Current Policy Issues
Current Policy Issues
- AFM Testimony at FCC Hearings on Media Consolidation
- Arts in Education/NEA Funding
- Content Protection on Digital Radio
- Labor Issues
- Media Concentration
- P-2 Visas
- Performance Rights
- Piracy
- The TEMPO Fund
AFM Testimony at FCC Hearings on Media Consolidation
Testimony of Harold Ray Bradley
American Federation of Musicians
FCC Hearing on Media Ownership
Nashville, Tennessee
December 11, 2006
My name is Harold Ray Bradley. I was born in Nashville in 1926, and with the exception of two years in the United States Navy, I have lived in Nashville all my life. I became a professional musician 65 years ago, and joined the Nashville Association of Musicians 64 years ago when I was sixteen. I performed on my first record in 1946 in Chicago, and recorded the first record made in Nashville's first recording studio in 1947. Some people say I am the most recorded guitar player in history. On November 6, 2006, I was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as the first recording musician to be so honored.
100,000 professional musicians who work as featured recording artists, non-featured session musicians in the recording industry, and live performers in every sort of venue from symphonic orchestras to theaters around the country, to hotel lounges, nightclubs and private parties. For the past fifteen years, I have also been the President of the Nashville Association of Musicians, Local 257 of the AFM. I am a member of the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and I was the first President of NARAS's Nashville Chapter.
I have been amazed to see the growth of the recording industry in Nashville from my first recording session in 1947. I've also been amazed at the changes the music business has had to endure since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 made it easy for fewer corporate conglomerates to own more and more radio stations. I am very pleased and honored to appear here today before the Federal Communications Commission to talk about media ownership, radio, and the experiences of recording musicians.
As the recording industry became successful in Nashville, WSM radio station had an all night disk jockey show with Eddie Hill, Ralph Emery and Tex Ritter as the disk jockeys. Artists could bring their latest recordings to the station, do an interview with the DJ's, and almost always get their recordings played. This scenario was repeated throughout the United States during this period of time. Loretta Lynn and her husband drove from radio station to radio station in their car to try to convince local disk jockeys to play her records. They had a lot of hungry days, but small local successes eventually led to a great career and country stardom.
Since the Telecommunications Act in 1996, there is much less opportunity for the kind of local exposure that in the old days enlivened the public airwaves and served as the building blocks of artists' careers. A very few corporate owners like Clear Channel and Cumulus Broadcasting now own vast numbers of radio stations across the United States and dominate the Nashville market with five stations. In Nashville and across the country, a handful of corporate owners have become the gatekeepers of the music industry regarding radio airplay. Gone are the days when a hardworking and talented musician could hope to break into radio by convincing a local disk jockey or programmer that he or she had a great recording to play, or by seeking out a local station that was open to the local music scene or to music different from the biggest commercial hits of the day. More and more, radio playlists are determined by conglomerates on a national level, and the local radio folks - assuming there are any - have little or no freedom to add new artists, local artists, or artists with recordings that don't fit comfortably into the dominant radio formats.
Musicians have shared with me and my AFM Local many stories that illustrate this sad situation. One Nashville artist told us about his CD of traditional music which sold 80,000 units in a few months and got major airplay in Europe (including a single on the number one spot of the European Country Music Association Charts). He talked to music directors from two major Nashville radio stations that are owned by national conglomerates. They told him that the recordings on that album were top notch productions, but that their station owners only allowed labels and songs from their national air list to be played. What does it say about radio when a local musician, who wins artistic praise from local radio programmers, can find an audience outside the country but not in his home town?
Another artist described how things had changed from the early to the late 1990's. He made a jazz CD in 1993, and with the help of a promoter succeeded in getting exposure on 271 stations in the United States. A few years later, he used the same means to promote a jazz album - but that time, as he said, he "bumped into Clear Channel." All the "smooth jazz" stations had, in the meantime, been purchased by Clear Channel, and were being programmed by one or two central programmers. With no diversity of outlets, the second recording never received the airplay that the first recording had. He described radio today as a "nightmare," with only limited opportunities to bring a great product to a station and win a chance to excite new listeners.
