Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Leveling the Musical Playing Field
If you ever had the queasy sensation that some artists receive more radio airplay than others and wondered if there was some corporate connection between the big-record-label artists and what you hear on the radio, well, then you were probably on to something. Sony BMG, which promotes artists signed to Arista, Columbia, and Jive among other labels, has just been fined $10 million for bribing radio stations to increase their artists' airplay. Investigations have now been launched into other major record labels for similar illegal practices.
It's a shame that in a democratic/capitalistic society where people compete and ideally the best, by virtue of their talent and mass-appeal, rise to the top that radio stations and record labels have been conspiring for years to control what we hear for their personal benefit. The music business is tough enough to break into, these practices only further limited what we heard and probably prevented many rising artists from a fair chance at success. No wonder we hear so few artists on small, independent labels. We can only hope that these investigations and fines will level the musical playing field, and that into the future we will benefit from a broader diversity of sounds and artists on the airwaves where the best and most talented (as opposed to those signed to the biggest and "best" record labels) succeed.
Read more about it: "Sony Agrees to $10M 'Payola' Settlement" Yahoo News/AP.
It's a shame that in a democratic/capitalistic society where people compete and ideally the best, by virtue of their talent and mass-appeal, rise to the top that radio stations and record labels have been conspiring for years to control what we hear for their personal benefit. The music business is tough enough to break into, these practices only further limited what we heard and probably prevented many rising artists from a fair chance at success. No wonder we hear so few artists on small, independent labels. We can only hope that these investigations and fines will level the musical playing field, and that into the future we will benefit from a broader diversity of sounds and artists on the airwaves where the best and most talented (as opposed to those signed to the biggest and "best" record labels) succeed.
Read more about it: "Sony Agrees to $10M 'Payola' Settlement" Yahoo News/AP.
