Save terrestrial radio!
Posted on 01 June 2009, at 5:34 am, by Carly Z
While streaming internet radio and satellite radio are a geek’s best friends, sometimes for convenience there’s nothing easier than plain AM/FM radio. I started using the radio in my car when I moved farther away from work; with a longer commute I was forced to cycle my playlists more often on my iPod, and the poor quality of my cassette adapter was starting to grate on me. One day I discovered 101.9RXP, and suddenly I was hooked on FM radio again. My mornng and evening commutes seem to go by faster, and I’m learning to leave my musical comfort zone…but if some of the record labels have their way, local radio is going to have a very hard time bringing you new music, as they’re going to be paying a performance tax on all the music they play. Want to know how you can learn more, and possibly help your local radio station? Read on.
Noperformancetax.org has a great explanation of the issue:
What is a performance tax?
A performance tax is a fee that record labels want the government to impose on local radio stations simply for airing music free of charge for listeners.In recent years, the record labels have seen sales of albums decline as more listeners opt for digital downloads. However, radio remains the number one promotional vehicle for music – it’s not responsible for the label’s resistance to the digital age, and it shouldn’t be on the hook to fix it. Radio already provides between $1.5 to $2.4 billion dollars annually in music sales for artists and record labels. By pushing a tax on local radio, record labels are biting the hand that feeds them.
If you live in the NY/NJ area, you can go to 1019rxp.com and check out their listing of your congresspeople. Let them know that you don’t want to see local radio get hurt by this tax. If you live in another part of the country, check with your local music stations to find out if they have information or if they’ll be affected by this as well.
While not everyone listens to FM radio anymore, it is a great tool to promote new music and be exposed to different artists. Not every area has great 3G coverage for streaming radio (not to mention the hurdles that those programs face as well), and not everyone has satellite radio or the means/desire to pay a monthly fee for their music. The march towards digital music is littered with the remains of programs that did not survive facing off against the record labels; don’t let FM radio die a premature death.
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Dave Carter Says:
June 1st, 2009 at 1:35 pmSave terrestrial radio! | Gear Diary http://bit.ly/ASQVa
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June 1st, 2009 at 5:43 am
Can the recording industry say “dying market”?
Soon they will go the way of GM though there will be no government bailout. At least I don’t think there will be.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:12 am
I can’t say I feel much sympathy for the plight of terrestrial radio – remember how THEY got themselves here?
- Replacing DJ’s who would have choices as to what they played with computer generated playlists that were easily bought off by record companies …
- Multiple stations with ultra-generic content to allow playing at work as background noise.
- Media agglomeration causing the death of many small independent stations.
When we were moving and I was living in a hotel here for a month I really tried with local radio. Now my tastes are very non-mainstream, but even still I couldn’t stomach the lack of choice – it was Jesus below 92, then a mix of Country, so-called ‘Classic Rock’, Easy Listening (now called ‘light hits’, and Rap.
My son recently lost his iPod for two weeks and had to suffer through it, and was not thrilled at the choice.
When we were in a major metro market (Boston), I had a couple of stations that would be worth listening to – actually both were college radio. But even in those innovative markets you are lucky to get 1-2% ‘outside the programmed playlist’ stuff. Outside those markets … fuggataboutit.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:31 am
Michael, you should be able to get 101.9 where you are…it’s really good for radio. My tastes are far from mainstream, and I usually avoid radio (Though I did occasionally listen to FNX when I lived in Boston.)
However, there’s something to be said for keeping some form of radio alive…especially rock radio. K-Rock went away recently, and RXP is the only real “rock” station left in the NYC are. Until internet radio steps up big time, or satellite somehow pulls a miracle recovery and cheaper plans out of nowhere, FM radio is still the cheapest and easiest way to get music on the go in a vehicle.
Beyond the music itself, there’s the community aspect; again, I can only speak for the radio I am familiar with, but they are big on community involvement and reaching out to small businesses, they run information on what’s around the NYC area on weekends, they offer free concert ticket options, plus they play local bands a fair amount as well. From what I remember, FNX was the same way (at least when I was listening…through 2006ish).
If music radio disappears, the only local connection through radio becomes talk radio, NPR, etc. Not bad, but sometimes it’s nice to cruise home with music and be surprised by the choices you encounter. Also, and I can’t say this enough, FM radio is free. Completely free. Every other option costs something (internet radio=data plan, satellite=monthly costs), so if you don’t want to pay extra it’s your iPod, FM radio, or nothing.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:54 am
When I say my tastes are far from mainstream, I am talking about this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O56aIYwqyZ4)
But yeah, I get what you’re saying … there are definite reasons to support ‘non-corporate’ radio. But again, FNX is a minority in a market dominated with stations running the same 25 songs over and over. And when those folks make appearances it is a very different feel than independent radio folks.
The question is how to make sure those ‘worthwhile’ stations survive when all of the corporate money is going into the bland ones that need to go away.