This report is an historical, structural, statistical and public survey analysis of the effects of the 1996 Telecommunications Act on musicians and citizens.
Each week, radio reaches nearly 95 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 12 (see Chapter 5, p. 69). But more importantly, radio uses a frequency spectrum owned, ultimately, by the American public. Because the federal government manages this spectrum on citizens' behalf, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a clear mandate to enact policies that balance the rights of citizens with the legitimate interests of broadcasters.
Radio has changed drastically since the 1996 Telecommunications Act eliminated a cap on nationwide station ownership and increased the number of stations one entity could own in a single market. This legislation sparked an unprecedented period of ownership consolidation in the industry with significant and adverse effects on musicians and citizens.
Radio Deregulation: Has It Served Citizens and Musicians?
Contributing Organization(s): Future of Music Coalition
Author(s)/Creator(s): Kristin Thomson; Peter DiCola
Publishing Date: 2002-11-18
Issue Areas: Arts and Culture; Media; Government Reform
Ownership/Rights Info: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License
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Intended Audience: Advocates; General Public; Legislators/Legislative Aids; Policy Professionals; Researchers
Type/Format: CaseStudy
Language code: English
Type/Format: CaseStudy
Language code: English
Comment & Review
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Posted by: cscheff on Thu, 26 Jun 08 16:46:33 +0000
This is a passionately written article reviewing the effect of regulating radio over the years. The history of radio regulation is presented in story form, clearly illustrating how the market transformed into a money making industry rather than a public interest forum. The ownership of stations hurts upcoming musicians as well as being displeasing to the listener. Radio now utilizes conformity and advertising to make a profit. The research explains how radio is transforming into a "audio billboard" which does not care about the audience any longer but rather making money from the record companies to play those artists and songs. This also makes breaking into the music industry hard for local and upcoming musicians who do not have the funds to pay of the radio stations. This research points out that most people are not aware of the big corporation side of the radio and therefore just believe that what they hear is what the disc jockeys want to the play. With this not being the case, this article is important to read to spread the reality of radio.
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