Thursday, January 26, 2006

16 year old dead in Spotsylvania VA. dancing to CRIME MOB

Crime Mob Lyrics
Knuck If You Buck Lyrics
[background]
[chorus]Knuck if you buck boy [repeat 10x]
Knuck if you buckKnuck if you buckKnuck if you buckKn Kn Kn Kn Kn Kn Knuck if you buck boy
[Lil Scrappy]Crime Mob ho, Crime Mob hoHey this ya boy Lil Scrappy,
"Tha Prince Of Crunk"yea, Lil J on tha track nigga,
Ay its time for all security to get around It's going down........
[Verse 1]YeahWell I'ma gat totin' pistol holdin'Nigga on yo damn street
Stompin jumpin bumpin And get crunk off in this damn thang
Throwin dem bows up at dez hoes
They screamin they bleedin from they nose
But we start to swang we makin niggas hit the flo'
Ain't no game off in this thang We too deep off yo partyCrime mob niggas gettin started Ellenwood niggas be the hardest
So if a nigga come and run his mouth just like a hoe
Punch em dead up in his nose
And stomp his ass down to the flo'
[Verse 2]
Yeah we knuckin and buckin and ready to fight
I betcha Im'a throw dem thangs
So haters best to think twice See me I ain't nothin nice
And crime mob it ain't no stoppin'They be like Sadaam Husein, Hitler and Osama Bin Laden
Like they steady gum poppin And I am actin a fool
I wish a hater would get crunk up on this crime mob crew
Now enough is enough boyRough and get stuffed boyLuck is a must boy
Knuck if you buck boy
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
Jumpin off from on the stage
Throwin' bows like Johnny Cage
All my niggas startin' riots
Knockin down the baracade
Ellenwood we be to deepThe M.O.B is to elite Flawless lookin shawties
You'll be jawless gettin close to me
Bullets bustin constantly. Rammin through yo city streets
Broken bones laying long scattered across the concrete
Knuckin if u buckin you'll be duckin if u get too close
In my eyes you wasn't wise
I think its time I knuck you ho
[Verse 4]I come in da clubShakin my dreads, throwin dem bows
And bussin dez headsBitch you irrelevant come to my residence
Betsa back up for I leave you ellect
I been in drama and commiting a crime

Not leavin' a trace not leavin' a line
We knuckin and buckin cuz I got a nine
I blow you away cuz you wastin my time
Stupid ass niggas I know what to do I waste yo ass you step to my crew
I'm through wit you haters so watch what you do
You talkin bout me then I'm talkin to you
You buckin on us and we leave you in plastic
You buckin on me and that shit gone get nasty
I'm colder than ice and I'm freezing off hits
I shot at yo city but you cannot tell

[Verse 5]Knuck if you buck boy
But you betta come equipped
I got some shit off in my trunk thats gonna make yo body flip hollow tip
Bussin off the rizo soon as a hit the do'Anybody make a false move they body on the flo'Fuckin wit no hoes boy neva been no lame main
Aint Neva seen no pussy niggas scared to throw dem thangs mainCrime mob niggas off in this bitch
Break bread records I represent
Fuckin wit them HB niggaz you bout to get yo wig split[chorus]

Clear Channel to buy radio's #1 scheduling software company

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006
Has Clear Channel Acquired RCS?

A source close to the situation tells R&R that Clear Channel on Tuesday acquired White Plains, NY-based Radio Computing Services, a provider of scheduling and broadcast software to radio, for an undisclosed price. Company founder Dr. Andrew Economos is no longer involved in the company's day-to-day operations, the source said. Calls to Clear Channel and RCS representatives were made after hours and not returned by press time.
RCS was founded in 1979 and among its products is the popular Selector music-scheduling system. RCS also provides non-musical elements such as jingles and promos via its Linker scheduling system and owns the Master Control digital automation system. As of 2005 RCS had roughly 7,000 clients worldwide.
Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006
Has Clear Channel Acquired RCS?

