In a petition to the Federal Communications Commission, nine broadcasters — including major ones like iHeartMedia, Cox, Emmis Communications and Entercom — requested a waiver to longstanding requirements that stations say on the air when a sponsor or promoter has paid for a piece of programming, like a song.
Instead, according to the NY Times, the radio companies want to move these disclosures online, arguing that they would be more thorough and convenient there. The change is in the public interest, the broadcasters said, “because it would result in listeners’ having access to more information in a more user-friendly and satisfying way.”
The broadcasters’ petition was dated Nov. 26 but not revealed until Friday, when the FCC announced that it would accept public comments on the proposal through April 13. A spokesman for the agency said its backlog of work prevented the petition from being processed sooner.
The proposal has been criticized by musicians and advocates for artists for weakening the prohibitions against payola, the practice of paying for a song to be played on the radio. These restrictions are meant to prevent corruption of the public airwaves by giving artists and record companies a fair chance of having their music heard.
The concern reflects the continued importance of radio promotion even in the Internet age. According to Nielsen, an average of 258.4 million people each month listened to AM and FM radio at the end of 2014, up from 257 million the year before. Record executives frequently say that radio play remains the best way for a song to become a big hit.
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