Thursday, March 30, 2006

Retail Music Industry Battles Extinction

Retail Music Industry Battles Extinction

In a period of lackluster sales, illegal downloading isn't the only factor affecting the depressed music industry. Disgruntled consumers have contributed significantly to the decline in retail music sales. Retail music sales, valued at $12.5 billion in 2005, are predicted to fall to $10.5 billion by 2010, according to a recent Mintel report. The major labels have been quick to blame consumers, but slow to listen to their needs."The growing distance between the music industry and its consumer is due to a number of factors," said Justin De Santis, analyst for Mintel. "These include lawsuits against individual consumers, payola practices, and, most recently, restrictive use of digital rights management."Music labels have a negative stigma to overcome, brought on by battles against illegal downloaders, radio "pay-for-play" scandals and homogeneous artist offerings on radio stations. The introduction of iTunes and similar sites has slowed the decay of music retail sales, but it has not stopped it. Even though technology is starting to work for the industry rather than against it, labels still face the challenge of meeting the demands of a diverse consumer marketplace.In an effort to keep up with the digital marketplace, industry leaders have marketed artists to sell single songs rather than complete albums. This new marketing strategy has contributed to the lack of strong up-and-coming musical talent in the marketplace that exhibit "staying power," such as legendary iconic artists like Prince, the Beatles, or U2.While illegal downloading has hurt the industry, big labels have relied on obsolete strategies for over a decade and have been late in exploiting emerging technologies. As a result, the bond between independent artists and their fans have become stronger. Although the music industry is just starting to use digital distribution to its advantage, overall sales will continue to decline unless companies learn to adapt more quickly to changing technologies.According to De Santis, "The current renaissance of underground media has further driven the consumer away from the major labels and has contributed to the downturn in their sales."

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Payola at Public Radio Too

Public Radio Payola; Scandal shakes public radio
Monday March 20 2006
Scandal shakes public radio
BY MARYANNE GEORGE and JOHN SMYNTEK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The sedate, urbane world of public broadcasting was rattled Thursday as prosecutors charged three former employees of Michigan Public Media with illegally accepting golf club memberships, Persian rugs, airline tickets and massages in exchange for on-air considerations at the state's top public radio station. Each of the men -- current WDET-FM general manager Michael Coleman, Jeremy Nordquist and Justin Ebright -- was charged by Washtenaw County prosecutors in Ann Arbor with embezzlement of under $20,000 while working at Michigan Public Media-controlled WUOM-FM (91.7). Each could face up to five years in prison if convicted. An internal audit also found sloppy recordkeeping, excessive bonuses and expense-account fraud that totaled more than $50,000 from July 2001 to December 2005, said Timothy Slottow, University of Michigan's chief financial officer. U-M owns and runs Michigan Public Media. WDET (101.9) and WUOM are the major public radio stations in Michigan, and public radio has long had a trustworthy image of being above the kind of influence-peddling that has occasionally tarnished commercial radio. The charges shocked listeners of the National Public Radio affiliates. "This is a sad revelation for Detroit, which has functioned as Michigan's cultural engine for so long," said public radio listener Willie Northway of Ann Arbor. "The talk and news offered by Michigan Radio is an invaluable service to the community." Coleman, who left Michigan Public Media as deputy director last year to be general manager at WDET and who has made several controversial programming changes in his new job, remains in his position, said Louis Lessem, vice president and general counsel for Wayne State University, which owns the station. "We know very little about the charge, other than that it has been made," said Lessem, adding that Coleman is not on administrative leave. Coleman, 40, of Ypsilanti did not return calls for comment Thursday. His lawyer, Gregory Dodd of Ypsilanti, could not be reached Thursday evening. WDET listeners who have pilloried Coleman for dumping music programming for talk and news blasted him Thursday after hearing the news. "While I don't wish ill will on anyone, for some reason this does not surprise me," said Dean Dauphinais of Grosse Pointe. Slottow said listener donations to WUOM, which last year put about $2.2 million into the radio station's $5.5-million overall budget, were not part of the alleged embezzlement. "Although we didn't discover these problems as quickly as we would have if stronger operational and oversight controls were in place, we did discover them and are taking immediate corrective action," he said. In-kind donations are common for public broadcasting but typically items donated are then sold to fund the stations. The allegations came to light after Donovan Reynolds, the former director of Michigan Public Media, alerted U-M officials about business practices at WUOM that concerned him. He resigned March 1, saying that although he was not implicated, the improprieties occurred under his watch. Recent Arbitron ratings show WUOM is the most popular radio station in Ann Arbor. The station raised more than $900,000 during its fall fund-raiser. Its spring fund-raiser is set to begin March 31. Nordquist, 28, of Saline and Ebright, 35, of Whitmore Lake also each face a charge of conspiracy to embezzle under $20,000, which carries a maximum 5-year prison term upon conviction. Nordquist was an account executive for Michigan Public Media who left the station Jan. 25. Ebright was development director for Michigan Radio, which is part of Michigan Public Media. He left in November. Ebright's lawyer, Dan Geherin of Ann Arbor, said the central question is whether his client broke the law by accepting any of the items. Nordquist's attorney, Tom Moors of Ypsilanti, said his client maintains his innocence. All three men were released Thursday morning on $10,000 personal bond each.

