(TV) OT: "But radio listeners aren't likely to hear much improvement.. "

["Casey, Leo J" <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV>]

TV, RADIO, & ONLINE
Stations cutting promoter ties 
By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent, 4/17/2003 
There was a good deal of static in the radio industry last 
week when industry giant Clear Channel announced that it 
would not renew contracts with independent record promoters 
after they expire this summer. 

Some called the severing of those longstanding relationships 
a step toward cleaning up borderline practices in the industry - 
the so-called ''pay for play'' that translates dollars directly into 
on-air spins and has become the modern version of payola. And 
independent promoters (several were contacted and refused to 
comment) may find themselves working harder for a dwindling 
amount of record company money. 

But radio listeners aren't likely to hear much improvement. In fact, 
say some industry insiders, the range of music broadcast may become 
even more narrow as the indie promoters are phased out. 
The move by Clear Channel - which counts local stations WXKS-FM (107.9) 
and WJMN-FM (94.5) among its more than 1,200 properties - is only the 
latest in a trend away from the independent promoters. The San Antonio-based 
company is following the lead of the smaller national group Cox Communications, 
which ended ties with such promoters last fall. (Cox doesn't own any Boston stations.) 

In January, a US Senate subcommittee looked into the promotion system; during that 
process, lawmakers including Senators John McCain of Arizona, Orrin Hatch of Utah, 
and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin questioned whether such promoters unduly 
influenced airplay. At the time, Clear Channel representatives argued that independent 
promoters did not determine what got broadcast - listener preference did. 
With last week's announcement, however, Clear Channel president Mark Mays 
said the company recognized that ''these relationships may appear to be something 
they're not. We have zero tolerance for `pay for play,' but want to avoid even the 
suggestion that such a practice takes place within our company.'' 

While record labels obviously spend more money promoting certain recordings, 
and the indie promoters who get better results get hired more often and paid 
more by the labels - all of which is legal - the concern is that the practice has 
simply disguised the illegal practice of paying undisclosed sums for airplay. 

While most industry observers accept that there is a relationship between 
bucks and broadcasting, few believe this move will get to the heart of the 
problem. Many doubt whether independent promoters are even to blame. 
Some experts - such as Sean Ross, editor of Airplay Monitor magazine - 
doesn't think promoters ever had that much power. ''Independent promoters 
never really controlled radio,'' he says. ''With or without them, it wouldn't 
have been the glorious free-form paradise that some of corporate radio's 
critics imagine. It wasn't indies that made WBCN go classic rock in the 
late '80s; it was a perceived market demand for classic rock that WBCN 
wanted to fill.'' 

Ross, as well as radio consultants such as Guy Zapoleon, think it likely that 
promoters will simply move back under the wing of record labels once more. 
''It just means that radio stations will have a direct promotional relationship 
with labels again,'' says the Texas-based consultant. 

For listeners, the question is more basic: With fewer promoters pushing the big 
new records, does that mean less well-financed artists will get a chance to be
 heard on air? Ross doubts it. ''My very contrarian view is that independent 
promoters have made radio less conservative. Their job, after all, is to get records 
on the radio that need help. Will PDs [program directors] who are already too 
busy to listen to music use this opportunity to spike in that Graham Parker oldie 
from their home collection? Probably not. If anything, they'll play the existing 
hits more.'' 
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