I’ve been saying roughly the same thing since well before the 1st Napster got taken down. The fact that Radiohead put their new album online for free (well, whatever you want to pay) is a true sign of the times. I was telling some fairly big name musicians years ago that they should adopt a marketing strategy like that.

The Major Labels are in a panic… not because people are downloading the music for free, but because every day it becomes more and more obvious that they are un-necessary and quickly becoming obsolete. Even in the days when distribution was difficult, warehouses needed to store product that might not sell, and recording equipment cost a fortune… the 95% of the wholesale price that they get was steep. On the publishing & the production end of the game, they made out like bandits. Now, with print-on-demand CDs, iTunes downloads that cost them nothing, and ProTools setups costing less than a used Les Paul/ Marshall stack rig, the only thing they actually do is publicity. Even the best publicist in the world isn’t worth 95%.

So, the RIAA and the Majors will continue to play the blame game… charging housewives nearly 10 G’s per song for something that their own kids probably do. Until one day, they will wake up and everyone will be dealing directly with the artists, and they will be what they have always been… sterile offices full of greedy old-farts who couldn’t play a tune to save their lives.

However, I’ve worked in commercial radio for the past 22 years, and although I’m sure payola is alive, I think most of the stations (like ours) have a music director that is afraid to go out of the box, and play music from un-known artists, as they fear the station won’t be well received if listeners don’t hear what they’ve been trained to think they want. I know our MD isn’t receiving any goods or payola, as we are in a small market and have a hard enough time getting CD’s sent to us. In fact, we have resorted to buying our songs from I-Tunes because it’s easier and takes less time that making multiple calls to a distributor only to sometimes never receive the music. Seems odd, doesn’t it, that the record industry complains about their artists not generating enough income when they won’t even send out the CD’s to a radio station willing to play it?

Also,radio is such a competitive market, and the MD’s and PD’s are constantly trying to please the masses and play music by award-winning artists so their advertisers (both local and national)are more inclined to continue their support of the radio station, for that is how the stations survive. And these stations (like ours) do much more than play music and commercials, they’re a way to connect to the community through PSA’s, Entertainment Calendars, Pet Watch for lost and found animals, news, sports and weather.

The problem is, getting the masses to realize there is a lot of great music out there, and not just by these artists that are being shoved down your throat, so the internet and music sharing is the answer. Support your favorite band when they come to town, buy their music and push them to the forefront by telling all your friends!

Indie artists are finally getting airplay, it is happening, and the more the fans support these artists, the more we’ll hear them on the air. Personally, I look forward to the day when the pop-star system gets turned on its head!