The limited size of these national playlists is a big part of the problem. One AFM member described to us his experiences in promoting an independent country artist. More than one radio station music director told him that the recording was the hottest thing they'd heard in years, but that did not necessarily translate into plays on those radio stations. When pressed, one of the music directors explained that there were only a small number of slots on the station's limited playlist at the best of times, and at the moment there was only one opening, which he had to give to the forthcoming single - which he had not yet heard - from a celebrity act. Now, I'm glad for that celebrity to get radio airplay, and I don't say that it wasn't a great song. But how is it possible that there wasn't room for two terrific songs on that playlist? And isn't our community poorer for being deprived of a new talent and a fresh listening experience?
And the decline in local control has hurt music and musicians, too. Yet another musician told us how a disk jockey in North Dakota, who had played much of his music in the 1980's, told him how sorry he was that he couldn't play anything from the new album, much as he would like to. He couldn't deviate from the national list without risking his job. That was an airplay decision that had nothing to do with merit; a national choice was being crammed down a local throat.
Increasingly, dynamic artists find it difficult or impossible to get on the radio because their music defies the existing narrow formats. Ralph Stanley's tremendous work on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack won him three Grammys and sold five million copies in 2001 but you didn't hear it on the radio. Traditional "Americana" music is out of the mainstream of commercial country formats, and many other styles of music lose the chance to reach an audience because they don't fit comfortably into the dominant radio formats today. This is not just bad for musicians. It is bad for music, for the American public, and the growth and strength of our music culture.
I know I won't be the only speaker to remind the Commissioners today that the America's airwaves belong to the public. I urge the Commissioners to keep the public good at the forefront of their thinking. We need media ownership rules that promote localism, diversity and the interest of our communities in a rich and varied listening experience. We don't need rules designed just to enhance the ability of major corporations to buy, sell and earn a profit.
I thank the Commissioners and all of those present today for listening to my experiences and opinions, and I hope that the Commission will find these hearings to be helpful.
Dave Pomeroy's statement:
My name is Dave Pomeroy, and I am a professional bassist. I am a proud member of the American Federation of Musicians, an Executive Officer of Nashville's Local 257, and the President of the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Musicians Association. I am also a singer, songwriter, producer, recording artist and independent record label owner. While I have been fortunate enough to make a living playing recording sessions, and backing up other artists for over 25 years, making my own music is my creative passion and a long term investment in my future, as well as a musical and financial legacy for my children. I have been releasing my own music on my label, Earwave Records, since 1989.
Since then I have been selling my CDs primarily through my website. I also sell records at my live performances, but the lack of national radio play obviously limits my exposure to a wider audience. I have had some limited success getting some local airplay here in Nashville, mostly on public and college radio where airplay is based on artistic merit and not the financial resources of the record label. Though I have tried many times over the years, it has been virtually impossible to get my music heard on major radio stations nationwide. I have spent money on publicity and radio promotion to remedy this, but with little success. Under the current system the vast majority of independent and local artists cannot compete with the major labels. There are many thousands of self employed musicians and singers like myself who are denied the opportunity to be heard on the radio, and I speak for them as well as myself. This is not just about country music, it's about every kind of music, all over this country.
The corporate monopoly on the radio airwaves has severly limited radio's ability to serve its local community. This hurts the average citizens and consumers as they are not being given a real choice. It affects local artists especially, by limiting their ability to get their music heard, even in their own home town. The FCC needs to take action to restore local ownership of radio stations and other media outlets. I hope that this hearing will demonstrate that the American people still have the power to express our opinions without fear and that our government will listen and take action that benefits the country as a whole, and not bow to the interests of large corporations. This is not a conservative vs. liberal or a Democrat vs. Republican issue. This is about freedom of speech and the right of all Americans to know what's really going on in our community and our country by allowing local viewpoints and diversity of opinion - and music. Thank you for giving me a chance to speak and I hope that the FCC will "do the right thing" and return the radio waves to the people. That's the American way.
Bruce Bouton's statement:
My name is Bruce Bouton. I have been a professional Musician for over thirty years. . I've played on thousands of recording sessions, written a few big songs and toured halfway around the world playing the steel guitar. I'm Vice President of the International RMA and a member of the American Fed. of Musicians.