Arbitron radio reach

Arbitron: Radio Reaches More Than 230 Million People

Over the course of a week, radio reaches 93% of all persons 12 years of age and older. Additionally, Arbitron notes that nearly 184 million people, or 74% of all persons 12+, tune to radio on a Saturday or Sunday. Morning drive continues to attract the most listeners, while afternoon drive is just behind in total audience. Teens and young adults up to age 24 continue to embrace radio, with 92% of persons 12-17 and 92% of persons 18-24 tuning in at least one station during a given day.
Radio listening continues to be found most in the car, followed by at-home listening and at-work listening. Speaking of at-work listening, 96% of working women tune to radio weekly.
The estimates are based on data compiled by Arbitron's RADAR national audience measurement service. RADAR 88 will be released by Arbitron on Monday.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Radio One freezes playlist reacting to a Satire

-----Original Message----- From: Mary Catherine Sneed
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 1:33 PM

To: Program Directors; Marsha Meadows; General Managers; James Henderson Subject:

Fw: VP of Programming of BET, Stephen Hill Tells It All

Poor Laffy Taffy!!!!! --------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

-----Original Message-----
From: Linda Vilardo To: Alfred Liggins; Mary Catherine Sneed
Sent: Tue Mar 07 13:01:45 2006
Subject: FW: VP of Programming of BET, Stephen Hill Tells It All

-----Original Message-----
From: Sundria Lake
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 1:00 PM

To: John Jones; Linda Vilardo
Subject: FW: VP of Programming of BET, Stephen Hill Tells It All _____ Playahata Times: Entertainment Section

WEB EXCLUSIVE VP of Programming of BET, Stephen Hill Tells It All On Tavis Smiley
By Kelly Hudlin

During a recent taping of the "Tavis Smiley Show", VP of Programming of BET, Stephen Hill tells it all. Hill claims the ongoing probe by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, coupled with his reconnection to his faith in Jesus Christ led to this most revealing interview. Hill entered into a plea agreement with the New York Attorney Generals office, that allows him to keep an estimated $700,000 dollars, in illegal payments. Hill controlled the playlist for the entire network. Spitzer's investigation covered a five year period, beginning with Hill's move from MTV in 1999. BET is currently in 77 million homes.

Tavis Smiley once again shows his journalistic skills in this exclusive 30 minute interview. Stephen Hill reveals that when he first made the switch to MTV he was instructed by Bob Johnson "to whiten the network up " . Hill knew he was brought to BET due to the imminent sale to MTV parent company Viacom. The transition was easy Hill said "I simply copied MTV show's like TRL and Tom Green, 106 and Park was a no-brainer and 'Hits from the Street's' were done with low budgets, Bob loved it".

Hill admits his problem was catering to the Urban market. Hill broke down in tears and admitted "Destiny's Child and "Bills, Bills Bills" is his all time favorite but ironically was the beginning of his lavish life of payola. Hill admits "I knew it was time to come clean, after I moved D4l's "Laffy Taffy" up BET'S charts" he was bound to get caught. Spitzer's office planted D4L's "Laffy Taffy" as a nationwide sting, Hill along with over fifteen hundred programmers took cash payments to make D4L the most paid for song in the history of radio. “I remember when I heard the song, I laughed" Hill said the lyrics were great but the drum machine was not a Kevin Liles track!

