Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Will Congress tackle pay-for-play?
“Once a hush-hush topic rarely discussed even within the music industry, “pay-for-play,” the costly system by which record companies pay independent promoters to get songs on the radio, has now become a hot-button political issue.
“Some members of Congress are talking about holding hearings and offering legislation in hopes of tearing down the entrenched pay-for-play system. Not only does pay-for-play cost the music industry approximately $150 million each year, it virtually shuts off access to commercial FM radio for artists or record companies who can’t or won’t spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote a new single. Inside the industry, the veil has also been lifted; an entire panel discussion devoted to indie promotion is being put together for the radio industry’s largest annual convention this fall. Meanwhile, ABC’s “20/20″ ran a prime-time segment on pay-for-play, and even the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have introduced the topic to their readers.”