New Music News Wire
Radio Station Ownership Consolidation Harms Musicians and the Public
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The Future of Music Coalition, a non-profit organization focused primarily on the needs of musicians in today’s ever-changing technology environment, has released a new study which argues that radio station ownership consolidation harms musicians and the public.
You can read their report, False Premises, False Promises: A Quantitative History of Ownership Consolidation in the Radio Industry, here.
Senator Russ Feingold (D-MI) has spoken in support of the report, as have radio veterans and artist organizations.
In short, the report examines the changes in the radio industry since the FCC and Congress began to loosen ownership regulations in the 1990s. Peter DiCola, FMC research director and the report’s author, finds that:
- The top four radio station owners have almost half of the listeners and the top ten owners have almost two-thirds of listeners.
- Just fifteen formats make up three-quarters of all commercial programming. Moreover, radio formats with different names can overlap up to 80 percent in terms of the songs played on them.
- Niche musical formats like Classical, Jazz, Americana, Bluegrass, New Rock, and Folk, where they exist, are provided almost exclusively by smaller station groups.
Meet The Composer and the American Symphony Orchestra League have announced the selection of participants for the eighth season of Music Alive, a program which pairs American composers with orchestras for residencies that encourage the commissioning and performance of new work.
The composer/orchestra pairs are:
- Brooklyn Philharmonic and John Corigliano
- Colonial Symphony and Harold Meltzer
- Denver Young Artists Orchestra and Belinda Reynolds
- Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra and Augusta Read Thomas
- The Philadelphia Orchestra and Jennifer Higdon
- The Phoenix Symphony and Mark Grey
- Seattle Symphony and Aaron Jay Kernis
- SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City) and Randall Woolf
The residencies, lasting from two to four weeks, provide orchestras with resources and tools to support their presentation of new music and build support for such programming within their institutions. Composers help guide the host orchestra through the presentation process and are also on hand so that the public can “meet the person behind the music,” further engaging the orchestra and its various audiences and providing a personal context for their works. Additionally, composers serve as advocates for new music in the organization by interacting with board members, musicians, administrative staff, and the community in education and outreach activities.
Further details on each of these residencies, as well as background information for each of the participating composers and orchestras, appear on Meet The Composer’s website.
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NEA Chairman Dana Gioia and the six new members nominated by President George W. Bush to serve on the National Council on the Arts have been confirmed by the United States Senate.
Gioia will serve a second, four year term. President Bush sent his reappointment of Gioia to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on September 30, 2006, and it was unanimously confirmed on Monday.
Ben Donenberg, theater producer and arts educator, Los Angeles, CA; Chico Hamilton, 2004 NEA Jazz Master percussionist, New York City, NY; Joan Israelite, local arts agency executive, Lee’s Summit, MO; Charlotte Power Kessler, arts patron, New Albany, OH; Bret Lott, author, Baton Rouge, LA; and Frank Price, film industry executive, New York City, NY will beging their six-year terms as members of the National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts. The new council members will replace outgoing members Don V. Cogman, Mary Costa, Katharine Cramer DeWitt, Teresa Lozano Long, Maribeth Walton McGinley, and Deedie Potter Rose.
The United States House of Representatives approved $129.4 million in NEA funding—$5 million more than the level recommended by the Senate—but Congress adjourned last week without reaching a final verdict. Appropriations must be approved by both houses. This fall, Senators heard from orchestras and other arts advocates urging support for the House-approved NEA increase. Forty-three Senators signaled their support by signing a Dear Colleague letter to Senate appropriators. With a final verdict left undecided by the outgoing Congress, it will be taken up by the new Congress in January.
Edited by Molly Sheridan