On Monday, George Washington University hosted the annual Future of Music Coalition conference where musicians (as opposed to the RIAA) can convene over the state of the music business.
Washington Post writer Rob Pergoraro was in attendance and gave a very nice recap of the happenings at the show. Of particular interest is the plight of independent musicians and their lack of exposure on terrestrial radio.
Rich Bengloff, president of the American Association of Independent Music, cited figures gathered by SoundExchange: In 2006, 37 percent of the songs played on "non-terrestrial" radio (i.e., Satellite Radio and Internet Radio) came from independent artists.
On AM/FM, they had less than 10 percent of airtime, Bengloff said.
And HD Radio doesn't look to be the answer to this problem anytime soon. When a speaker asked the room of 70+ people in the music biz if any of them owned an HD Radio, the WaPo reporter saw only 2 hands go up.
What is StackPointer's opinion (stated as fact) on this issue? Inquiring minds that have need of a good laugh want to know!!!
Here in Boston, Emerson's radio station, WERS, does a *great* job of playing Indie artists. But they're a college station, supported by the school and donations. I wonder how much of that "less than 10%" are college stations? I bet a lot.
Though I cannot locate the article in the USAToday archives, I remember an article that described the problem with CCC owning every radio station in a ND town when a tornado rolled through. CCC was unable to provide any emergency broadcast or report because they had only one technician onsite in this town. All other staff and programming was performed remotely.
So before the NAB complains about a resulting monopoly on SatRad and the potential negative affect of this monopoly maybe they should 'fix' their own terrestrial monopoly.
I will now get off my soapbox before someone knocks me off.
Brilliant example. It would be great to see that story.