Musician Tim Convy’s band Ludo is a national act now, but its roots are in St. Louis, and the band’s tight relationship with Emmis Communications’ KPNT-FM makes him think twice about supporting the Performance Rights Act.
He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “Normally I’m on the same side as Tony Bennett, but I’m not sure on this one. Everyone is hurting, particularly in our business. Everyone is going to each other for money and no one has it. It’s a very complex and delicate issue.”
But he is sure of his relationship with KPNT – “”They’ve been great to us,” he says.
Convy is under no illusions as to how his band came to succeed – it was understanding the new technologies, along with old-fashioned hustling. And he knows his band will sell albums without any traditional marketing strategies. However, he is also well aware that the number of albums Ludo sold recently — 100K – would not have been nearly as high without radio support.
Emmis’s John Beck noted that record companies beg his stations to play their music every day – it seems crazy that now they will be begging for it while collecting a hefty royalty fee.
RBR/TVBR observation: Like a lot of younger acts Ludo is learning how to survive in the internet era. But it still treasures radio airtime and promotion. As musicians learn to navigate in the 21st Century, the unneeded middleman may well turn out to be the recording companies.