A source close to the situation tells R&R that Clear Channel on Tuesday acquired White Plains, NY-based Radio Computing Services, a provider of scheduling and broadcast software to radio, for an undisclosed price. Company founder Dr. Andrew Economos is no longer involved in the company's day-to-day operations, the source said. Calls to Clear Channel and RCS representatives were made after hours and not returned by press time.
RCS was founded in 1979 and among its products is the popular Selector music-scheduling system. RCS also provides non-musical elements such as jingles and promos via its Linker scheduling system and owns the Master Control digital automation system. As of 2005 RCS had roughly 7,000 clients worldwide.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Cumulus ends music reporting

Cumulus To Stop Reporting Music Adds To Trades
As of next week we are no longer reporting adds. Our philosophy is that
the charts do nothing for us as a business.
CUMULUS Exec. VP JOHN DICKEY has announced that, beginning next
week, the company will no longer report music adds to trade
publications.
DICKEY explained to ALL ACCESS, "As of next week we are no longer
reporting adds. Our philosophy is that the charts do nothing for us as
a
business. Our job is to program to serve the listener and advertisers.
It's no longer a broad enough of a horizon to look just at ADDS and
charts. That's only a small part of what it should be.
"It should be retail sales, clubs, and other points of national and
regional media influence. We have been training a breed of programmers
who have become too reliant on charts and callout. They all have a
place
but I want to train folks to become more innovative and use their
guts."
He went on to explain why "adding" records no longer works for CUMULUS:
"The 'TUESDAY Add Mentality' causes folks to run songs up and down more
than they should be doing. I just don't see any advantage to reporting
records to the trades. If they want to know specifics, they can look at
MEDIABASE. We should think about adding records at any point during the
week, not just on a Tuesday."
When asked if the non-monitored CUMULUS stations would still send out a
playlist or guide as to what is going into rotation, DICKEY said, "What
we play is our business, and in our non-monitored stations we are no
longer going to send out weekly playlists. We want to be cutting edge
and forward-thinking, and so we are out of the add business as of next
week. We are excited about getting out of the ADD business.
The national programming staff at CUMULUS, Sr. Format Dir. Top 40 JAN
JEFFRIES, Exec. Format Dir. VAL GARRIS, and Nat'l Format Dir./Pop MARK
POLITT will still have input with the stations. "Music decisions will
continue to be a collaborative process with our national programing
staff. BIG CHAMPAGNE, SOUNDSCAN, and other media sources both inside
and
outside of radio will allow us to be far more in touch regionally and
locally with what we need to play. This is a more intelligent and
expansive approach and will allow us take more intelligent risks with
our programming."
DICKEY noted that "JOHN KILGO is now officially an employee of CUMULUS.
He is our Sr. Dir./Label Relations. He is charged with developing
business models that work for labels and CUMULUSCumulus To Stop Reporting Music Adds To Trades
As of next week we are no longer reporting adds. Our philosophy is that
the charts do nothing for us as a business.
CUMULUS Exec. VP JOHN DICKEY has announced that, beginning next
week, the company will no longer report music adds to trade
publications.
DICKEY explained to ALL ACCESS, "As of next week we are no longer
reporting adds. Our philosophy is that the charts do nothing for us as
a
business. Our job is to program to serve the listener and advertisers.
It's no longer a broad enough of a horizon to look just at ADDS and
charts. That's only a small part of what it should be.
"It should be retail sales, clubs, and other points of national and
regional media influence. We have been training a breed of programmers
who have become too reliant on charts and callout. They all have a
place
but I want to train folks to become more innovative and use their
guts."
He went on to explain why "adding" records no longer works for CUMULUS:
"The 'TUESDAY Add Mentality' causes folks to run songs up and down more
than they should be doing. I just don't see any advantage to reporting
records to the trades. If they want to know specifics, they can look at
MEDIABASE. We should think about adding records at any point during the
week, not just on a Tuesday."
When asked if the non-monitored CUMULUS stations would still send out a
playlist or guide as to what is going into rotation, DICKEY said, "What
we play is our business, and in our non-monitored stations we are no
longer going to send out weekly playlists. We want to be cutting edge
and forward-thinking, and so we are out of the add business as of next
week. We are excited about getting out of the ADD business.
The national programming staff at CUMULUS, Sr. Format Dir. Top 40 JAN
JEFFRIES, Exec. Format Dir. VAL GARRIS, and Nat'l Format Dir./Pop MARK
POLITT will still have input with the stations. "Music decisions will
continue to be a collaborative process with our national programing
staff. BIG CHAMPAGNE, SOUNDSCAN, and other media sources both inside
and
