Primary Investigator:  

Kristin Thomson, Future of Music Coalition; Gabriel Rossman, University of California - Los Angeles

Partnering  Organization:

Future of Music Coalition  

Even in the Internet era, radio airplay remains the dominant way for music to find a wide audience. Access to radio airplay is thus an important issue for musicians, independent record labels, and other small players and new entrants in the music industry. ‘Payola’ or undisclosed ‘pay for play’ on the radio has been a routine abuse of this system through which the major record labels tilt public attention toward their own products. Even after several decades of episodic documentation, legislation, and enforcement of rules against the practice, payola continues to attract attention—most recently in the context of (then) Attorney General Elliot Spitzer’s 2005 investigation and subsequent consent decrees against several major labels. This project builds on prior research in which Rossman used data released by the Spitzer investigation to identify a statistical signature characteristic of “payola” in radio programming logs. 

Using playlist data licensed from Mediaguide, the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) examined four years of airplay – 2005 to 2008 – from national playlists and from seven specific music formats: AC, Urban AC, Active Rock, Country, CHR Pop, Triple A Commercial and Triple A Noncommercial. FMC calculated the "airplay share" for five different categories of record labels to determine whether the major labels’ ratio of airplay share has changed at all in the past four years.

The data indicate almost no change in station playlist composition in this period. Specifically, the national playlist data indicated very little measurable change in airplay share from 2005-2008, with major label songs consistently securing 78-82% of airplay. The format data showed some modest increases in airplay for indies on some formats (Country and AAA Non-Commercial, in particular), but otherwise the data from year to year changed very little. An examination of airplay by release date showed that many formats leave only small portions of their playlist for new material, with current songs sprinkled in among well-worn hits. While such programming choices might make sense for a given station’s target audience, the outcome is that there are very few spaces left on most airplay charts for new music. Looking specifically at airplay for new releases, FMC found that new major label songs typically receive a higher proportion of spins than new indie label songs. Finally, FMC looked at the indie labels themselves, and found that only a handful of indies have enough resources and clout to garner airplay consistently. For the remainder of indies, airplay is infrequent and modest, if it happens at all.

While these data cannot prove that radio stations and major labels are engaging in payola, the report underscores how radio’s long-standing relationships with major labels, its status quo programming practices and the permissive regulatory structure all work together to create an environment in which songs from major label artists continue to dominate. The major labels’ built-in advantage, combined with radio’s risk-averse programming practices, means there are very few spaces left on any playlist for independent labels, which comprise some 30% of the domestic music market.  

The report also articulates a brief set of policy recommendations that will enhance the FCC’s oversight of the airwaves and improve the radio landscape for both listeners and the broader music industry. These include: a commitment to improved data collection, a refocus on localism, and an expansion in the number of voices in on the public airwaves.

Read the Full Report: "Same Old Song: An Analysis of Radio Playlists in a Post FCC-Consent Decree World" (2009)

Also: "Same Old Song: New York State Edition" (2009). An analysis of playlist data from 52 music stations licensed in New York State.