I'm also against media de-regulation. When I started in this business it was still possible I break an artist regionally. A label could promote an artist in a chosen area of the country and get a pretty good reading on whether they had a hit or not. Many times wordof mouth would take over and a "Regional Burn" could turn into a "National Wildfire". It was a hands on ," people " business. That was before the 96 deregulation.
For example, I remember when my friend Garth Brooks stayed up many nights so that he could call the DJ's working the graveyard shift, and try to talk them into playing his first record. Nowadays, because of corporate downsizing, finding an all night DJ is like trying to find a two dollar a gallon gasoline.
Deregulation has led to over concentrated media ownership. I believe it has helped destroy the role that regional programmers used to have in the making or breaking of a record .
I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said before. I would imagine that major label heads, artists, managers, publishers, and booking agents would have their own stories to tell concerning their own trials and tribulations in the music business, since the 96 de-regulation.
I could also imagine the reluctance of the majority of the for-mentioned to publicly tell their stories for fear of being "punished" in the marketplace. From being in the trenches, in can certainly understand why deregulation is slowly strangling the music business.
My biggest fear of deregulation is the threat it presents to our democracy. There are grave dangers in allowing our cooperation to control all of the media outlets in a locality.
At what point will the political and financial interest of the cooperation supercede the interest and well being of the community? At what point will the people be left without a voice.
Instead of more deregulation I would ask the panel to consider reregulation.
Karen El-Chaar's statement:
My name is Karen El-Chaar, a professional flutist, president of the Lehigh Valley Musicians' Association (Allentown, PA) which is Local 45 of the American Federation of Musicians representing approximately 700 professional musicians, and, president of the Federation's locals regional conference of Pennsylvania-Delaware-Maryland-DC representing approximately 10,000 musicians.
Since de-regulation in 1996, much consolidation of radio broadcast media has occurred. De-regulation has fostered considerable growth in monopolies or at minimum oligopolies which have hampered the ability of local/non-nationally recognized musicians to obtain airtime for the broadcast of their music. Because of predetermined/dictated programming by the large broadcast corporations, the public is relegated to listening to the same songs every day, with limited, if any, diversification in programming. For example, travel across the country with the radio dial set to the FM range 93 to 99 and you are virtually guaranteed to hear the same songs, just broadcast from different cities.
The corporate monopoly on the radio airwaves has severely limited radio's ability to serve its local community. This hurts the average citizens and consumers as they are not being given a real choice. It affects local artists especially, by limiting their ability to get their music heard, even in their own home town. The FCC needs to take action to restore local ownership of radio stations and other media outlets.
We are not yet in The Russia my father described. We are in America. Stop the corporate mind from painting all our houses blue. Let the clear and joyful expression of freedom - ring - over our public airwaves. THANK YOU.
Arts in Education/NEA Funding
President Bush recently released his FY08 budget, which sets funding levels for all federal agencies. The two areas of highest significance to AFM members are National Endowment for the Arts funding and arts in education funding. President Bush has called for a $4 million increase in NEA funding, the first in three years, to $128.4 million. While this increase is welcome, AFM is lobbying with other arts groups to increase that amount. The budget calls for elimination of arts in education funding, which has been proposed for the seventh consecutive year. Fortunately, Congress has consistently overridden the President’s zero allocation for arts in education. AFM will lobby Congress to restore the funding. While no appropriations bills have been sent to the President yet, the House and Senate have each passed resolutions expressing the sense that music education is a valuable part of a well-rounded education that should be available to all students.
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Content Protection on Digital Radio
The advent of digital radio raises the problem that listeners will illegally make copies of the music. As part of the Music United Coalition, the AFM is asking Congress to give the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to protect the content on digital radio. Recently, a bill was introduce by Senators Feinstein, Frist and Graham, which would protect content and also equalize the rates that different music platforms, such as satellite and cable, have to pay. A comparable bill will be introduced shortly in the House. Action on this bill will probably not occur until 2008.
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Labor Issues
The Employee Free Choice Act is designed to recognize a union's representation rights by replacing the secret ballot process with a simple majority card check. EFCA also guarantees arbitration and mediation for first contract negotiation. The legislation is designed to make it easier for employees to form unions and would remove the possibility of intimidation on the employer's side in the run up to the vote by secret ballot. The bill passed the House in March by a vote of 241-185 and went to the Senate, where Republicans opposed it and filibustered the legislation, effectively killing it indefinitely.