Hill decided to tell all in a plea agreement and now spends 40 hours a week with his renewed Jehovah Witness faith preaching door to door against sexuality in New Jersey. Stephen Hill admitted that Bob Johnson and Viacom know that BET's core audience will fall for anything. "Radio and Video are about making money, developing stars and content is long gone. Hill told Tavis Smiley that the "industry has run amuck, pay for play is the rule now and I am tired of playing Kunta for Jimmy Iovine and the rest of the industry". Tavis during the final minutes of this must see interview asked the Brown University Alumnus, "You have three pictures on your desk, Tiger, OJ and Michael Jackson, which one of those stars are your favorite"? Find out that and more when Tavis Smiley interviews Stephen Hill, VP of Programming on Friday March 31, 2006 on PBS.

BET reacts to Satire

From: GwendolynQuinn@aol.com [mailto:GwendolynQuinn@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2006 3:50 PMTo:
GwendolynQuinn@aol.com
Subject: Check out Playahata.com
-- March Satire -- BET & Payola
Dear People:
I sent this out the other day to a few people. It's not true and as myfriend Tracy stated "it's a tasteless hoax." I hate sending out messingstuff. Scroll down and read. See link below.Playahata.com- - February Satire<http://www.playahata.com/pages/satires/satire_current.htm>


***See note to me from Michael Lewellen: And there is zero truth to it. If you read the original transmission,the copy is identified as satire in the heading. But as people havemoved this around the Internet, for some reason that little key fact hasbeen left off the e-mail.Good to see you last night in DC.

Take Care,Michael Lewellen-----------------

Forwarded Message: Subj: Check out Playahata.com- - February Satire Date: 3/12/2006 11:39:29 A.M. Eastern Standard Time From: NYCJORDAN23 To: GwendolynQuinn Playahata.com- - February Satire<http://www.playahata.com/pages/satires/satire_current.htm>

This was a tasteless hoax...
Gwendolyn Quinn President GQ Media & Public Relations, Inc.
1650 Broadway Suite 1011
New York, New York 10019
212-765-7910 (office)
212-765-7905 (fax)
gwendolynquinn@aol.com
***Gwendolyn QuinnFounder and Editorial DirectorThe AAPRC (The African-American Public Relations Collective) andThe AAPRC Monthly
1650 BroadwaySuite 1011
New York, New York 10019
212-765-7910 (office)
212-765-7905 (fax)
gwendolynquinn@aol.com

***Gwendolyn QuinnFounder and Creative DirectorThe Songwriting Seriesc/o A Queen Production, Inc.1650 BroadwaySuite 1011New York, New York 10019212-765-7874 (office)212-765-7905 (fax)gwendolynquinn@aol.com files from your system.Thank you.

NY TIMES on news study


The New York TimesMarch 13, 2006

Study Finds More News Media Outlets, Covering Less News

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

The third annual review of the state of American journalism found that while there were more media outlets this year than ever, they were covering less news.The review was conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, an institute affiliated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and financed by the Pew Charitable Trusts.As part of the review, a special study looked at how a variety of outlets, including newspapers, television, radio and the Internet, covered a single day's worth of news and concluded that there was enormous repetition and amplification of just two dozen stories. Moreover, it said, "the incremental and even ephemeral nature of what the media define as news is striking."On May 11, 2005, a date that was chosen randomly, Congress was debating the appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, the actor Macaulay Culkin was testifying in Michael Jackson's molestation trial and car bombs in Iraq killed 79 people.On that day, the study said, " Google News offers access within two clicks to 14,000 stories, but really they are accounts of just 24 news events."The coverage offered by 57 media outlets was examined in depth in three cities (Houston, Milwaukee and Bend, Ore., which were randomly chosen from lists of cities of different size and geographical location) and showed certain shared characteristics depending on the medium.Print and the evening network news, for example, focused on the violence in Iraq, a false alarm in Washington involving a small plane that violated restricted air space, and protests in Afghanistan.Cable television and the morning news programs highlighted Mr. Jackson's trial and a murder in Illinois; local television and radio produced a steady diet of weather, traffic and local crime.The blogosphere, meanwhile, shrugged off most of the breaking news, focusing largely on broader, longer-term issues."Contrary to the charge that the blogosphere is purely parasitic," the study said, bloggers raised new issues. But they did almost no original reporting: only 1 percent of the posts that day involved a blogger interviewing someone else and only 5 percent involved some other original work, such as examining documents.Cable news was the "shallowest" and most "ephemeral" of the media, the study said. Newspapers, which are the biggest news-gathering organizations, covered the most topics, provided the most extensive sourcing and provided the most angles on particular events, it said, "though perhaps in language and sourcing tilted toward elites."Many of the national broadcast reports quoted the same few people."More coverage, in other words, does not always mean greater diversity of voices," the study said. "Consuming the news continuously does not mean being better informed."Tom Rosenstiel, director of the project, said that reporters seemed to be increasingly shunted off to an isolated area while covering events, as they were during the recent mining disaster in West Virginia, giving them little first-hand access."The irony is that having more reporters doesn't mean more coverage," he said. "It means more reporters crowded into one corner of the scene."

