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Subject: FCC Needs to Hear Voices of Frustrated Music Fans

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Username: luv4llntkm
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10/26/2006 9:16 AM	Alert
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynew...852493.htm Davey D People are buzzing about FCC hearings Friday in Oakland. Those concerned over the current state of the media can voice their opinions to FCC commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael J. Copps who, like the agency's three other commissioners, have been touring the country to sample public opinion on issues ranging from proposed new rules on media consolidation to payola. A couple of weeks ago, a standing-room crowd that included members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, musicians from the group REM and ``Soul Food'' producer Tracey E. Edmonds appeared at two FCC hearings in Los Angeles. Comments at both suggested the public wants significant change. People are tired of hearing the same 10 songs played over and over on radio. They want more news and information that goes beyond the Brad Pitt-Jennifer Anniston template. And they are growing wary of media being increasingly consolidated in the hands of a few companies whose sole concern seems to be the bottom line, without regard to issues raised by the public. In Los Angeles, Mike Mills, bass player for REM, focused on issues surrounding local airplay. He presented evidence that, with consolidation, uniform national playlists have been adopted by chain stations for most music genres. As a result, stations in Atlanta sound no different from ones in Nashville. He also noted that consolidation makes it almost impossible for emerging artists not tied to a major record label to get any traction. He argued that media consolidation prevents the nurturing of unique regional sounds. This week's Radio and Records (R&R) radio-station charts bear out Mills' point. I found virtually no differences in the songs on urban/hip-hop playlists at Clear Channel stations KMEL in San Francisco, WJLB in Detroit and Power 105 in New York, the only difference being how the songs were ranked. You might find a local artist such as E-40 played in San Francisco, a Detroit artist like Eminem charted at WJLB, and New Yorker Jim Jones highlighted on Power 105, but for the most part the song list was the same. Sadly, Mills' testimony and the R&R charts contradict recent claims from the National Association of Broadcasters, which is urging the FCC to let its members gobble up more stations so they can be ``competitive.'' The NAB claims consolidation actually has made radio stations more diverse. They'd have a hard time convincing hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa or M1 from the political rap group dead prez, who organized a town-hall meeting and spoke before the FCC commissioners in New York. In Los Angeles, Mills also spoke about payola, noting that artists who speak out against the system suddenly can find themselves blacklisted nationally or pressured to take part in radio-sponsored concerts for free, while the stations make hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for airplay. Scheduled to speak Friday in Oakland are film producer Tracey Edmonds who, with her ex-husband, Grammy winner Babyface, organized more than a dozen hip-hop and R&B singers, including Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean and Missy Elliott, to record ``Wake Up Everybody,'' a non-partisan get-out-and-vote anthem, in 2004; it was a remake of the classic of the same name by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Edmonds told the commissioners in L.A. that Clear Channel, which owns more than 1,000 stations, refused to play the song, despite the stature of the artists involved. She said she and her husband were told off the record that the song wasn't played because the station owners didn't like the fact that Babyface had come out in support of John Kerry. She argued one's support of a particular candidate had nothing to do with the song, which didn't talk about any candidate. All it did was encourage people to exercise their right to vote. Friday's hearings (5 p.m., Oakland Marriott City Center, 1001 Broadway at 10th Street) are certain to be packed with Bay Area residents telling horror stories of their own. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Davey D's hip-hop column is published biweekly in Eye. Contact him at mrdaveyd@aol.com.

Username: kenneth
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10/28/2006 9:00 AM	Alert
yea, radio is so friggin political

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Forums > Your KMF Community > Off Topic Discussion > FCC Needs to Hear Voices of Frustrated Music Fans

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