RBR+TVBR INFOCUS
On August 7, Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink followed up a report on a Rolling Stone article that cited several unnamed radio and record industry sources who claim the illegal act of paying air personalities money to air songs on their stations was still very much a reality.
The Radio Ink piece featured a discussion with Audience Development Group Managing Partner Tim Moore, who found himself having conversations weeks before the Rolling Stone article about a “pay-to-play it” phone call he’d gotten. In that call, which came in July 2019, a top-flight program director expressed concerns about career contamination, questionable overnight airplay of certain songs, and of money changing hands.
This caught the attention of FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, who planned to reach out to the music and record industry to determine whether this illegal practice is happening on their end. A letter dated Sept. 27 was made public today (10/8) by O’Rielly. His reaction, via Twitter? “Not going to lie: it’s a bit underwhelming.”
