美國流行音樂的現象 給大家看看 THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Jul 28th 2005? Sony BMG admits to bribing radio stations to play its artists IN 1980, according to a book about the music industry by Fredric Dannen called "Hit Men", CBS Records decided to run an experiment with a band, Pink Floyd. Their concert dates were sold out in Los Angeles, and radio stations everywhere were playing "Another Brick in the Wall (Part Two)". Dick Asher, the deputy president of CBS Records, wanted to find out whether the band's popularity meant he could refuse to pay the usual bribes, or illegal "payola", to the four big Top-40 radio stations in Los Angeles. Like stations across the country, they claimed to make independent choices based on taste. But Mr Asher lost; only after Pink Floyd's manager insisted that CBS Records hand over the money did the stations spin the record. Payola began in the 1950s and it is still rampant today. This week Sony BMG, a leading record label, apologised and agreed to pay a fine of $10m for bribing radio stations. New York's hyperactive attorney-general, Eliot Spitzer, said that bribes are pervasive in the industry, and that he is continuing his investigation into the other big record labels--Universal, EMI and Warner Music--as well as the radio business. That seems fair: the radio industry, after all, is just as much to blame for payola. Employees at Clear Channel, America's biggest radio company, crop up frequently in the incriminating e-mails that Mr Spitzer published this week. The bribes they received came in the form of electronic goods, free airline tickets and hotels, sneakers and musical instruments and equipment. Some of the methods its labels used were quite basic, such as hiring girls to call in posing as listeners with requests for songs. Radio play is by far the most effective way to promote a new artist and to sell records. There is massive competition for the slots on a popular radio show, so the temptation to bribe is enormous. Small music labels often suffer because they cannot afford it. Nor do the big labels like the system, though they have made use of it. In 2002 a coalition of artists, other groups and the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the labels, wrote to the Federal Communications Commission asking for an investigation of payola. Although the overall impact of payola is negative, it has sometimes helped great music reach an audience. Radio companies choose music centrally, test it on focus groups, and tend to reject any that does not fit the mould. The Sony BMG documents show that payola was used to get a song by Jennifer Lopez on the air. Yet a band called Audioslave, which makes more "challenging" music, also benefited. "I've paid payola," admits one music executive. "I couldn't get through to the key radio stations, my band made difficult music and now they're a household name." See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4234148 -- █◣█ ███ █◣█ ███ █▇▇ ███ █◥█ █▇▇ █◥█ http://nen.cjb.net --

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