outside of radio will allow us to be far more in touch regionally and
locally with what we need to play. This is a more intelligent and
expansive approach and will allow us take more intelligent risks with
our programming."
DICKEY noted that "JOHN KILGO is now officially an employee of CUMULUS.
He is our Sr. Dir./Label Relations. He is charged with developing
business models that work for labels and CUMULUSCumulus To Stop Reporting Music Adds To Trades
As of next week we are no longer reporting adds. Our philosophy is that
the charts do nothing for us as a business.
CUMULUS Exec. VP JOHN DICKEY has announced that, beginning next
week, the company will no longer report music adds to trade
publications.
DICKEY explained to ALL ACCESS, "As of next week we are no longer
reporting adds. Our philosophy is that the charts do nothing for us as
a
business. Our job is to program to serve the listener and advertisers.
It's no longer a broad enough of a horizon to look just at ADDS and
charts. That's only a small part of what it should be.
"It should be retail sales, clubs, and other points of national and
regional media influence. We have been training a breed of programmers
who have become too reliant on charts and callout. They all have a
place
but I want to train folks to become more innovative and use their
guts."
He went on to explain why "adding" records no longer works for CUMULUS:
"The 'TUESDAY Add Mentality' causes folks to run songs up and down more
than they should be doing. I just don't see any advantage to reporting
records to the trades. If they want to know specifics, they can look at
MEDIABASE. We should think about adding records at any point during the
week, not just on a Tuesday."
When asked if the non-monitored CUMULUS stations would still send out a
playlist or guide as to what is going into rotation, DICKEY said, "What
we play is our business, and in our non-monitored stations we are no
longer going to send out weekly playlists. We want to be cutting edge
and forward-thinking, and so we are out of the add business as of next
week. We are excited about getting out of the ADD business.
The national programming staff at CUMULUS, Sr. Format Dir. Top 40 JAN
JEFFRIES, Exec. Format Dir. VAL GARRIS, and Nat'l Format Dir./Pop MARK
POLITT will still have input with the stations. "Music decisions will
continue to be a collaborative process with our national programing
staff. BIG CHAMPAGNE, SOUNDSCAN, and other media sources both inside
and
outside of radio will allow us to be far more in touch regionally and
locally with what we need to play. This is a more intelligent and
expansive approach and will allow us take more intelligent risks with
our programming."
DICKEY noted that "JOHN KILGO is now officially an employee of CUMULUS.
He is our Sr. Dir./Label Relations. He is charged with developing
business models that work for labels and CUMULUSCumulus To Stop Reporting Music Adds To Trades
As of next week we are no longer reporting adds. Our philosophy is that
the charts do nothing for us as a business.
CUMULUS Exec. VP JOHN DICKEY has announced that, beginning next
week, the company will no longer report music adds to trade
publications.
DICKEY explained to ALL ACCESS, "As of next week we are no longer
reporting adds. Our philosophy is that the charts do nothing for us as
a
business. Our job is to program to serve the listener and advertisers.
It's no longer a broad enough of a horizon to look just at ADDS and
charts. That's only a small part of what it should be.
"It should be retail sales, clubs, and other points of national and
regional media influence. We have been training a breed of programmers
who have become too reliant on charts and callout. They all have a
place
but I want to train folks to become more innovative and use their
guts."
He went on to explain why "adding" records no longer works for CUMULUS:
"The 'TUESDAY Add Mentality' causes folks to run songs up and down more
than they should be doing. I just don't see any advantage to reporting
records to the trades. If they want to know specifics, they can look at
MEDIABASE. We should think about adding records at any point during the
week, not just on a Tuesday."
When asked if the non-monitored CUMULUS stations would still send out a
playlist or guide as to what is going into rotation, DICKEY said, "What
we play is our business, and in our non-monitored stations we are no
longer going to send out weekly playlists. We want to be cutting edge
and forward-thinking, and so we are out of the add business as of next
week. We are excited about getting out of the ADD business.
The national programming staff at CUMULUS, Sr. Format Dir. Top 40 JAN
JEFFRIES, Exec. Format Dir. VAL GARRIS, and Nat'l Format Dir./Pop MARK
POLITT will still have input with the stations. "Music decisions will
continue to be a collaborative process with our national programing
staff. BIG CHAMPAGNE, SOUNDSCAN, and other media sources both inside
and
outside of radio will allow us to be far more in touch regionally and
locally with what we need to play. This is a more intelligent and
expansive approach and will allow us take more intelligent risks with
our programming."
DICKEY noted that "JOHN KILGO is now officially an employee of CUMULUS.
He is our Sr. Dir./Label Relations. He is charged with developing
business models that work for labels and CUMULUS