Congress is also working on legislation that would amend the definition of 'supervisor' in the National Labor Relations Act. Due to a series of National Labor Relations Board decisions, the definition has been broadened to include many professions that have very minimal supervisory tasks. The Taft-Hartley Act prohibits supervisors from joining unions. The House and Senate have both introduced the RESPECT (Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers) Act. The legislation seeks to narrow the interpretation of 'supervisor' so that many more employees are free to join unions. This affects AFM members, as first chairs of orchestras might currently be defined as supervisors and ineligible for union membership. Currently, the legislation is in committee in the Senate, while the House has voted it out of committee and is on the schedule to be debated by the entire House.
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Media Concentration
Media concentration has been a major issue since the FCC issued a rule in June 2003 that made consolidation and concentration of media outlets easier for large conglomerates. Consolidation results in less diversity and localism in music playlists and news broadcasts. The FCC rule was challenged in Congress and was ultimately overturned by the courts. The FCC is poised to initiate public hearings around the country to get the public's reaction to the rule. The AFM will encourage its members to participate in these hearings and will closely follow the FCC's actions on this issue. There are legislative efforts to make media ownership more transparent in order to promote localism. Senator Dorgan (D-ND) has introduced bipartisan legislation in the Senate to accomplish this.
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P-2 Visas
The difficulty that our Canadian members have in obtaining visas in an efficient, affordable and reliable manner to work in the United States has gone on for too long. This Office has attempted to resolve the myriad of problems by working with officials within the Bush Administration, but to no avail. AFM has been lobbying Congress to include language reforming the O and P visa processing system in order to make it easier for our Canadian members to obtain visas to perform in the United States in a timely and cost-effective manner. This issue was part of comprehensive immigration legislation which failed to pass last year and again this year. As a result, AFM, in coalition with other arts groups, has succeeded in having its issue introduced as independent, stand-alone bills in both the House and Senate. There is a good likelihood that these bills will be passed before the end of 2007.
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Performance Rights
The AFM has been fighting for the inclusion of a performance right in sound recordings for many years now. The inequity of songwriters being able to collect royalties when their work is played on terrestrial radio while musicians cannot must be resolved.AFM is a member of a coalition working to pass legislation to ensure that performers are paid when their works are broadcast on the radio. As in the past, our efforts are being opposed by the powerful broadcasters? lobby. The House Judiciary Committee had a favorable hearing on this issue in August. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing November 13. Legislation for a performance right will be introduced shortly thereafter.
A performance right is of even greater importance now that digital radio has become a reality. Digital radio will be able to compete with other forms of music distribution such as webcasting which by law must pay a royalty to musicians, thus giving an unfair competitive advantage to digital radio.
Please fill out this survey regarding performance rights, so that AFM can help ensure musicians are compensated when their work is broadcast on AM/FM radio.
Performance Rights Survey
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Piracy
While the Office of Government Relations actively seeks and supports legislation that will benefit AFM members, sometimes this office must also fight off hostile legislation. One such bill introduced in mid-2005, H.R. 1201, euphemistically called the "Digital Media Consumers Rights Act," would make the punishment of online piracy more difficult. Bills similar to this one have been introduced in the past, only to be stalled or defeated by the AFM and its allies. This year, however, the bill has powerful bipartisan support. This office is strongly opposed to H.R. 1201 and will continue to fight for its defeat.
The Supreme Court has taken action against online pirates in their unanimous decision in the case of MGM v. Grokster. The decision, which was handed down in June 2005 makes it illegal for companies to willfully induce consumers into downloading copywritten material illegally from the internet. The AFM wrote an amicus brief on this case. The Senate held hearings before their August recess on the ramifications of the Court's decision.
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The TEMPO Fund
The Office of Government Relations will continue to administer and try to increase the amount of money that TEMPO has to distribute. Modest disbursements were made in 2007, but as it was not an election year, there was not as much TEMPO activity as there was in 2006 or as much as this office anticipates there will be in 2008. Since 2008 is an election year, it is crucial that TEMPO is well-funded so that the AFM can support lawmakers and candidates who support the issues that are of the biggest concern to AFM members.
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