Clear Channel is stepping into the concert bootlegging arena, and guess what, it won't be free. NY Times story here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/05/business/media/05DISK.html

Well independents, here we go again, the competition is stirring up.
Vertical consolidation in the music business is getting to tall for my taste. We will very soon reach the point where one company, Clear Channel, is going to rule the airwaves and the big five music industry players. I am sure their goals are benevolent as could be(hehe), but you never know when a power grab goes on.

Big media is starting to imitate little media, ie self producing artists. With business comes legislation, I wonder where this will lead? Most assuredly down the same path as internet radio. As a small broadcaster I can honestly say it was a pretty ugly resolution.

If for example Clear Channel where to sign non-competition agreements with clubs, you could easily be legally stopped from recording your own show, hmmmmm. But, like I said the industry is generally benevolent. I would love to see the contract that Clear channel has with the artist performing.

Anyone playing a Clear Channel Production? Your feedback would be greatly appreciated!

This smells like trouble to Yer Pal Ethan.

Too bad I'm not a member on nytimes.com.

Its free Tim..

WTF? Stop you from recording your own show? They can't copyright something they don't know exists.

I am currently adding the local radio statioon to my local "boycott" list here. I have found it pipes in clear channels sewer water too. NO wonder we hear the top 40, 40 times a day. NO variety.

*station

Where can we find a list of EVERY Clear Channel radio station in the country? If we KNOW what they are, we can turn them off and not listen. Listeners = advertising $$$. If they have no listeners, they cannot make a profit. But unless we know WHO they are, we can't stop listening!!!

I'll see if I can find you one, be right back! E

Don't bother boycotting the clear channel radio station, they don't care if you listen, and if you don't like the music anyway, what did you really accomplish.

Instead, get an idea of their ad sponsors and boycott THEM. Commercial radio makes money through selling commercials. Commercials are only run in order to up sales. If sales drop, they will rethink their marketing plan and abandon advertising on a CC station. Like any boycott though, you need THOUSANDS for this to work effectively.

From their site.
"Clear Channel Radio, the largest operator of radio stations in the United States, provides advertisers with a coast-to-coast platform of more than 1200 stations. Broadcasting across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Clear Channel programming reaches more than 110 million listeners every week. Advertisers spend nearly 20% of their radio advertising dollars with Clear Channel.

In addition to the reach of our own 1200 stations, Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Network syndicates more than 100 programs to more than 7,800 radio stations total. Premiere reaches 180 million listeners a week with its network of top #1 names including Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Rick Dees, Casey Kasem, Jim Rome, Carson Daly and Art Bell. Premiere also broadcasts Clear Channel Entertainment concerts and new CD debuts, enhancing the synergies between divisions."

A station search by area is available on their site.

When the hell did RICK DEES become #1 anything?

He became #1 according to clear channel and there statistics.
I would probably say there slanted, but since clear channel owns so many stations, he is probably number 1.
The one thing i would like to discuss with him is file sharing.
I listened to his program for almost a year straight, just this past year, and heard not a thing on the RIAA and filesharing. The only things they said were when there was news, but that wasn't a discussion, merely biased news.

I've boycotted clear channels for years. I listen to indie web radio when I have time.

Another reason NOT to listen to the radio, even if it didn't suck.

Radio...Coorperate style. When the FCC became a part of the problem this type of media became Legal. There is no such thing as monoply anymore except as a board game. The right wing/conservative money makes know that if they control the media they contol what people hear. In a country were the catch phrase was "Knowledge is power" then its only right that knowledge would be cut off. We cannt have consummers thinking for themselves.
Coorperate radio is leading the way in making sure no one has the facts or choices.

Just a thought, but to a corporation, money is money, yes? Wouldn't it be a somewhat safe guess, then, that most corporations are willing to take money (ie: advertising fees) without examination of the final product (ie: the ads themselves)? Wouldn't it be a great irony if we all pitched in a small amount of $$$ to put together a 20 second spot advertising boycott-riaa.com and actually got it nationally broadcast on Clearchannel? Ah, to dream...

that would be cool..

Here's what I want to see happen: A massive advertising campaign (similar to the "truth" series agains tobacco companies") but against corporate radio. It would use trendy advertising techniques to paint this picture of the radio being carefully controlled by business men wearing $200 ties.

It begs the question though...What's the alternative? NPR, puulleaase. I'd rather listen to corporate radio all day than to listen to 8 hours of classical and talk radio. I suggest pouring massive amounts of money into college radio stations (like the local one here at PSU, The Lion, 90.7). Try and get people to stop listening to any radio station that follows a "format" (i.e. top 40, classic rock, oldies, light jazz, easy listening.. etc..)

Would it work? Absolutely not. But then I can just blame the situation on people's apathy, rather than their ignorance.

When I think about it, I haven't really listened to the radio very much at all since...well...probably about 6 years ago when I realized it pretty much all sucks.

radio plays top 40 only, all day all night and I do not listen to top 40 at all if ever. so, no great loss to me.

There is a station here in Columbus CD101 which is one of the last great independent radio stations. They are still influenced by the record labels with the new stuff, but they play a great mix of music. CC has tried to buy them out, but the owner has refused to sell. Check them out at CD101.com

Thank you Bill Clinton for your FCC goodness!

Clear Channel is digusting. I am appalled when I hear people complaining about Microsoft but NOT Clear Channel.

Why do people think concert tickets have skyrocketed?

Because Clear Channel gets to say who plays where. And to top it off, they own SFX Entertainment, the biggest entertainment bookie in the Western Hemisphere, and maybe even the world.

Ridiculous. We don't have law makers. We have law benders.

You can get a list of Clear Channel radio stations right from their website. Boycott their crappy stations. It will do us all good. Advertisers won't pay for ads if there aren't listeners. But the truth is, advertising represents a small part of their income. Payola, listed in their accounting as promotional fees, is where they really make their money. Independent promoters pay for the right to bill labels on behalf of the station.

Clear Channel and the rest of the radio industry's "independent promotion" method of bypassing payola law is one of the biggest contributors to the rising cost of CD's. Wasteful spending habits of labels and artists is another one, but those aren't new behaviors. Wasteful spending by artists and labels is bad for consumers too.

CD101 seems fairly mainstream for a so called alternative station. Also their main playlist doesn't show much variety. I would expect over a hundred or more songs at least, for an independent station. It seems like they are catering to the style created by corporate giants like Clear Channel.

http://cd101.com/sections/onair/playlist/playlist.asp?cid=1

For more appalling information on Clear Channel's corruptive behavior, check out this series of articles.
http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/index.html