This is another email I got in response to my piece on Cathy Hughes rants on the airwaves the other day….
“Yo Kevin, it sounds like she’s trying to offer alternative information to recording artists who are already supposed to be getting paid through a mechanism that already exists. Even if you don’t like her methods, her message or even how she runs her radio stations, we need to support anyone who is speaking out against HR848. You’re right in saying that the average listeners won’t be able to empathize with her stance but the average listener will lose too if some of our voices are silenced cuz we can’t afford to be in radio anymore after passage of this bill. Please use your power to explain the circumstances surrounding this situation. Break it down for your readers so that they understand how this will affect them. Don’t hate on the messenger. Hear the message. With Radio Facts, you’ve got a sphere of influence. Please use it but use your power for good. You’re not just shooting at Cathy Hughes. You’re killing the rest of us out here in Black Radio with your bullets, too.”
Tori Bailey
Someone told me that Dorothy Brunson was Cathy Hughes’ mentor. If that’s the truth.. that would explain a LOT to me about how Cathy operates. I worked with Dorothy Brunson in the very beginning of my career and that was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in the industry. I’m sure MANY other black radio people would agree with me on that.
You know Tori I’ve always been a champion of the underdog. I can truly admire small station owners like yourself and many others that I talk to who work hard everyday to keep their heads above water. To that end, I also truly have the greatest respect for Cathy and Alfred. I can’t even imagine the amount of work (and stress) they must endure on a daily basis to keep a corporation afloat. Does it mean they do everything right? No, none of us do. The situation with SoundExchange is questionable as far as payments and I concur with Cathy but is she also saying ‘They’re not paying so why should we?’ Sometimes, in midst of trying to get one’s point across we can do some strange things. I still say that Cathy has not really given the listeners past reasons to support her. Listeners love celebrities they don’t care about station owners, it’s unfortunate but it’s true but we would probably have better luck with listeners if we made ourselves more available to them. I hate to see smaller stations affected by the possibility of this legislation and look at it as the baby that might being thrown out with the bathwater. I certainly support urban and what was once “black” radio but I don’t really have a position and I’m on the fence with the issue of whether artists should be paid for the use of their music on the airwaves, so it would be difficult for me to tell RF readers to support something I’m not sure I support. In addition, I have to admit over the years I have had problems with the following when it comes to urban radio especially since the 1996 Telecommunications Act:
1. Urban stations that used artists and labels for free performances even though the station made money. Some would say, ‘hey the station offered them free promotion on their record’ but one must ask, did the station not benefit from that TOO and if you’ve been in the industry long enough and know how this machine works… was it really FREE promotion? One of the ways stations came to collect was the many Summer Jam concerts that were once the rage of the urban radio industry before massive label budget cuts. Yes, it boils down to an even exchange on many levels but urban radio corps(e) have “dangled the carrot” at artists and record labels for years, radio could RARELY say the labels took advantage of them but the labels could certainly say it.
2. Labels are at least wise enough to pay attention to the internet, blogs, online trends etc. This gives them a great advantage and a position to promote records online. An opportunity that urban radio CONTINUES to foolishly ignore for “lack of budgets” etc. If I was a station owner, I would fire the janitor and clean the toilets myself to have an internet staff on board. How any media or entertainment corporation could deem the internet unimportant is unfathomable and a potential business disaster. If you don’t have members on your board that suggest you have a strong online presence…. you’ve got the wrong members on your board. Hey, you wanna ask someone how disastrous it can be? Go talk to former retail store owners. They didn’t think going digital or the internet was important either.
3. Corporations are forced to go directly to the listener for help… to help veto the proposed Performance Tax… how apt would the listener be to help a station that is disconnected from them locally. I don’t recall, but I could be wrong, seeing Cathy, Tom or Steve in a local Breast Cancer walk or HIV Prevention site… hugging cancer survivors etc… did any of you? If you have pictures of them involved in various LOCAL walks, campaigns or marathons THAT DIDN’T BENEFIT THEM FINANCIALLY forward the pics to me I will run them and I will stand corrected. As a member of the urban press, I have never seen them or gotten them. Oh, (slapping my forehead) I forgot, Radio One told the entire staff they couldn’t talk to the trades or give us press releases (sans The Frequency, you do the math) so I guess we might have missed those important pictures that the masses could have seen… and better served her current cause. Damn! Urban (Black) radio has always been the bullhorn of the black community. Where else can we get our local news and information that caters to our community? Someones’ electricity is getting cut off and they need help, someone else is running for office and they need a platform, someone has been unjustly accused of a crime and the community needs to respond and someone needs to have a Christmas wish granted. Someone has a dream to be a legendary radio announcer or programmer that rises through the ranks… yeah right! Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey? Are you kidding me? I almost had to take a dump when Tom once stated and I’m paraphrasing “We are not here to take your jobs, do you job and you will have a job!” What nerve.
