Music Groups Oppose Further AM/FM Ownership De-Reg

Two music artist groups who have filed comments on the status of competition in the audio programming delivery marketplace say it’s key that the Federal Communications Commission not further deregulate ownership of AM/FM radio in the U.S.

According to RadioWorld, the groups musicFIRST and Future of Music filed comments with the Media Bureau on Sept. 24 as part of the commission’s request for comments heading up to the FCC’s upcoming Quadrennial Review.

In the filing, musicFIRST and the Future of Music Coalition called the potential loosening of local radio station ownership caps within the FCC’s upcoming Quadrennial Review “disastrous [for] the public interest and music creators.”

“Any demands to drop local ownership caps in order to improve AM/FM radio’s competitive position in the music delivery marketplace based on the relative strength of its more innovative competitors is entirely misplaced,” the two said.

In the filing, the groups pressed the commission to recognize that owners of large AM/FM radio clusters within individual markets in the U.S. already have substantial competitive advantages over owners of smaller clusters and individual independent stations within those markets. For example, if the commission were to loosen the local radio station ownership caps in its upcoming Quadrennial Review, “history has made clear that such action would substantially reduce competition among AM/FM radio stations and profoundly harm the public interest in allowing radio entities with smaller market shares to effectively compete with their larger counterparts.”

While the groups acknowledge that music streaming, in-home speakers, podcasts and satellite radio have exploded in popularity, “AM/FM radio is still healthy notwithstanding the fact that they have more competition from newer and more innovative audio platforms.”

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