Hidden Politics of Music and Radio

Paper Summary:

A short discussion of how media consolidation, particularly in the radio industry, has suppressed political viewpoints, forcing many musical artists to censor their political opinions to avoid losing airplay from the nation's largest and most powerful broadcasters.

From the Paper:

"When Americans turn on their radios each day, most listeners expect to hear the artists that are most popular in their preferred musical genre. Listeners assume that the radio stations in their town are choosing the music based on what listeners want to hear without any outside influence other than the music itself. Yet since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, many artists have found that in addition to an infectious rhythm and memorable lyrics, radio stations have been frequently basing their playlists on corporate mandates dictated by the political beliefs and business practices of the artist. This rapidly growing form of systematic censorship has left many musicians afraid to speak out on political issues, including the very issue of consolidation that has given rise to a sharp increase in music censorship."

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