[BC] Who is the customer?

[Rich Wood]

------ At 12:49 PM 1/26/2006, Paul Smith W4KNX wrote: -------

>but the song would not have been a hit and money maker for the
>artist/songwriter without radio play.  I would thing the songwriter is an
>advertiser and should be charged for airplay, not the other way around.

You're not the first to suggest that artists pay for airplay. Some 
folks at the highest levels of our industry once suggested that. Of 
course, they weren't programmers and couldn't seem to comprehend that 
listeners determine what makes a station work. Playing songs just 
because they're paid for doesn't make a very appealing format. It's 
self-defeating on a couple of levels. It discourages creativity and 
does a Hell of a job on a radio station.

In several genres radio no longer is the dominant means of exposure. 
I think we all need to realize there's a symbiotic relationship between us.

I don't like the licensing companies sometimes heavy-handed approach 
but I think people ought to be paid for the work they do.

What a concept.

Rich