Saturday, January 21, 2006

HIP HOP COPS

US police put hip-hop under surveillance Hotels staked out and lyrics scrutinised in battle to stop rap's violence Gary Younge in New YorkThursday March 11, 2004The Guardian
50 Cent survived an attempt on his life in May 2000 possibly over the lyrics of Ghetto Koran
The Miami and Miami Beach police have a black ring-binder six inches thick that starts with 50 Cent and ends with Ja Rule. In between come photographs, arrest records and other information on all the other major rappers in the US, from P Diddy to DMX. The police photograph them arriving at Miami airport, stake out hotels and video shoots and scrutinise their lyrics and connections in search of hints of potential violent conflict.

It is the latest development in a nationwide effort to place every aspect of hip-hop culture under state surveillance.
Miami officials say the binder was given to them by the New York police department during a three-day "hip-hop training session" in May that was also attended by officers from Atlanta and Los Angeles.
"Everyone that went got a binder with information on rappers that have been arrested, outlining charges," says Miami police sergeant Rafael Tapanes.
"They were trained what to look for in the lyrics, what to look for when they go to hip-hop concerts, what radio stations and TV stations to monitor to keep abreast of any rift between these rappers."
Miami police say they are just doing their job, monitoring a section of the music industry that has lost some of its most prominent talent, including Tupac Shakur, the Notorious BIG and Jam Master Jay, to violence.
"We have to keep an eye on these rivalries," the Miami Beach assistant police chief, Charles Press, told the Miami Herald. "What would law enforcement be if we closed our eyes? Our job is to know as much about things that could hurt innocent people."
Racial stereotypingBut rappers and civil rights advocates say it is an unnecessary intrusion on their civil liberties that smacks of racial profiling. "This kind of conduct shows insensitivity to constitutional limitations," says Bruce Rogow, a lawyer who represented 2 Live Crew in their successful defence against obscenity charges in the early 1990s. "It also implicates racial stereotyping."
The rap world has all the terminology of a modern state, it was only a matter of time before it got a dedicated police unit.
What has become known as the hip-hop "nation" is governed by a hip-hop "generation", where conflicts are resolved and agendas mapped out at hip-hop "summits", during which the hip-hop "community" decide how to protect and promote hip-hop "culture".
Rap is an adversarial genre in which artists do battle through their lyrics. In the past few years, there has been a concerted attempt to channel the creative energy - and billions of dollars - that have emerged into political activism, social responsibility and lobbying. This has been done most notably by rap impresario Russell Simmons through his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.
Meanwhile, rappers have tried to improve their image. After running the marathon, P Diddy (who was acquitted of gun possession and bribing a witness in 2001 after a shoot-out in a New York nightclub) donated $2m (now £1.1m) to the children of New York city.
On her single Wake Up, Missy Elliott sings: "If you don't got a gun, it's all right/ If you're makin' legal money, it's all right."
The hip-hop label Murder Inc, which is under investigation by nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies for (among other things) its relationships with drug traffickers, has said it will drop the word "murder" from its title.
None the less, violence, all too often explicit in the lyrics, can spill out into real life with deadly consequences.
Last week, Chauncey Hawkins (otherwise known as Rapper Loon) was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after attacking a guard in Los Angeles.
Six months ago, Gerard Fields, 26, a rapper with what was Murder Inc, was shot dead. And, in recent times, there have been several attempts on the life of 50 Cent.
The intensity has abated since the east coast/west coast rivalry of the mid-1990s, which took the lives of two of rap's most promising stars: the Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur.
Monitoring the 'crews'But 18 months ago, Jam Master Jay, the DJ for Run-DMC, was shot in the head as he sat on a sofa in the lounge of a recording studio. Jay's murder sparked the NYPD to establish a special section within its gang intelligence unit. According to the New York Times, a team of six detectives monitor sales and keep track of the movements of different "crews" to make sure that rivals do not get in each other's way.
Miami police started collecting data after 250,000 hip-hop fans came to South Beach for a four-day party and there were 211 arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct and excessive drinking.
While no rap stars were arrested, the police felt their ignorance left them vulnerable. "Nobody on the beach had a handle on who the players were," said Mr Press.
"We didn't know anything, we didn't know who were the big record labels, who were the kingpins; we didn't know why there were rivalries with Ja Rule and Eminem." US police put hip-hop under surveillance Hotels staked out and lyrics scrutinised in battle to stop rap's violence Gary Younge in New YorkThursday March 11, 2004The Guardian
50 Cent survived an attempt on his life in May 2000 possibly over the lyrics of Ghetto Koran
The Miami and Miami Beach police have a black ring-binder six inches thick that starts with 50 Cent and ends with Ja Rule. In between come photographs, arrest records and other information on all the other major rappers in the US, from P Diddy to DMX. The police photograph them arriving at Miami airport, stake out hotels and video shoots and scrutinise their lyrics and connections in search of hints of potential violent conflict.