Copyright 2006The New York Times Company[] []

Kevin Taglang Senior Policy AnalystEditor, Communications-related Headlines Benton FoundationCommunications in the Public Interest

1625 K Street, NW 11th Floor

Washington, DC 20006headlines@benton.orgwww.benton.org

Thursday, March 09, 2006

WHUR Syndicating failure?

WHUR Gets An Earful for Axing Show
By Paul FarhiWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, March 9, 2006; Page C01
Radio-listening habits die hard. Just ask WHUR, which is discovering what happens when management gets between the audience and its favorite morning show.
Since dumping its popular morning team and replacing it this week with comedian Steve Harvey's syndicated program, the District radio station (96.3 FM) has been deluged with complaints by the hundreds. The backlash has inspired calls for a boycott of the station, which is owned by Howard University and has been among the highest-rated in the market.
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The cancellation of WHUR's "The Real D.C. Morning Show" raises a broader question: What's become of "local" programming in a medium that has long traded on its community ties and good-neighbor image?
Critics of WHUR's decision say that Harvey's show -- starring one of the "Kings of Comedy," who had a WB sitcom for years -- originates from New York and is heard in a handful of other U.S. cities. In that regard, it's little different from other syndicated radio shows, such as National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," or programs hosted by such personalities as Tom Joyner, Don Imus and Rush Limbaugh. Such syndicated fare has been blamed for destroying radio's "localism" and for its homogenization, with sound-alike stations from coast to coast.
As its name implied, "The Real D.C. Morning Show" was a hometown production. It featured four hosts -- Tony Richards, Sharon "TC" Pitt, George Willborn and Herman Washington -- who discussed local personalities, issues and news, and took music requests and calls from residents. The station's promos even subtly mocked the syndicated competition by bragging that the show was "not live via satellite, but live."
As of last month, however, it no longer was. WHUR -- a for-profit station despite its nonprofit parentage -- ended "Real D.C.'s" five-year run without an on-air announcement. Harvey's program, airing 6 to 10 a.m., began Monday.
Since then, outrage.
A message board maintained by Pitt ( http://www.sistacircle.com/ ) has been filling up with denunciations of WHUR's management and notes of support for the fired hosts -- about 2,500 combined as of yesterday. Pitt, meanwhile, said yesterday she would "go back to the station in a minute" if asked. "I was born and raised here," she said. "This was my dream job."
Separately, an anonymous listener has collected about 400 "signatures" for an online petition that states, "We, the former listeners of WHUR, will boycott the station until our voices are heard and until The Real DC Morning Show has returned."
Tonya Brewington, a regular listener of the D.C. program, called WHUR's decision to cancel the show "jarring" because of the change in tone -- Harvey's show often emphasizes edgier humor, compared with "Real D.C.'s" more gentle, folksy style.
"I think it's a very bad choice," said Brewington, a Web designer who lives in the District. "I think the people who listen to [the program] are not the same audience for Steve Harvey. . . . It was more of a community show. You're not going to find out what happened in D.C. the night before by listening to a show out of New York. It's a sad commentary for a radio station that's associated with a prestigious university."
Several people at the station, including program director Dave Dickinson, said they were not authorized to talk about the matter publicly. They referred a reporter to Jim Watkins, WHUR's general manager. Watkins did not return multiple requests for comment yesterday.
The decision might look puzzling in light of the program's ratings. The show ranked third in its time period (behind top-rated WMMJ and WPGC) among adult listeners ages 25 to 54, according to Arbitron Co.'s most recent quarterly survey. In other words, it was a strong performer during radio's most competitive time of the day among the listeners most sought by radio advertisers.
But that also means WHUR ranked third in a long-running four-way battle for supremacy among African American listeners. The big four "urban" stations in Washington regularly split this audience. And all three of WHUR's main competitors have superstar hosts in the morning: WMMJ (102.3 FM) features Joyner, who formerly was heard on WHUR; WPGC (95.5 FM) carries Donnie Simpson; and WKYS (93.9 FM) airs Russ Parr's show.
Of those shows, only Simpson's focuses on the Washington area. Joyner broadcasts from the Midwest. Parr, based in the D.C. area, tailors his show for a national audience.
Programs that seek to attract African American listeners often have emphasized connections to their community to set them apart from mainstream stations, said Charlie Sislen, a partner in Research Director Inc., an Annapolis-based consulting firm. "To not have a local morning show is very surprising," said Sislen, whose clients include WPGC.
WHUR, however, racked up big ratings with Joyner's syndicated show until it lost that program to rival WMMJ in August 2000.
Sean Ross, a radio consultant with Edison Media Research, said Harvey's program has performed well on stations that have picked it up since it began syndication six months ago. "He's certainly the high-impact alternative to Joyner at the moment," said Ross of the 50-year-old Harvey. "Joyner hasn't stopped being Joyner, but [Harvey] is interesting. His celebrity will help him pull in a younger audience."
As for WHUR, Ross said, it was "prepared to do what everyone has to do to build a morning show until a compelling option came along."

