Hello everyone,

There are a few stories that have been catching my attention recently. Things like the AARP’s recent announcement and the impending death of Internet radio, well they are just super important to me.

This week, the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) is blogging on what Clear Channel Entertainment is doing with Indie artists, insofar as their request for artists to waive performance royalties in exchange for airplay. In general, Coalitions (big “C”) frighten me. They remind me of what Homer Simpson says about museums: “Good things don’t end in -eum. They end in -teria and -mania.”

But I think that the way that FMC is writing about Clear Channel is worth checking out. Here’s a nice overview of Clear Channel’s history, through the eyes of FMC. They start out on the ominous side (and don’t really let up):

This week the Future of Music Coalition is taking on Clear Channel because the company is forcing local and indie artists to waive performance royalties to have their music considered for airplay on the chain’s stations.

What’s really angered us is that the move comes as part of a settlement of an FCC investigation into payola at Clear Channel stations. According to the terms of the deal, Clear Channel and other broadcasters must play 4,200 hours of local and independent music. So let’s recap: Clear Channel is investigated for payola and then they turn around and ask local and indie artists to give up something of value to get on the air. Kind of sounds like payola all over again, doesn’t it?

It seems like this sort of speaks for itself, but just to be clear: this is bad.

Happy reading,

Rick