2/26 update: Read iHeartMedia’s response to Carr’s inquiry here.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has sent a letter asking iHeartMedia CEO/Chairman Robert Pittman to answer eight pointed questions, within 10 days, about how the company is procuring talent for its iHeartCountry Festival this May in Austin, Texas, and whether artists will be properly compensated for their appearances.
The commission earlier this month warned radio stations that determining airplay based on an artist’s participation at reduced compensation levels in radio station events could violate its payola rules.
[Related: “FCC Cautions Stations About Artist Promotions“]
It is unusual — if not unprecedented in recent memory — for an FCC chair to write to a company ahead of an event, questioning whether it will comply with the rules.
Carr raised the possibility that some broadcasters are effectively compelling musicians to perform at station events or festivals for free (or for reduced compensation) in exchange for more favorable airplay. “When unreported, these schemes can violate federal payola laws,” Carr wrote to Pittman.
Carr asks the iHeartMedia executive specifically to identify how the media company goes about booking talent to ensure compliance with the relevant statutes and regulations regarding sponsorship identification.
“It would be particularly concerning to me if, on the heels of the FCC’s Enforcement Advisory, iHeart is proceeding in a manner that does not comply with federal payola requirements,” Carr wrote in the letter, without charging that the company had done so. But he wrote: “I want to know whether iHeart is effectively and secretly forcing musicians to choose between, one, receiving their usual, ordinary and full-scale compensation for performing or, two, receiving less favorable airplay on iHeart radio stations.”
The letter, dated Feb. 24, asks Pittman to provide Carr with a list of all musicians that are scheduled for the iHeartCountry Festival, and to describe the compensation, financial or otherwise, they will receive for performing.
The letter also asks iHeart to clarify how those musicians would typically be compensated for a performance. “In other words, outside the context of this festival or similar events, what would be the normal compensation for a performance like the one they are giving at the festival,” Carr asks.
In addition, Carr asks the company to state whether or not any musician, artist or act will receive better or worse airplay on iHeart radio stations based on their participation in the iHeartCountry Festival, or the compensation they receive for performing at the festival.
“In answering this question, please explain how iHeart’s position has been conveyed to musicians, artists and acts, and how iHeart plans to ensure the relevant outcome.”
Carr also wants an explanation from Pittman about why iHeart believes that musicians, artists or acts might perform for free or for reduced fees at the iHeartCountry Festival, and at iHeart events similar to the festival.
The FCC’s renewed interest in how broadcasters compensate artists who perform at their music festivals was initiated when Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote to the FCC chairman about allegations that radio stations and networks offer an artist airtime in exchange for performing a free concert. In turn, the FCC issued its enforcement advisory within a week of receiving the senator’s letter.
Carr concludes his letter to Pittman by asking what iHeart’s current policy is regarding payola, and whether any training was given to iHeartMedia employees in response to the FCC’s enforcement advisory.
iHeartMedia has placed an emphasis on its music festivals and typically hosts multiple festivals each year, including the iHeartRadio Music Festival, iHeartRadio Jingle Ball and iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina.
An email to iHeartMedia for comment was not immediately returned.
We asked the FCC whether similar letters have been sent to any other media company and will report any response.