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Entercom hit with payola lawsuit

Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Entercom Hit With Payola Lawsuit

In a suit filed today in New York State's Supreme Court, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer alleges that Entercom traded airtime for trips, gifts, promotional items and other forms of payments. The suit also charges that Entercom staff solicited and accepted payments from record label execs and developed internal programs — which were supported and directed by senior management — to sell airtime to labels.
The lawsuit included 67 pages of attachments that detailed communications between Entercom station staff and record label execs regarding the alleged illegal activities.
Spitzer says, "By accepting secret payments in exchange for airtime, Entercom compromised its radio programming and violated state and federal laws. What makes this case especially egregious is the extent to which senior management viewed control of the airways as an opportunity to garner illegal payments from record labels."
Meanwhile, Spitzer is also challenging the FCC to step up its payola enforcement. "Almost a year after payola was exposed in significant detail, the FCC has yet to respond in any meaningful way," he says. "The agency's inaction is especially disappointing given the pervasive nature of this problem and its corrosive impact on the entertainment industry."
Entercom did not immediately return an R&R call seeking comment.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Playahata Satire

March Satire
?
Playahata Times: Entertainment Section?

WEB EXCLUSIVEVP of Programming of BET, Stephen Hill Tells It All On Tavis Smiley

By Kelly Hudlin
During a recent taping of the "Tavis Smiley Show", VP of Programming of BET, Stephen Hill tells it all. Hill claims the ongoing probe by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, coupled with his reconnection to his faith in Jesus Christ led to this most revealing interview.
Hill entered into a plea agreement with the New York Attorney Generals office, that allows him to keep and estimated $700,000 dollars, in illegal payments. Hill controlled the playlist for the entire network. Spitzer's investigation covered a five year period, beginning with Hill's move from MTV in 1999. BET is currently in 77 million homes.
Tavis Smiley once again shows his journalistic skills in this exclusive 30 minute interview. Stephen Hill reveals that when he first made the switch to MTV he was instructed by Bob Johnson "to whiten the network up" Hill knew he was brought to BET due to the imminent sale to MTV parent company Viacom. The transition was easy Hill said "I simply copied MTV show's like TRL and Tom Green, 106 and Park was a no-brainer and 'Hits from the Street's' were done with low budgets, Bob loved it".
Hill admits his problem was catering to the Urban market. Hill broke down in tears and admitted "Destiny's Child and "Bills, Bills Bills" is his all time favorite but ironically was the beginning of his lavish life of payola. Hill admits "I knew it was time to come clean, after I moved D4l's "Laffy Taffy" up BET'S charts" he was bound to get caught.
Spitzer's office planted D4L's "Laffy Taffy" as a nationwide sting, Hill along with over fifteen hundred programmers took cash payments to make D4L the most paid for song in the history of radio. "I remember when I heard the song, I laughed" Hill said the lyrics were great but the drum machine was not a Kevin Liles track! Hill decided to tell all in a plea agreement and now spends 40 hours a week with his renewed Jehovah Witness faith preaching door to door against sexuality in New Jersey.
Stephen Hill admitted that Bob Johnson and Viacom, know that BET's core audience will fall for anything. "Radio and Video are about making money, developing stars and content is long gone. Hill told Tavis Smiley that the "industry has run amuck, pay for play is the rule now and I am tired of playing Kunta for Jimmy Iovine and the rest of the industry".
