Posted on 07/01/2021 4:51:30 PM PDT by Kaslin
Hesh Rabkin, call your office!
Now that terrestrial radio is just about dead…let’s throw them a bone.
Eating the seed corn is never smart.
They used to make their money off of record sales that were generated by radio play, didn’t they? Isn’t that where “pay for play” came from?
Greatest TV Series, Ever!
You make your money now from getting on movie and TV soundtracks.
One of the best things about The Sopranos, was the music they used, I ended up getting a lot of the songs from the show that I never even heard before.
Airplay leading to sales is such a longstanding and absolutely fundamental part of the music industry that it's astonishing if they didn't consider it.
So...minimum wage for records?
I’d love to see more vintage movie and TV cue and incidental music come out.
Granted, it’s a niche market and my wishlist will probably stay just that.
The recording studios used to pay top DJs under the table, to play songs they wanted to promote. That practice — payola — is where ‘pay-for-play’ originated, and it is now illegal.
Record companies allowed free-play of their music, in return for the publicity. That’s why DJ’s (I was one, in a small market, for a few years.) were required to either intro, or extro, every tune they played — so that people could rush out and buy the record. As others have noted, that system doesn’t work well any more.
What isn’t clear in this discussion is that songwriters have been paid royalties for decades on their recorded songs played on the radio. Performers who do not write their own songs have not been paid for radio performances.
Performers have been paid handsomely for their live performances (concerts) and that is how they become wealthy.
While the Beatles had a Ringo Starr hit with the earlier hit version by Buck Owens of “Act Naturally,” it was songwriters Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison who earned the radio performance royalties (along with Buck Owens as the song’s publisher) on the song’s airplay.
Over 82% of the money from music today comes from streaming, not sales.
Radio airplay won’t pay the bills and neither will and physical or digital sales.
Streaming has replaced product sales and only the 1% see the money.
What ‘radio stations’?
I still listen to local radio for what amounts to Muzak, but there are very few Top 100 Hits type stations still functioning now. The days where the country enjoys the same kind of popular music at once are all but over. Sad but most likely true.
Most people under 50 get their current music from podcasts and shows on the internet. This brand new law is about 40 years too late to make a difference.
Sam Moore’s heyday was during the first President Johnson Administration, if not earlier.
“As the biggest labels get bigger and the richest performers get richer, startup labels and new performers would have a harder time promoting their music and penetrating the market, which would lead to diminished consumer choice and a decline in the overall health of the music industry.”
That’s been said so many times, and every time it was false.
Then, along came The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk, Nirvana etc.
And blew everything up.
The issue is the dearth of real talent. Not that somebody can’t get air time.
Having a manager like Peter Grant was definitely good for Led Zeppelin.
Grant used to go around record stores looking to beat up anyone who was selling Zeppelin bootlegs.
I agree. I never heard “Moonlight Mile” by The Rolling Stones until a saw a clip of that show where it was played as the background music for the closing scene on one of the episodes.
The “Dolphins” song by Fred Neil was my favorite.
YEP...PAYOLA
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.