Peter Smyth Column

I really like Greater Media. It seems like they are a company that does things right and has some very strong properties. I live near Detroit, Greater Media has ALL of the cards here. CEO Peter Smyth even writes a column on the company website called "From the Corner Office". He sounds the alarm bell:

There is another battle that will be played out in Washington in the coming weeks and months, although it may not receive the front page treatment.  But for you and for me, it is a battle that is as important as any other we are facing today.

Yikes. Sounds scary!! What is it?

The Performance Tax.

Its just Hitler with another name!! Flee for your lives!

The Performance Tax has once again reared its ugly head and the RIAA and its allies are preparing to introduce legislation in Congress that could, realistically, cost the radio industry between $400 million and $7 billion per year.

Yeah. You have to pay to play music. If you are not in the industry this may come as a shock, but it has always been true. I imagine there has been at least a couple of General Managers in the history of radio that didn't realize this until some lawyers showed up at the office.

There will be claims that this is a question of fairness and the money is needed to help recording artists.  The fact is that the record companies – not individual artists – will be the primary beneficiaries of a performance tax on radio.

They both can take the long walk. I don't care if this tax is going directly into the bands' pockets and no to the record companies, they both can go to hell. How much have they helped this industry when we needed it? Answer: Not at all.

One of the most annoying things about the radio industry is the warbling cries of "but what about the bands"? I hate the artists. They are a necessary evil in the music radio industry. It is a mutually beneficial relationship, but artists will never give us their due. They just stand with their hand out, reminding us that without them, we would not exist. Music did not become profitable until a medium for advertising was developed, so the artists can shove it. The constant coddling and slurping of artists is one of my major pet peeve in the radio industry.

For each of us who are working daily in radio, this is a direct economic threat that can be more damaging to our future than anything the economy has handed us so far.  A direct tax on radio’s already-suffering profitability would force a wholesale rethinking of our station’s formats, our staffing, our ability to contribute to our communities, and how we run our business.  It is a disruption that should never be considered, especially in this time of economic uncertainty.

Every person who is lucky enough to have a job in radio needs to start re-thinking formats, staffing and business NOW. The days of just throwing a bunch of songs together and slapping some jingles on it is over. Radio should never have to compete with iPods, SatRad, and internet streams. We should be developing personality radio in every market NOW. One of the reasons these entitled babies called "artists" even feel like they can get away with a performance tax is because we have let them. We need to stop (as an industry) rising and falling on the whims of the music industry. When they release garbage, our ratings plunge. We need to develop radio between the records, so that we can do without them if these bastards continue to fleece us.

Hat tip: Radio-Info (Taylor on Radio rules)