Tavis during the final minutes of this must see interview asked the Brown University Alumnus, "You have three pictures on your desk, Tiger, OJ and Michael Jackson, which one of those stars are your favorite"? Find out that and more when Tavis Smiley interviews Stephen Hill, VP of Programming on Friday March 31, 2006 on PBS.
?
Kelly Hudlin is a freelance writer, from Chicago, best known for his short film "I saw it, I seen it, then I did it".
?
*Past satires can be found under the Directory Link below*

Monday, March 06, 2006

RADIO ONE STOCK PROBLEMS

Radio One Takes a Long View
By Jerry KnightMonday, March 6, 2006; Page D01
Back when Radio One Inc. began buying radio stations, hip-hop was unheard music.
Not unheard of, but unheard on the radio in many major cities.

Radio One put hip-hop and other genres of urban music on the nation's airwaves. Buying underperforming radio stations and turning them into urban-music machines, the Lanham-based company became the largest black-owned, black-oriented radio station group in the country

Today, hip-hop is everywhere. Yesterday's obscure rappers are today's movie stars -- Mos Def upstaged Bruce Willis in "16 Blocks," one of last weekend's movie openings. Stations catering to white kids play what was once considered the blackest music since the blues.
That is one of the problems facing Radio One.
As urban music has gone mainstream, Radio One stock has lost close to two-thirds of its value in the past two years. The shares hit a five-year low of $8.13 on Thursday and closed 9 cents higher on Friday.

The biggest losers in that slide have been Radio One Chairman Alfred C. Liggins III and his mother, Cathy Hughes, the longtime Washington broadcaster who founded the company 25 years ago. Together, their holdings of four classes of Radio One stock add up to an 18 percent stake in the company. Even at today's depressed stock price, their share is worth about $155 million. But since they control the majority of the voting stock, their stake is probably much more valuable than that -- particularly if the company were to be sold.

Radio One's stock price has fallen because the company's original strategy of picking up out-of-favor radio stations on the cheap and giving them new music, new audiences and new advertisers has run its course.

"They have applied their specialty, which is the urban niche, and they have brought these stations up to a solid operating level,'' said analyst Maurice C. McKenzie of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, an Arlington investment firm. "At this point, they are struggling with a challenging radio environment."

There are few bargain radio stations to be had these days. Few cities don't already have stations following what was once the innovative format of Radio One. And the core urban-music franchise is fragmenting, with Latino youths switching from "conventional" hip-hop to the Caribbean-influenced sound known as reggaeton.
Instead of buying more stations, Radio One has been buying back its stock. That can increase earnings per share and sometimes the stock price but often can sacrifice expansion opportunities.
Despite repurchasing $78 million worth of shares, Radio One stock has done badly even by radio standards, McKenzie noted. The stock underperformed the industry last year and continues to do so.
Not that the radio industry has been doing well. Listeners are being lured away by the Internet, iPods and the expanded choices offered by District-based XM Satellite Radio and its New York rival, Sirius Satellite Radio. (Radio One programs one of XM's 100-plus channels.) Stocks of satellite broadcasters aren't doing better than those of the earthlings. XM is down 21 percent so far this year, Sirius 25 percent.
In that environment, radio revenue is growing only 3 to 5 percent a year. Radio One's revenue grew by a scant one-tenth of 1 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and could actually fall this quarter, analysts said.


