In a somewhat unusual move, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau on Thursday released an “enforcement advisory” dedicated to the “covert manipulation of radio airplay based on artist participation in promotions or events” — a violation of Commission regulatory policy.
The distribution of the advisory comes days after Tennessee Senator and former House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Marsha Blackburn wrote to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to rein in the practice of free artist performances by broadcast stations.
The two-page Enforcement Bureau document was released “to ensure that radio broadcasters do not violate federal law when they have artists perform at radio station events or festivals.”
That’s the principal subject of Blackburn’s January 30 letter to Carr, who seeks to “bring attention to an issue critically impacting Tennessee’s content creators, particularly its songwriters and music community.”
She explains, “From what we have learned, it appears that to sidestep these restrictions, radio stations and networks have adopted a troubling new tactic. Instead of demanding cash or lavish perks from record labels in exchange for airplay, they now pressure artists to perform ‘free radio shows’— also referred to as ‘listener appreciation shows’ or ‘charitable concert events.’ We have heard the new scheme works in this manner: radio stations and networks offer more airtime for an artist’s songs if the artist performs a free show. There is often an implicit suggestion that declining to perform could result in reduced airplay. Radio stations and networks often receive the financial benefit of these shows through ticket sales, sponsorships, and other income while the artists and record labels frequently absorb the expense.”
Blackburn calls the purported practice “exploitative and should not be tolerated,” adding, “Artists should not be extorted into providing free labor in exchange for airplay” while urging Carr “to take swift action to end this abuse and protect our music community.”
The “swift action” — for now — is the advisory, in which the Enforcement Bureau reminds licensees that “neither broadcast licensees nor their personnel can compel or accept unreported free or unreported reduced fee performances by musicians in exchange for more favorable airplay.”
ALL’S FAIR FOR AM AND FM?
Blackburn’s letter to Carr came as the Volunteer State Senator reintroduced the pro-recording industry American Music Fairness Act in the upper body of Congress. The bill, which has been discussed in the House of Representatives but never advanced for a full floor vote across the last several years, seeks to impose additional performance fees on local radio broadcasters while failing to address recording industry artist relations gaps that Chappell Roan brought to light on Sunday while accepting the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Superstar Taylor Swift is perhaps the most famous recording artist to also tackle long-standing big-label issues that go far beyond a desire to take more from Radio.
As such, Blackburn’s “plugola” concern is perhaps overshadowed by her alignment with AMFA supporters such as musicFIRST and SoundExchange, which charges a 4.6% “administrative fee” for all artists it collects for. SoundExchange stands to gain tens of millions more if the legislation is enacted, Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink reports.
While the “AMFA” remains a concern to Radio, there remains a large amount of bipartisan support for the Local Radio Freedom Act, a non-binding resolution that asserts that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charges on local radio stations. The Act’s last iteration gained 226 co-sponsors in the House and 24 in the Senate – far more than the AMFA.