Article continues




It is the latest development in a nationwide effort to place every aspect of hip-hop culture under state surveillance.
Miami officials say the binder was given to them by the New York police department during a three-day "hip-hop training session" in May that was also attended by officers from Atlanta and Los Angeles.
"Everyone that went got a binder with information on rappers that have been arrested, outlining charges," says Miami police sergeant Rafael Tapanes.
"They were trained what to look for in the lyrics, what to look for when they go to hip-hop concerts, what radio stations and TV stations to monitor to keep abreast of any rift between these rappers."
Miami police say they are just doing their job, monitoring a section of the music industry that has lost some of its most prominent talent, including Tupac Shakur, the Notorious BIG and Jam Master Jay, to violence.
"We have to keep an eye on these rivalries," the Miami Beach assistant police chief, Charles Press, told the Miami Herald. "What would law enforcement be if we closed our eyes? Our job is to know as much about things that could hurt innocent people."
Racial stereotypingBut rappers and civil rights advocates say it is an unnecessary intrusion on their civil liberties that smacks of racial profiling. "This kind of conduct shows insensitivity to constitutional limitations," says Bruce Rogow, a lawyer who represented 2 Live Crew in their successful defence against obscenity charges in the early 1990s. "It also implicates racial stereotyping."
The rap world has all the terminology of a modern state, it was only a matter of time before it got a dedicated police unit.
What has become known as the hip-hop "nation" is governed by a hip-hop "generation", where conflicts are resolved and agendas mapped out at hip-hop "summits", during which the hip-hop "community" decide how to protect and promote hip-hop "culture".
Rap is an adversarial genre in which artists do battle through their lyrics. In the past few years, there has been a concerted attempt to channel the creative energy - and billions of dollars - that have emerged into political activism, social responsibility and lobbying. This has been done most notably by rap impresario Russell Simmons through his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.
Meanwhile, rappers have tried to improve their image. After running the marathon, P Diddy (who was acquitted of gun possession and bribing a witness in 2001 after a shoot-out in a New York nightclub) donated $2m (now £1.1m) to the children of New York city.
On her single Wake Up, Missy Elliott sings: "If you don't got a gun, it's all right/ If you're makin' legal money, it's all right."
The hip-hop label Murder Inc, which is under investigation by nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies for (among other things) its relationships with drug traffickers, has said it will drop the word "murder" from its title.
None the less, violence, all too often explicit in the lyrics, can spill out into real life with deadly consequences.
Last week, Chauncey Hawkins (otherwise known as Rapper Loon) was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after attacking a guard in Los Angeles.
Six months ago, Gerard Fields, 26, a rapper with what was Murder Inc, was shot dead. And, in recent times, there have been several attempts on the life of 50 Cent.
The intensity has abated since the east coast/west coast rivalry of the mid-1990s, which took the lives of two of rap's most promising stars: the Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur.
Monitoring the 'crews'But 18 months ago, Jam Master Jay, the DJ for Run-DMC, was shot in the head as he sat on a sofa in the lounge of a recording studio. Jay's murder sparked the NYPD to establish a special section within its gang intelligence unit. According to the New York Times, a team of six detectives monitor sales and keep track of the movements of different "crews" to make sure that rivals do not get in each other's way.
Miami police started collecting data after 250,000 hip-hop fans came to South Beach for a four-day party and there were 211 arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct and excessive drinking.
While no rap stars were arrested, the police felt their ignorance left them vulnerable. "Nobody on the beach had a handle on who the players were," said Mr Press.
"We didn't know anything, we didn't know who were the big record labels, who were the kingpins; we didn't know why there were rivalries with Ja Rule and Eminem."

