Major labels are pushing congress to approve an act that would require radio stations to pay for play so that they can recuperate money that they’ve lost due to piracy.  What do you think would happen if this act went through?  Two possibilities are that we’d be hearing less mainstream music and more talk, or we’d hear more Indie music; both of which are contradictions to the agenda of major labels getting more publicity for their artists.  

Are the majors shooting themselves in the foot?  Maybe they are not as stupid as we think.  I suspect the radio stations will give in, although it would be nice if they had the balls to stand up to them.  Unless there was a major coalition among several radio stations nationwide, I can’t imagine that a select few would take the risk on their own.  There just would not be enough support behind it. 

If radio stations want to keep their business, they need to play what their audience wants to hear.  Is the world ready to embrace independent music?  Or does the audience need arena performances, magazine gossip, and smoke and mirrors before they jump on the bandwagon?

At this point, the music industry is in quite a shuffle, and only time will tell.  That depends on us, the listeners, who at this point seem to think that pay for play is the right way to go (according to a poll at hypebot.com).  Peronally I think those who have cast their vote are uninformed.  It is usually not the artist who gets that money.

One thing is for sure, there is an opportunity for a vast change.  Perhaps, stations will begin networking as their own label, so that they can be rewarded if or when an artist is picked up by someone with more money.  With the right incentives, numerous possibilities still exist.

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