AFTRA

Testimony of Craig Wiseman

Member, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
Member, Nashville Songwriters Association International

Before the Federal Communications Commission
Public Hearing on Media Ownership

Nashville, Tennessee
December 11, 2006

Chairman Martin, Commissioners Adelstein, Tate, McDowell, and Copps, thank you for the opportunity to speak at this public hearing on media consolidation and its effect on recording artists, songwriters, publishers, and the radio listening public.

My name is Craig Wiseman and I am a songwriter and a music publisher. I am testifying today on behalf of the members of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). I have been a songwriter for over twenty years and have written fifteen No. 1 hits, over 100 charted singles, and have more than 40 million albums sold to my credit. My career began when I co-wrote a song featured on Roy Orbison's triple-platinum last album, Mystery Girl. In 1994, I scored my first No. 1 hit with Tracy Lawrence's "If The Good Die Young."

In 2004, I won the Best Country Song of the Year GRAMMY award for penning Tim McGraw's hit song, "Live Like You Were Dying.” This year, I won the 2006 CMA Song of the Year award and the 2006 ACM Song of the Year award for my composition "Believe," recorded by Brooks and Dunn. Building on my success as a songwriter, I founded my own publishing company, Big Loud Shirt Industries in 2003.

Ten years ago, Congress passed the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which dramatically increased the number of broadcast stations that a single entity could own in any one market. This led to unprecedented media consolidation in the radio industry, and ushered in an era of corporate radio programming that has adversely impacted the quality of programming on the airwaves, particularly in the country music genre.

In country music radio today, the playlists are increasingly narrow. According to R&R magazine, from 1996 to 1998, country radio averaged 40 No. 1 singles a year. In 1999, according to R&R, and I quote, “a profound slowdown occurred at country radio with only 18 number one songs. By 2000, country was down to 15 hits.” There was an obvious attempt to slow down the playlists on a corporate level and increase ad space, thereby increasing advertising revenue. The narrowing of the playlists, while serving radio’s agenda well, limits the number the songs that gain exposure on radio, by numbers and style. This is apparent from a spin around the dial here in Nashville. The three country stations in Nashville sound exactly the same.

Unlike when I started as a songwriter, radio programming decisions are not made locally as the result of passionate commitment by local radio personnel; they are made nationally as the result of target demographic marketing focus group analysis by giant radio conglomerates that own hundreds of stations. Corporate programming has led to an excessive emphasis on demographic targeting at the expense of creative expression.

Because they strictly control the narrow range of songs they'll allow on the radio, corporate radio giants essentially dictate, through their pre-determined demographic targets, which songs become commercially viable. This has eliminated the wide range of music the listening public is exposed to and removed the opportunity for them to decide for themselves what music they want to hear. Is it any wonder that the number one consumer complaint with radio is that all the songs sound the same?

In order to sell albums you have to fit a specific demographic profile. Because there are so few radio owners and formats are so narrow, the only commercially viable music is songs that meet very confined demographic restrictions, and nothing is being allowed to reach the consumer outside the narrow cookie cutter demographics.

Other new and emerging songwriters don’t get heard or don't develop because they don’t fit the contracted demographic requirement, resulting in less diversity. This also results in less local content on the airwaves because the giant media corporations, which aren’t locally based, will not give local artists airplay. If they won't play songs by stars outside a narrowly targeted demographic range, they certainly won't play songs by unknown local performers.

The homogeneous programming that has resulted from radio consolidation limits opportunities for songwriters, artists and listeners alike. Country music stations are being cut all over the country - Los Angeles lost it’s only country radio station earlier this year - and yet it is the only genre to enjoy an increase in sales: country music sales increased by 14% in 2006 while all others dropped by 10 – 14%.

I wrote a song called “Believe” in 2005. It was a four-minute song and didn’t fit the narrow target set by radio. Brooks and Dunn told their label that they were going to record the song anyway and wanted to release it as a single to radio. The label let them do it to keep them happy—Brooks and Dunn have a lot of leverage. If you look at the radio play for “Believe,” it barely cracked the top 5 on the Billboard country charts. And yet, the song won the 2006 CMA and the 2006 ACM awards for “Song of the Year.” It has sold over 1.2 million copies.

So, the fans love the song. But it didn’t fit the narrow spectrum of consolidated radio. It squeaked through because big artists were involved. How many "Believes" out there never see the light of day because of the near stranglehold that a few media companies have on the radio airwaves? I can’t tell you how many people have written or approached me to tell me how much this song touched their lives and helped them heal, cope, or simply rest. Country music fans are good people that deserve the best we can offer. It is not fair to them to get anything less.

Songwriters are people with personalities. Country radio used to have room for a wide range of personalities who wrote songs across a whole spectrum of styles and topics. As a result of consolidation, every songwriter and performer has to fit the personality mold dictated by these corporations. I shutter to think that the unique and brilliant personalities of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Roger Miller would not have had a chance in today’s market.

As a publisher who hires songwriters, I am captive to the pressures of corporatized country radio playlists. I don’t have the luxury to look for the brilliance in songwriters – songwriters who write different songs that reflect the feelings of, and appeal to, different listeners. I am forced to hire songwriters that can write in the very narrow mold that corporate radio station owners want. There is a phrase that industry insiders use to describe certain songwriters in Nashville—they are "too good for their own good." And that's not good for country music radio listeners.

In conclusion, we hope the FCC will not prematurely issue radio ownership rules without fully examining how media consolidation impacts songwriters, recording artists, the music industry and the public on a local and national scale. The members and staffs of AFTRA and NSAI look forward to working with you on these important matters. Thank you again for the opportunity to appear at this public hearing.