4. Syndication: by far the single most annoying “crutch” urban radio has become addicted to post consolidation and one that is going to come back and bite urban radio HARD in the ass. Do we really think if Paramount Pictures came to Steve Harvey and offered him a multi million dollar, 20 movie deal that he would not walk away from urban radio the next day? Shit, I would call him a FOOL if he didn’t (laugh). Let’s put the proposed Performance Tax on the back burner for a minute, could you IMAGINE the disaster THAT would cause for urban radio? No standby’s no plans and nobody locally to take over… YIKES! I have said it time and time again.. urban CREATES trends, we don’t follow them. Having people over 45 on the air ONLY including all sidekicks IS A MISTAKE … while many of these shows look great by PPM standards, real estate looked good 5 years ago too.
To that end, as I have stated, I hate to see smaller stations take the fall for the bigger ones who made all the mistakes but one must ponder if the end is the only way to begin… again. If the bill passes and Cathy and Clear Channel are forced to dump a ton of stations for next to nothing and independent owners RE-ENTER the industry (what corporation would be interested in buying stations when they are struggling too?) a lot of what we see today will then be dead. That includes full time syndication… on the other hand, If the bill does not pass Cathy will fade back into the background and we will continue to be fed MORE syndication, the hiring freezes will continue and the job descriptions will continue to increase for those who are already overburdened in the urban industry…. excuse my lack of enthusiasm but… yawn, I mean yeah! Most important urban will fade as is continues to follow the trends instead of creating them and the economic/advertising problem for urban will prevail. In all honesty if it was not for so damn much syndication on urban radio, I might agree with Cathy totally. I sincerely hope some sort of last minute legislation or clause is put in place that saves the small and mid market stations. As I have stated, I hate to see you guys affected but how long can urban radio go on like it is?
Let’s call a spade a spade. This whole issue isn’t about some performance tax and Cathy’s desire to save urban radio!!!! It’s about CATHY. It’s about AL. This whole thing is rather simple.
Cathy & Al are idiots and unfortunately, they aren’t only idiots out here who fail to comprehend that in order to keep radio as a relevant medium for music, information and entertainment – you must evolve it. Radio One has outright REFUSED to respond to a wide variety of demands that have been put in place for the past 10 years. They refused to grow during the internet explosion. They wouldn’t listen. And now the consequence is death. Perhaps radio won’t become extinct, but it will certainly become irrelevant. I’ve read at least a dozen different articles last week about internet radio listening. The numbers are amazing. They had a 10 year headstart to figure it out…but they chose to sit back. And now they’re all blaming the diminishing radio revenues on the economy…but it’s bullshit. The performance tax is going to further paralyze radio? Ummmmm…..it’s already dead and they waited too late to nurse it back to health. Don’t believe the hype. Radio is dead. And they’re the ones who killed it. So now they struggle to stay afloat by cheapening it by hiring kids off the street with no experience and by syndicating every daypart imaginable. And we’re supposed to help “save it??”
This shit is better than Ringling Bros & Barnum Bailey circus. This is TRULY the greatest show on earth.
Like any profession, in radio you have veterans and you have rookies. to put an age limit on radio is the most ridiculous statement you’ve ever said. Radio has many formats, with varied demographic targets. Maybe a 45 year old, playing hip-hop and talking street isn’t the best fit, but there is still a need for experienced broadcasters in adult targeted radio. It’s all about who you’re trying to appeal to. Where do you suppose young talent is going to learn from? Over 60% of urban listeners are 35-64. No one retires at 45 unless they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I guess Wendy Williams, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Steve Harvey, Tom Joiner, Frank Ski, Russ Parr, Glenn Beck, Dr. Laura, Ed Lover, Big Boy, Donnie Simpson, Michael Baisden, Doug Banks, should they all just be put out to pasture? Altough i agree that syndication is killing black/urban radio talent development, most of these broadcasters have earned their success and have paid lots of dues to get to where they are. We all have learned from their successes. When the game changes, you have to change with the game. Innovation and creativity doesn’t end at 45. If you still have it, why not continue to work? Young adults should relate to their audiences, and grown folks should relate to their audiences. Think about it…Experience has it’s benefits and why should age be a factor if you’re still relatable to your target demo? Howard Stern is 55 years old and will kick anybody’s ass 18-34 males, and brought over 6 million new subscribers to sirius satelite radio. explain that? Granted, most black radio syndication sucks, you can knock Harvey and Joiner, but don’t hate on all broadcasters 45 and over. Aren’t you over 40? when are you getting enbalmed? Isn’t your boy, Charlemange a Wendy Williams protege? He certainly benefited from her tutelege. I agree with you most of the time, but you’re wrong on this one.
Yes, I am over 40 and I was not saying you should retire when you are 45, I was saying that’s too old to reach trendsetters when everybody on the show is the same age and older too. I agree, the older radio people should continue to work but there has not been a new breed of announcers for a decade and that’s part of what keeps the industry alive and interesting. One PD told me she had an opening and could not find ANYONE locally to fill it, she had to take a mediocre part timer because nobody else was interested in being on the air anymore in her market. We don’t share the wealth enough, we can be very greedy. Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey don’t have anyone on their shows under 40 do they? In addition Steve and Tom have admitted they don’t like hip hop. How can an urban station say something like that today? The list goes on and on…