Friday, January 20, 2006

FCC Copps unfazed with zero fines in 05

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006
Michael Copps Unfazed By Lack Of Indecency Fines

While the agency's Enforcement Bureau didn't levy a single indecency fine last year, the FCC Commissioner tells R&R he's pleased with the bureau's efforts. "We've been very active on the indecency front, and I'm not at all worried that we're losing our focus," he said after today's FCC meeting, during which the heads of each FCC bureau briefed the commissioners on their divisions' efforts in 2005 and plans for the year ahead.
In fact, Copps hinted that broadcast indecency could move back to the forefront of the Enforcement Bureau's agenda before long. "I think we'll be seeing some action before long," he said.
Though no indecency fines were issued last year, Enforcement Bureau Chief Kris Monteith noted that her bureau has been busy in other areas: Last year it investigated more than 200 complaints concerning pirate broadcasters and conducted 500 inspections of radio stations for compliance with the agency's main studio and public-inspection files.
She also pointed out that her bureau extended the Emergency Alert System rules to satellite radio and other digital services last year.

FCC's Adelstein urges...

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006
FCC Commissioner Urges Tougher Sponsorship Enforcement

Pointing to the illegal activities uncovered under New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's blockbuster payola investigation , FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein today urged his agency's Enforcement Bureau to keep a close eye on radio stations' compliance with the FCC's sponsorship rules.
"Eliot Spitzer uncovered a lot of potential examples where our sponsorship rules may have been violated," Adelstein told Enforcement Bureau Chief Kris Monteith, who reviewed her bureau's actions from last year and previewed its 2006 agenda during today's FCC meeting. "This could be a widespread phenomenon, and we have a responsibility to enforce our rules to the fullest extent possible."
He also thanked Monteith for the bureau's work with indecency enforcement and praised its efforts in tackling a full agenda that also includes pirate broadcasters and wireless and wireline violations. "I sometimes worry about your resources, especially with number of complaints we get, so I appreciate your efforts," Adelstein said.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

NY DAILY NEWS Mayo exits HOT97

Hot-97, Kiss exec is dialing back
By DAVID HINCKLEYDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

