Music Radio and the Record Industry: Songs, Sounds, and Power
2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 34; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/03007766.2011.601598
ISSN1740-1712
Autores Tópico(s)Diverse Musicological Studies
ResumoAbstract The nature of the economic, social, and cultural relations between the radio industry and the record industry is most often characterized by both academics and practitioners as symbiotic, that is, both parties benefit from the interaction. Music radio needs records to fill airtime and to attract audiences and the record industry needs the kind of pervasive exposure that airplay still provides to sell product and to build artist profiles.1 [1] UK radio ratings organization RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) in the second quarter of 2010 reported that overall adult radio listening was 91% of the total available potential audience aged 15 or older. RAJAR is the independent UK ratings organisation, jointly funded by the BBC and the commercial radio sector. The rewards, it has been suggested for decades, are mutual and equivalent. This article argues that the symbiosis argument is an over-simplification of a complex set of relationships. Drawing on interviews with record industry promotions personnel and music radio programmers, I make a case that not only does music radio hold the dominant position in the relationship between itself and the record industry but also that this has had important consequences for record industry A&R practices (signing policy and release schedules) and the production of popular music recordings (the actual sounds on the records). The power of music radio extends far beyond simple promotion of records and artists—it has a profound influence on the sound of popular music and the shape of popular music culture. Notes [1] UK radio ratings organization RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) in the second quarter of 2010 reported that overall adult radio listening was 91% of the total available potential audience aged 15 or older. RAJAR is the independent UK ratings organisation, jointly funded by the BBC and the commercial radio sector. [2] In this research I refer to "the record industry" as distinct from other sectors of the music industry (the live music industry or music retailing, for example). I also use the term "record" to denote a music recording made commercially available in any contemporary format (vinyl, CD, downloadable digital file formats such as MP3 or AAC) or historically significant formats, such as analogue compact cassette. [3] Research interview in 2005 with Kim MacNally, Research Manager, BBC Radio 2 and 6Music. [4] It is perhaps ironic that Spitzer himself became the focus of a sex scandal and federal investigation in 2008 (Nasaw Nasaw, Daniel. "Spitzer Given Two Days to Resign." The Guardian, 11 Mar. 2008. Web [Google Scholar]). [5] A good example of research that works with the symbiosis model of the radio/music industry relationship is Malm and Wallis Malm, Krister and Wallis, Roger. 1992. Media Policy and Music Activity, London: Routledge. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. For examples of interesting work on US music radio programming (work which does not directly address the plugger/programmer relationship), see Rothenbuhler and McCourt Rothenbuhler, Eric and McCourt, Tom. 1992. "Commercial Radio and Popular Music". In Popular Music and Communication, 2nd edn, Edited by: Lull, James. 101–106. London: Sage. Print [Google Scholar], Ahlkvist Ahlkvist, Jarl. 2001. Programming Philosophies and the Rationalization of Music Radio. Media, Culture and Society, 23: 339–358. Print[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], and Ahlkvist and Faulkner Ahlkvist, Jarl and Faulkner, Robert. 2002. Will This Record Work for Us? Managing Music Formats in Commercial Radio. Qualitative Sociology, 25: 189–215. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. [6] It might be argued that what I mean here is in fact only commercially released popular music. This is in part true. It would, however, be difficult to argue that popular music making as far down as the bedroom guitarist is not influenced by commercially recorded and released popular music, regardless of whether or not that local, non-commercial popular production is ever heard by any audience. [7] In record promotions the term "regions" denotes anywhere in the UK that is not London. In business terms at least this has a certain logic—with a population of around 7.56 million (BBC News BBC News. "'Big Rise' in London Population." 27 Sept. 2008. Web [Google Scholar] "'Big Rise'") London is bigger than Scotland (5.2 million) or Wales (3 million) (BBC News BBC News "Scotland's Population Rises Again." 28 Apr. 2009. Web [Google Scholar] "Scotland's Population"; BBC Wales BBC Wales. "Wales, Society and Culture: People." 2009. Web [Google Scholar]). [8] For more on the BBC arguments around popular music and public service, see Hendy Hendy, David. 2000. Pop Music Radio in the Public Service: BBC Radio 1 and New Music in the 1990s. Media, Culture and Society, 22: 743–761. Print[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. [9] An example of qualitative data is the BBC's Appreciation Index (AI), which uses interviews and focus groups to try to assess the extent to which listeners engage with and enjoy individual programs, program strands, or presenters (BBC Trust 10 BBC Trust. 2008. Annual Report and Accounts 2007/2008, London: BBC. Print [Google Scholar]). [10] Or, as the BBC put it in the mid-1980s, "ratings by day, reputation by night" (Hendy 744 Hendy, David. 2000. Pop Music Radio in the Public Service: BBC Radio 1 and New Music in the 1990s. Media, Culture and Society, 22: 743–761. Print[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). [11] It is also true that the long-term financial status of the BBC is predicated on arguments about public service in which ratings are a significant element. [12] As argued by Negus (Producing Pop, "Plugging and Programming"). [13] British Phonographic Industry (BPI) figures show total value of physical sales (dominated by CDs) of £740 million in 2009 (Clark Clark, Nick. "Music Business Stages Comeback with First Rise in Sales for Five Years." The Independent, 27 April 2010. Web [Google Scholar]). [14] Alternative mixes and versions of the same song by the same artist have been around since the late 1960s, originating in Jamaica's "version" culture in which many mixes or versions of the same song were released to maximize return on the investment in the original recording (Best Best, Curwen. 2004. Culture at the Cutting Edge: Tracking Caribbean Popular Music, Kingston: UP of the West Indies. Print [Google Scholar]). Twelve-inch mixes and remixes have been part of dance music culture since the early 1970s development of hip hop, and continue to be so (Ogg and Upshal Ogg, Alex and Upshal, David. 1999. The Hip-Hop Years: A History of Rap, London: Channel 4 Books. Print [Google Scholar]). Rock, however, has never really abandoned the notion of the definitive recording, despite the late-1980s/early-1990s indie-dance crossover (largely wiped out by authenticist styles like grunge and Britpop). [15] Nickelback is in fact a Canadian band, but the point is still relevant. [16] RAJAR RAJAR. Second Quarter Listening Figures 2010. Web [Google Scholar] (2010)
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