You have to hand it to SoundExchange. They always seem to come up with creative, inventive, and imaginative ways to try to extract money from the broadcast radio industry.
As opposed to trying to innovate their way out of their mess through creative solutions that would be good for their artists, radio, and the American public, they continue to flail away at their long-term symbiotic partners who they somehow believe are in better shape than they are.
Their newest wrongheaded plan is to force radio to pay royalties on pre-72 songs in digital simulcasts. Called “Project 72 – Respect All Music,” this legislation states that all recordings should be treated the same, suggesting that labels and artists have missed out on $60+ million in digital streaming royalties. Granted that this initiative is clearly aimed more at Pandora and SiriusXM, the reality is that broadcast radio streaming will be impacted as well.
“Respect All Music?” Like AM/FM broadcasters haven’t respected seminal artists from the ‘60s throughout their history?
R-E-S-P-E-C-T-?
R-E-A-L-L-Y-?
As noted, this plan affects all “radio,” from AM/FM broadcasters who stream Oldies and Classic Rock, to SiriusXM, Pandora, and other pure-plays. The net effect would be to limit and diminish airplay for classic artists in modern digital settings, at just the time when these activities are becoming mainstream. While pure-plays and satellite radio have been around for only a few short years, broadcasters have played this music – and heavily promoted it in every conceivable way – for decades.
There are many hard feelings in play here, revolving around who’s getting rich, who’s being treated unfairly, and who’s getting screwed. And there are impressive artists who have joined SoundExchange’s efforts, from the Allman Brothers to Yoko Ono.
Thinking about this from a broadcaster perspective, however, you could make the case that if it weren’t for all the FM airplay over these past few many years – especially on Oldies and Classic Rock/Hits stations – where would many of these artists and their music be today? On jukeboxes, gathering dust in record collections, and on DJ playlists at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.
You may remember seeing that amazing Eagles documentary (History of the Eagles: The Story of an American Band) on Showtime last year. There’s a quote from Glenn Frey, discussing the viability of the band reforming after it had split up in 1980. Not long after, Classic Rock radio got going, and as Frey pointed out, “When the band broke up, they kept playing our songs. All the time. It was like we never went away. We were still on the radio.”
That heavy airplay kept the Eagles – and hundreds of other bands – top of mind, viable, and in a great position to cash in on concerts, festivals, and the merch that is sold at these events. Broadcast radio airplay helped sell millions of albums, especially during the CD explosion in the ’80s when collectors started to replace their worn out vinyl records. And all the while, broadcast radio continued to support vintage artists as they toured – long before XM or Pandora or even the Internet even existed.
An onerous fee for pre-72 digital rights will only discourage broadcasters – already concerned about aging audiences – from continuing to support these formats via streams, cutting off a key element of exposure, especially to younger ears.
As someone who’s been in the middle of the Classic Rock revolution these past two decades, I have seen radio’s amazing impact on these artists, albums, and bands first-hand. And the constant airplay, support, and adulation have opened the doors for these songs to be featured in movies, on TV, and in commercial soundtracks, exposing them to new generations of fans. Little of that was happening before Classic Rock radio became the popular, mainstream format that it is today.
But there’s another piece to this pie. Of all the exposure points, FM radio’s Classic Rock/Hits stations provide something that Pandora and Spotify don’t – the stories behind the songs, the local connection to the music, free promotion of concerts when these bands tour every summer, and the ability to interact with even larger communities of fans via social media efforts that broadcasters have supported.
SoundExchange would do well to focus its efforts on creative partnership opportunities with its artists and the FM radio stations that have consistently supported them. Station appearances, interviews, concerts tours, and other promotional tie-ins are win-wins for all concerned. And they’ll simply generate more airplay at a time when the long tail only disperses exposure rather than to aggregate it. Broadcast radio formats still serve as mass meeting forums where consumers of like tastes come together to hear their favorite songs, hosted by trusted DJs.
This positive activity would sell more merch, more downloads, more CDs, more vinyl, and more concert tickets. And not just in 2014, but for years and years to come.
A collaborative approach would be welcomed by a broadcast radio industry that is looking to stand out in an ever-increasing crowd of choice. And exempting AM/FM radio would free up the NAB’s Gordon Smith to spend more time with automakers, while wasting less time on issues like this one.
