Heard it on the radio

August 5, 2005
Given a boost: Jessica Simpson is among the Sony BMG artists
receiving a helping hand.

Given a boost: Jessica Simpson is among the Sony BMG artists receiving a helping hand.
Photo: Reuters

A payola scandal peppering US radio puts the spotlight on local stations, as Andrew Murfett reports on the state of Melbourne's commercial channels.

Maybe we were wrong about Franz Ferdinand. Last week Sony BMG, the world's biggest record company, was fined $US10 million ($A13 million) for paying US radio station employees to play its artists' music.

The incident has put the spotlight on commercial radio and how it chooses the songs we hear.

As part of the settlement, internal Sony BMG correspondence was released to the public. One document stated Sony BMG spent more than $US4000 sending a radio station program director and three friends to Miami, with the understanding that in return he would play Franz's Take Me Out.

Another internal memo stated the label had $US1250 budgeted for the same station to add a track from pop-punks Good Charlotte.

The payola debacle is nothing new - a widely traded piece of music-biz gossip maintains it cost one of the most successful Australian pop acts of the past decade upwards of $2 million to get onto US pop radio.

In the first payola scandal, more than 40 years ago, famed US DJ Alan Freed, who called himself "the king of rock'n'roll", saw his career disintegrate when it was alleged he had taken bribes to play specific records.

Here in Melbourne, Dan Bradley, program director at radio station Nova, says the revelations were shocking to those outside the music industry, but that US labels have always engaged in "pay for play".

"(In the US) there's a set fee to get songs on-air at certain stations. So you have program directors on $40,000 a year in certain markets and driving around in BMWs."

He is keen to point out, however, that it's a thing of the past in Australian radio. "It'd be a brave record company to ever offer one. I've been in this game a long time and I've never seen it."

However, a former record company staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, isn't so sure that the gifts and "red-carpet" treatment regularly lavished on radio station staff doesn't amount to the same thing.

"It wasn't done at my level but there is definitely a budget for these things. There's massive ego in radio. They like to think they have been looked after at a show. When an artist achieves success, a lot of them love to be made to feel like they were part of the success."

On the other hand, Fox FM music director Scott Baker-Smith says: "From the tales I've heard about what it used to be like, we're a clean-living bunch these days."

Singer Jennifer Lopez.

Singer Jennifer Lopez.

Maybe so, but in the cutthroat world of Melbourne commercial radio, nothing is left to chance. Every song is researched, so the stations know what listeners think of the songs that are played.

Songs are sped up to save airtime; artists such as Sydney rockers the Vines are black-banned if they misbehave at radio station-sponsored concerts; music is programmed around advertising; and celebrity personalities rule.

The blandness of commercial radio is magnified in many ways by stale playlists, bland B-grade "talent" hosting shows filled with boorish audience interaction, and a focus on female-oriented music - less rock, more Dido.

Melbourne, supposedly one of the rock capitals of the world, is now without a commercial rock station.

Although local acts Kisschasy, the Cat Empire, the Vasco Era, 67 Special and Missy Higgins, and internationals the Killers, the White Stripes, Stereophonics and Feeder are among recent Melbourne radio success stories, the failure of rock radio in Melbourne means many touted bands are not receiving the desired amount of recognition.

The failure of commercial rock radio in Melbourne is part of a worldwide trend. In the US, radio behemoth Clear Channel (owner of Melbourne's Gold 104.3 and Mix-FM) has converted at least five rock stations to Spanish or hip-hop programming.

Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Houston and, shockingly, New York City (K-Rock recently switched to heritage rock) have all lost their modern rock stations in recent months.

In Britain, the top-rating BBC station Radio One, once an alternative-rock and Britpop haven, is all about hip-hop, dance and pop.

The bottom line is that bands such as Keane, Snow Patrol, Weezer, Modest Mouse, Razorlight, Supergrass, Beck, Queens of the Stone Age and even locals such as Dallas Crane, the Pictures, or even Jimmy Barnes' current number one album Double Happiness are left out of Australian commercial radio's calculations.

The symbiotically bland relationship means radio's attitude to new music in turn influences the acts record companies decide to sign.

A hint an act may not be radio-friendly could be the death knell for any record deal aspirations. Consider Powderfinger and the John Butler Trio, both of which had to sell hundreds of thousands of albums before being embraced by commercial radio.