Radio's problem, Liggins said on a recent conference call, is that "we're not creating new advertisers, which as an industry we need to do."
The frustration of Liggins and other Radio One executives blared as a backbeat during last month's hour-long session with analysts. They sounded frustrated trying to make money in a mature industry, frustrated by the cutthroat competition for advertising dollars, frustrated by what's happened to Radio One's stock price, frustrated by Wall Street's unwillingness to embrace the company's diversification into television broadcasting and program syndication.
Radio One's most promising move beyond its radio roots is TV One, a joint venture with Comcast Corp. Radio One owns a 35 percent stake in the TV venture, which aims to rival Black Entertainment Television, a network created by Robert L. Johnson, Washington's most successful minority entrepreneur.

Expanding slowly across Comcast's vast web of cable networks, TV One is on track to generate $80 million a year in cash flow within five years, Liggins said.
But Wall Street gives the company little credit for its move into TV, even though the strategy was suggested by media industry investment bankers.

"We played the game just like we were supposed to," Liggins lamented. "We ended up with the stock price where it is, based on doing everything we were told to do."
Becoming a minor partner in one of the several bidders for the Washington Nationals franchise and making an effort to break into movie distribution with an obscure indie film also generated a lot of skepticism.

More interesting to investors is Radio One's partnership with talk show host Tom Joyner, the nation's top black radio personality. Joyner's show is broadcast on several Radio One stations and syndicated to stations owned by other companies.

The partnership in turn is lining up other black talk-radio hosts -- Al Sharpton among them -- to build the first talk-show network aimed at black audiences. Distributing programming isn't considered as good a business as running stations, but black talk radio is a wide-open field, just as urban music was a decade ago.
Also regarded as a promising diversification possibility is Radio One's effort to develop a major Internet portal for African Americans. Others have tried, none with great financial success.

Page 3 of 3 <

Radio One Takes a Long View
Analysts generally applaud efforts to find new ways to reach Radio One's audience. "Radio One is proactively capitalizing on this trend with its focus on becoming a multimedia powerhouse for the African American demographic," analysts at Wachovia Capital Markets LLC noted approvingly in a recent research report.
Nonetheless, Wachovia cut the stock's rating from "outperform" to "market perform, " the equivalent of a "hold" rating.

From talking to analysts and reading their research, it becomes clear that most agree on the prognosis for Radio One: It could be a good investment down the road, but the future is not now.
FBR's McKenzie, who has the equivalent of a "hold" rating on the stock, said: "Long-term, these diversifications could prove successful. But in the near term, we expect resource allocation to have a negative impact on the company's margins." In other words, it's going to cost money to get those new ventures off the ground, and in the meantime, profit will suffer.
Analysts at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. say investors would get a quicker payoff if Radio One were sold. They express regret that Radio One's "management isn't overly concerned with short-term stock price."

Liggins dealt with that complaint during his February conference call. "We are more concerned about actually creating value than what the Street is going to think. They think three- to six-month return. I'm more concerned about how much more cash flow we're going to have in five years."
That's an attitude that ought to appeal to long-term investors -- if there are any left.
Jerry Knight's e-mail address isknightj@washpost.com

Friday, March 03, 2006

Payola

It is all time we all take a serious look at PAYOLA on a larger scale. For decades PAYOLA stood for illegal payouts to Program and Music Directors of individual stations nationwide. PAYOLA for decades let the little label or artist be heard, payouts could be as little as $100 or a free meal. For a longtime radio programmers prided themselves in breaking new artist first, by any means neccesary. Believe it, many acts at radio received airplay for nothing at all, for a longtime talent and content were important, variety and originality were important. How things have changed in the past 10 years is alarming.

The Corporate strangle hold has touched every sector of business, radio and video are no exception. The Telecomm Act of 1996 opened the flood gates to power takeovers from small owners or small groups. Wall Street stepped in and variety and localism ended almost overnight. With consolidation power is in your pocket, individual station playlist became national list. The price of PAYOLA quickly multiplied from one station to one nation. Conglomerates like Clear Channel quickly grew from 39 stations to over 1200. PAYOLA turned corporate and the record industry spent less time directed toward sustaining talent, and more time pumping huge dollars into music video. Out went variety and in went repitition. Imagine the record industry demanded more spins on titles from radio. Hell, they paided for promotions, trips, gifts and cash on corporate and individual levels. The Record industry was the new pimp, finally dictating on when, what and how many times radio played titles.