Why doesn’t SoundExchange get that?
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Right on, Fred! Radio and Audio Delivery has ALWAYS done tremendous things for artists, composers and musicians. As a native New Yorker, Radio and Records is more iconic that Baseball and Ballentine.
Music and information are released to the public. Those with the ability to convey content should be thanked for their efforts creating the exposure, awareness, demand and satisfaction of serving (and driving) the audience. ANYONE who’s enjoyed hearing available music, please raise your hand.
Simply, music licensing short sighted greed is shutting off communicators who deliver what great artists have to offer. What we do for you costs and serves in many ways. Respectfully, I never heard of you in ’72. Say thank you and send US the check.
Appreciate it, Clark. They may have issues with satellite and pure-plays, but broadcast radio has provided an incredible level of support for legacy artists. Thanks for commenting.
I could write a book here…but I won’t. Some basic points:
1) SX doesn’t believe that radio is doing better than it is – they just don’t care. They can see the numbers as well as anyone else.
2) SX rhetoric about artists is just that. They do an abysmal job of finding artists (to pay them) and every time someone has initiated a project to uncover where these people are they find a bunch with minimal effort.
3) The PR spray that has originated with SX over the years makes a skunk seem like the latest Chanel scent. They lie with impunity and spend money that should be going to the artists they have no apparent interest in finding on lobbying for the music industry when they are supposed to be collecting and distributing royalties – period. $.50 of every dollar they spend on lobbying is coming right out of artist’s pockets.
4) The artists who are signing on to this quest are misguided too. There isn’t enough money (according to THEIR PR spray) to make much of difference anyway. Even at $.70 on the dollar, streaming royalties don’t seem to be enough to make artists feel adequately compensated, while its WAY to much to allow any streamer to make a profit.
5) The current system leaves no viable business model. While on the face of it, there is no good reason to exempt pre 1972 songs, its just adding another mile of pavement on a road to nowhere. They should scrap the entire system which is based on a falsehood (willing buyer/seller when clearly the music industry is not a willing seller) that leaves both sides in the poorhouse and start from scratch. Much has changed and evolved since 1998 when the music industry lobbyists wrote this law that congress passed word for word.
6) To Fred’s point – radio has, is and always will be a better friend to artists – particularly legacy ones than the music industry ever has, is or will be. Anything that comes between them is self destructive.
7) Radio, Pandora, Spotify, Apple and so many others are stakeholders here and it would serve them all well to unite and expose the current law and its lone backer (the record biz) for the one sided set up it is.
Bob, couldn’t agree more with all these points. Some of the crazy statements by SoundExchange these past few years that have denigrated radio’s contributions to their music show disdain for the synergy that musicians, writers, artists, and radio have created over the years. Radio has always embraced the people who have made the music, and continue to this day – in spite of misguided campaigns like Project72. Thanks again.
Please!! What a bunch of whining! The broadcast industry made billions off the backs of these artists, playing their songs for free while charging high-priced fees for advertising! I’ve lobbied long and hard to get this to stop. Every other country pays royalties, and as a SiriusXM subscriber, I can’t fathom why I have to pay royalties and others don’t. Broadcast radio is now crying buckets of tears because their free ride is coming to end. Cry me a freaking river. I find my pity is…not there.
Brad, you’re welcome to that opinion, as there are many facets to this conversation. But over the years – as well as today – you’re hard-pressed to find another outlets that has supported these classic stars more than broadcast radio. Appreciate you taking the time to chime in.
Great post Fred and Brad, while I appreciate your thoughts….next time the Foreigner, Styx, Don Felder tour rolls into town (as it did in mine Sunday night) and the concert promoter is begging for help for a show where a artist(s) hasn’t had a significant new song in 25 years..can I give them your number for assistance? I gave them over 20k of “help” on my multiple hundred thousand person cuming stations and helped them immensely.
What you got to offer?
Dave, thanks for the “true story” that hundreds of radio operators could also tell about the constant and passionate support that sells tickets, CDs, and downloads. This is part of that incalculable contribution that broadcast radio continues to make to artists and groups. There is a major difference in these local radio benefits that bands simply cannot derive from pure-plays or satellite radio. Appreciate you commenting.