomm Triple A formats, calculating "airplay share" for five different label categories to see if the major labels' share has declined over that time.

The data, says FMC, indicates "almost no change in station playlist composition in this period." Says the group, "Specifically, the national playlist data indicated very little measurable change in airplay share from 2005-2008, with major label songs consistently securing 78 to 82 percent of airplay. The format data showed some modest increases in airplay for indies on some formats (Country and AAA Non-Commercial, in particular) but otherwise the data from year to year changed very little."

Many formats, says the FMC, "leave only small portions of their playlist for new material, with current songs sprinkled in among well-worn hits." The group continues, "While such programming choices might make sense for a given station's target audience, the outcome is that there are very few spaces left on most airplay charts for new music." Even when new music is played, the study found that major-label releases receive more spins than independent music, and that "only a handful of indies have enough resources and clout to garner airplay consistently."

The report, says the FMC, "underscores how radio's long-standing relationships with major labels, its status quo programming practices, and the permissive regulatory structure all work together to create an environment in which songs from major label artists continue to dominate."

FMC Policy Director Michael Bracy said, "Radio is still an incredibly vital public resource that's worth fighting for. Its ubiquitous and local nature make it unique in the media landscape, but unfortunately today's commercial radio rarely reflects the communities where it is heard. There are so many artists who are successful by any other measure, but who still have enormous difficulty reaching the airwaves. Why is that? It's important to understand how music is programmed at commercial radio. We also need regulators to devise clear and transparent rules so they can effectively oversee such a significant industry."

The FMC said it would like to see the FCC commit to better data collection, "refocus" on localism, and expand the voices on the public airwaves.