Unfortunately the deal makers in the recording industry got stuck on the gangsta phase of Hip Hop. Sex, violence, misogyny and drug titles dominate new titles and product. Like in past decades of disco & R&B the talent well has dried out. The continual "same songs" are done over and over again, each time losing steam and talent. Today's PAYOLA problem is the "hoe" Radio continues to play what the "pimp" continues to dictate. Although revenue at Radio and Records continue to decline the cats in the boardroom are still profiting. The children, teens and tweens think today's playlist are the Marvin Gaye's, Michael Jackson's, Bob Marley's Tupac's or Biggie's. Unfortunately the new cast members are named D4L, Ying Yang's and Young Jeezy.

Pay for play is a hell of a system, when you here it over and over again it works! Many young ears like it, believe it and others often buy it. PAYOLA is effective on the corporate level, because when you control the airwaves you control sales. PERIOD! Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule, just like there are mutiny's and revolotions, empires fall it is time to make some noise and let them know your tired of being played. It is all time we all take a serious look at PAYOLA on a larger scale. For decades PAYOLA stood for illegal payouts to Program and Music Directors of individual stations nationwide. PAYOLA for decades let the little label or artist be heard, payouts could be as little as $100 or a free meal. For a longtime radio programmers prided themselves in breaking new artist first, by any means neccesary. Believe it, many acts at radio received airplay for nothing at all, for a longtime talent and content were important, variety and originality were important.

How things have changed in the past 10 years is alarming. The Corporate strangle hold has touched every sector of business, radio and video are no exception. The Telecomm Act of 1996 opened the flood gates to power takeovers from small owners or small groups. Wall Street stepped in and variety and localism ended almost overnight. With consolidation power is in your pocket, individual station playlist became national list. The price of PAYOLA quickly multiplied from one station to one nation. Conglomerates like Clear Channel quickly grew from 39 stations to over 1200. PAYOLA turned corporate and the record industry spent less time directed toward sustaining talent, and more time pumping huge dollars into music video. Out went variety and in went repitition. Imagine the record industry demanded more spins on titles from radio. Hell, they paided for promotions, trips, gifts and cash on corporate and individual levels. The Record industry was the new pimp, finally dictating on when, what and how many times radio played titles.

Unfortunately the deal makers in the recording industry got stuck on the gangsta phase of Hip Hop. Sex, violence, misogyny and drug titles dominate new titles and product. Like in past decades of disco & R&B the talent well has dried out. The continual "same songs" are done over and over again, each time losing steam and talent. Today's PAYOLA problem is the "hoe" Radio continues to play what the "pimp" continues to dictate. Although revenue at Radio and Records continue to decline the cats in the boardroom are still profiting. The children, teens and tweens think today's playlist are the Marvin Gaye's, Michael Jackson's, Bob Marley's Tupac's or Biggie's. Unfortunately the new cast members are named D4L, Ying Yang's and Young Jeezy. Pay for play is a hell of a system, when you here it over and over again it works! Many young ears like it, believe it and others often buy it. PAYOLA is effective on the corporate level, because when you control the airwaves you control sales. PERIOD! Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule, just like there are mutiny's and revolotions, empires fall it is time to make some noise and let them know your tired of being played.

Record Label Price fixing?

Friday, March 3, 2006
DOJ Investigating Online Music Price Fixing

Vivendi Universal, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group are being investigated by the Department of Justice for possible collusion in setting prices for online music, the Wall Street Journal reports today.
DOJ spokeswoman Gina Talamona tells the WSJ that antitrust agents are "looking into the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the music-download industry." All four label groups have reportedly received or will soon receive "civil investigative demands" from the DOJ seeking information; the matter does not appear to be a criminal investigation.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer launched a similar probe in December of last year, sending subpoenas to all four major label groups in an attempt to find out if they colluded on setting wholesale prices for digital music. Most digital music — including songs sold on Apple's wildly popular iTunes service — sells for 99 cents a song, and online music retailers are believed to pay wholesale prices of 60 to 70 cents per song.
An EMI representative told R&R that the company had not received a subpoena as of this morning and declined to otherwise comment on the matter. R&R's calls to Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music Group were not immediately returned.