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U.S. Senator Asks FCC to Stop Radio Stations From Exchanging Airplay for Free Concerts: ‘Payola’
A U.S. Senator is asking the FCC to stop radio stations from exchanging airplay for free concerts, calling it another form of payola.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take action to prevent radio stations from offering airplay to artists in exchange for performing free shows. According to Blackburn, whose state’s capital city of Nashville is the heart of the country music business, the alleged free concerts are simply payola in another form, writing that there’s “often an implicit suggestion that declining to perform could result in reduced airplay” — what she characterizes as “forced quid pro quo.” Federal law prohibits radio stations from accepting payment for airtime without disclosing the transaction—a practice commonly known as “payola.”1 As you know, the FCC considers payola a violation of the Sponsorship Identification Rules.
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