After three eventful years whose low points included Hot-97's "Tsunami Song" and whose high points included Kiss-FM returning to the top of the ratings, Barry Mayo is stepping down as senior vice president and market manager for Emmis Radio.
"I'm a radio guy," he said yesterday. "But there's another Barry Mayo who does other things, and he's been feeling very unfulfilled.
"I told my bosses yesterday that this job requires 110% of your time. So even though I can't imagine another company that would be better to work for, I want some of that time back."
Among the things he will resume, he said, is photography: He's compiling a long-term study of race issues.
He will continue at Emmis, overseeing WRKS (98.7 FM), WQHT (97.1 FM) and WQCD (101.9 FM), until a successor is named. He will also remain an in-house consultant for a year and may eventually consult for "one or two" other stations.
"I know people in radio say, 'Consultant? Oh God, that means he got fired,'" said Mayo with a laugh. "But this is my choice. I had a contract option for another year that the company said it wanted to pick up. I said no."
On the whole, he said, he's pleased with what's happened since he took the job in February 2003 - starting with the fact that ad revenue rose every year.
On the air, he said, a big win was boosting WRKS from 11th place up to a tie for second, a jump that started when Mayo replaced Tom Joyner's syndicated morning show with the local Jeff Foxx show.
"That was a tough decision," said Mayo. "I remember [Emmis radio division President] Rick Cummings saying, 'Are you really sure about that?' But for a year I had begged Tom to add New York elements to his show, and he didn't. When I made the decision, it ruined a 25-year friendship. Tom hasn't spoken to me since.
"But I knew we had the talent to do our own show."
Kiss also scored with afternoon host Michael Baisden, though Mayo deflects credit. "That was all [program director] Toya Beasley," he said.
Smooth-jazz WQCD has remained generally steady and calm, which isn't a word that would be applied to Hot-97 after a year that started with last January's ill-advised "Tsunami Song" parody.
"There's no way in hell I could have foreseen what would happen with Hot last year," Mayo admitted. "And if there's anything I could take back, it's pretty obvious it would be 'The Tsunami Song.' I didn't hear it or approve it beforehand, but I take full responsibility for the fact it went on the air for four days.
"It was clearly the biggest f-up of my career."
The resulting firestorm led to two dismissals from the Miss Jones morning show, considerable losses from canceled advertising and Emmis paying $1 million to a tsunami relief fund.
It also cast Hot-97 as a villain in discussions on whether radio goes too far.
Mayo praised Emmis yesterday for holding the line where it did. "Almost any other company," he said, "would have fired [station management]."
Most important, said Mayo, listeners also stayed loyal. Although rival WWPR (105.1 FM) passed Hot in the morning after hiring former Hot morning man Star, WQHT remains slightly ahead overall.
"I told everyone at Hot they should be enormously proud," Mayo said. "No radio station ever had that kind of year, and to rebound like they did is amazing."
Other than "Tsunami," said Mayo, "There aren't a lot of things I would have done differently in the past three years."
But he does think radio in general should reassess some things, like the consequences of the 1996 Telecom Act that allowed companies to own more stations.
"When I started 30 years ago, radio was broadcaster-driven," he said. "Now it's investor-driven. You get a report card every 90 days [Arbitron ratings], and you have to get your ratings, make your numbers.
"So you start getting more outrageous to get people's attention, and I think that's what leads to things like 'The Tsunami Song' and Opie and Anthony and some of what Star does.
"I'm just not sure it's good for radio in the long term. I'm not sure it's the best way to build a business."
Still, he won't bail out. "I'd never get out of radio completely," he said. "But for a while, I'd like to be an artist who also happens to do radio." Originally published on January 19, 2006

