Future of Music Coalition Statement on FCC Payola Settlement

FUTURE OF MUSIC COALITION STATEMENT ON FCC PAYOLA SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: Future of Music Coalition]
Payola has been the radio and music industry's dirty secret for decades. While the Federal Communications Commission avoided taking action on payola, leaders like Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Senator Russ Feingold and then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer pushed for progress. Now, the FCC is reported to be on the brink of pushing through a negotiated consent decree with the broadcast industry. This consent decree could bring to an end the broad investigation that the FCC announced in the aftermath of the Spitzer investigation. Future of Music Coalition strongly believes that any successful settlement must have three components: 1. A basic framework that outlines how the local independent music community can interact with the commercial radio industry to gain access to commercial airplay; 2. A credible oversight plan that ensures the negotiated framework can be enforced in a way that will lead to true reform; and 3. serious penalties that hold the broadcast industry responsible for years of abusive practices that have so damaged the music community and the public. Any deal that does not address all three points must be judged a failure.
http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/FCCpayolaconsentdecree07.cfm