Nova is the only Melbourne commercial radio station to pitch itself as a "new music" outlet, yet only five to eight songs are added to its playlists each week.

"It's not really a formal process - we all like different styles," says Nova music director Estelle Paterson of the weekly playlist meetings.

"We usually have a laugh; we like some songs and bag others. Somebody will get passionate about a song, others will be just as passionate against it."

Once a track is added to the station's playlist, Nova staff call listeners to get feedback.

"Research has a dirty name," Dan Bradley says, "because people think you can't research art. One of the common fallacies is if a song doesn't research well, it won't get on, but it doesn't happen like that. We put the song on, play them for a while, and when people know them enough, we seek opinions."

Over at Fox-FM, says Baker-Smith, "Every song is added for a reason, every song is scheduled. I follow rules and strategy, I have a format to maintain, and it's actually not my choice - we have a music vision. We are Melbourne's hit music station, and I have to follow that."

Melbourne's commercial radio station landscape has changed since the introduction of Nova in late 2001. The first song the station played was the Avalanches' Since I Left You, and the station has regularly played alternative acts such as System of a Down and Jeff Buckley.

"Before Nova came on, new music was not exposed a lot beyond Triple J," Bradley says.

"People like Moby or Eminem never had commercial airplay until Nova. It's made everyone slightly more contemporary. Radio is now more focused on new music and others have changed and moved closer to Nova."

Baker-Smith offers a different spin: "Sure, Nova might play a song before anyone else does, but Fox's direction is 'hit'. Nova can have all the brand-new, unfamiliar songs. I do think they've made us think a bit broader. A lot of songs are on the radio that weren't before them, and they've forced us to maintain our focus."

Meanwhile, Triple M has transformed its playlist to a Canadian format known as "Jack". Invoking the phrase, "you'll never know what we'll play next", the station has tried to introduce an unbalanced juxtaposition of style and genre.

This means acts such as Starship, Genesis and Supertramp are suddenly finding radio love again.

Its playlist has expanded significantly as tracks from the 1970s, '80s and '90s are programmed with perhaps one current track per hour. Pop-leaning artists such as Gwen Stefani and Ashlee Simpson have also been absorbed into the mix.

Industry sources say the recent ratings success of Gold and the launch of the baby boomer-targeted Vega 91.5 are the reasons behind Triple M's shift, and, as a result, Melbourne's commercial radio playlists are decidedly less adventurous.

"We do get quite a few indie bands sending demos or packages in," Nova's Paterson says, "I'll have a listen, but audio quality is a problem."

So what gets a song on-air at Nova?

"There's a lot of songs we'd love to play, but we have to prioritise what we feel like we have to expose. We don't ever listen to a song on a fit basis - it's if our audience likes it. We play Michael Buble, Kasey Chambers and Audioslave."

Baker-Smith defends Fox, which is the only Melbourne station to admit to speeding up tracks played on air.

"All it does is move it up one key - 3XY used to do it, KISS-FM in LA does it, it's done all the time on TV shows and movies. I don't think it's a big deal."

Another worrying trend in pop radio is the cheesy dance cover-song or remix, epitomised by the ubiquity of Crazy Frog's Axel-F and Moustache's Everywhere.

A major-label promotions manager who requested anonymity says radio stations look for familiarity; if the music doesn't challenge people, it's good.

"You take a cheesy cover in and often they'll be more interested in that than a great Australian track or a hot new overseas band. (But) the public isn't as dumb as radio perceive them to be."

But, says Nova's Bradley, "We play a wide range of genres. I don't need to defend it, because people want to hear those tracks."

Fox's Baker-Smith says there are "a couple" of tracks on the station's playlists that he might not listen to outside of work, but he doesn't regard that as a problem.

"Personally, I can divide what a 30-year-old female in suburbia wants to hear and what I'm listening to at home."

Five In A Row, Tuesday afternoon.

NOVA 100
O Yeah - End Of Fashion
Don't Lie - Black Eyed Peas
Cater 2 U - Destiny's Child
Star2fall - Cabin Crew
Fix You - Coldplay

Hit `Em Up Style - Blu Cantrell
Everywhere - Moustache
Feel Good Inc - Gorillaz
Untitled - Simple Plan
You Get What You Give - New Radicals

Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Take It Easy - The Eagles
Come Out And Play - Offspring
Good People - Jack Johnson