Monday, January 02, 2006

Jamaica Observer... PAYOLA ABROAD

Payola on the increase, say music industry sources No pay,no airplay

BY ROLAND HENRY
Sunday Observer reporterSunday, January 01, 2006

IT'S hard to prove and those who get involved are extremely tight-lipped, but music industry sources say payola, an old unethical pay-to-play or publish scheme involving the media, is on the rise.
STANBURY... practice not illegal under Jamaican law
So pervasive is payola that many producers, artistes, and artistes' managers believe that if they don't pay, they don't get airplay.But how much payola makes the rounds in newsrooms and radio studios is unknown; it has never been studied or assessed.
"No direct research of the music industry, in terms of the total amount of money turned over annually, exists," says Dr Clinton Hutton, lecturer in cultural studies at the University of the West Indies.And since payola is done in secret, he says, there is no way of even 'guesstimating' how much money is lost from the practice.
Top entertainment lawyer, Lloyd Stanbury, says he often receives complaints from artistes and producers about demands being made on them by radio personalities.
"Music needs to get a fair chance if the industry is to make sense once again. The payola thing is a demon because it destroys the fabric of our music," says veteran reggae crooner, Freddie McGregor, one of the more vocal artistes against the corrupt practice.According to McGregor, the system allows mainstream acceptance of inferior music.
"It just allow for the rotation of garbage over the local airwaves," he said.Payola, the term used to describe the pay-off that artistes give to persons in the media to ensure that their music gets played on the radio, or that they get favourable reviews and articles written about them in the press, is not always on the form of cash - some media workers ask for items like high-tech gadgets, cellphones, expensive jewellery, and trips to exotic locations.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) last reported in its Economic and Social Survey Jamaica 2004 that sales from locally distributed music - vinyl and compact discs - were recorded at $223.1 million, over the period June 2003 to June 2004; down from $275.7 million sold between June 2002 to June 2003.
MCGREGOR... the payola thing is a demon
The PIOJ notes, however, that what it reports is only a fraction of real sales, saying a lot of the business is done through financial transactions.Despite the perceived widespread practice of pay-for-play, most media houses and industry players were unwilling to share their experiences publicly with the Sunday Observer.
Most denied even knowing about payola.One exception was Brian Schmidt, marketing manager at IRIE FM, one of the top two radio stations in Jamaica, and who admits that he has been approached by people who try to bribe him to play their material, by offering cash or kind.
"We have people from all over the world ask us, 'how much will it cost to play our material?' The issue is not specific to Jamaica," says Schmidt.Reggae, a local music form internationalised by Bob Marley and others after him, was in 2004 valued at US$1.02 billion, representing about three per cent of the global music market, according to Wayne Wright, consultant in film music and entertainment commission at Jampro, a state investment promotion agency.
Jamaican producers, performers and songwriters, said Wright, collectively earn "approximately US$255 million each year." That figure converts to about $16.5 billion.
A producer at one of Jamaica's top artiste management firms, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the "corrupt scenario", but accepts it as a necessary evil.Producers take big financial risks, frequently spending over $1.5 million to compose rhythms, and pay artistes to 'voice' on these rhythms and to book studio time, he said.
"Let's face it, the music industry has become so demanding, talent alone can no longer propel an artiste," said the producer. "Sometimes you find that a disc jockey will have your tune for all three weeks without ever playing it once - what must the producer do? He wants to make back his money, so he or she pays off the disc jockey."
Radio 92 FM disc jockey and morning show host, Jennifer 'Jenny Jenny' Small also curses the practice, but says it won't stop until the media fraternity collectively addresses it.
"Some of my industry mates are busy playing crap because they took money to do so... and it chokes talent. There are several people out there with real talent that nobody is looking at, just because they can't afford to pay," says Small.
Much of what drives payola, she said, is not need but greed."Many of them get good salaries, and are popular and well respected within the entertainment industry," she says of broadcast colleagues, but they accept payola because "they are just greedy."
Lester Spaulding, managing director of the RJR Communications Group, which includes radio stations 92 FM, FAME 95, RJR 94, and Television Jamaica, says his media, as a matter of policy, do their utmost to prevent and curtail payola. "We have written guidelines which stipulate that any person found guilty of this will be instantly dismissed," said Spaulding.
Still, both Spaulding and Schmidt agree that the practice of payola is hard to track or punish, because the arrangements are usually done in secret. "It's not easy. Payola is something that is not readily identified because it can take so many forms," said Schmidt.But what also appears as corrupt play, might not be.
"You have to be careful (in accusing people of taking bribes), because sometimes what people perceive to be payola really isn't. The disc jock might just like what this artiste or label does, or get lots of request from the public," said Schmidt.
Attorney Stanbury adds that while payola may be unethical, it is not illegal."I see no provisions that make payola illegal in the Broadcasting and Re-diffusion Act, which governs us here in Jamaica," he tells the Sunday Observer.
Stanbury believes that to counter payola, media houses need to ensure that their on-air staff receive reasonable compensation for their work."Disc jockeys seek to justify their demands for pay-to-play by saying they are not being adequately compensated by the stations," he said, adding that, more open discussions about the negative implications of payola should be encouraged.

henryr@jamaicaobserver.com