Music Activists Call for Payola Crackdown

As the FCC prepares its pay-to-play probe, fueled by N.Y. Attorney Gen. Eliot Spitzer's recent payola investigation, music industry experts Tues. welcomed any reforms to level the playing field for lesser known artists to get their songs on the radio. Musicians and activists cited frustrations and personal stories about the major record labels' dominance over the airwaves at the Future of Music Coalition summit in Washington, DC. Speaking at the Summit, Media Access Project President Andy Schwartzman said, "We're in the midst of a highly deregulatory Republican Administration that has signaled to the radio industry that 'we're going to look the other way.'" He said payola involves "greedy people out breaking the law at the expense of independent artists who expect more from publicly owned spectrum operators." While there's no law against pay-for-play, there are rules governing disclosure, Schwartzman said. "What's wrong is a failure to disclose. A marketplace works better when all sides have complete information," he said.
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