False Promises, False Premises
Today the Future of Music Coalition released a report documenting the effects of radio station ownership consolidation on musicians and the public. The report sharply criticizes the trend to radio consolidation stating:
Radio consolidation has no demonstrated benefits for the public. Nor does it have any demonstrated benefits for the working people of the music and media industries, including DJs, programmers—and musicians. The Telecom Act unleashed an unprecedented wave of radio mergers that left a highly consolidated national radio market and extremely consolidated local radio markets. Radio programming from the largest station groups remains focused on just a few formats—many of which overlap with each other, enhancing the homogenization of the airwaves.
A
chart showing the market share for the largest radio networks shows
that the top 4 networks now have 50% marketshare - and the largest
networks are narrowing the range of programming
The executive summary is an interesting read for anyone that is interested in the future of music on broadcast radio.