Broadcasting Commission's JA$15 Million Payola Fines - Show Me The Money on The Road to Damascus

Forbidden fruit a flavor has

That lawful orchards mocks;

How luscious lies the pea within

The pod that duty locks!

Emily Dickinson, Poems, 1

Looks like the Broadcasting Commission finally got serious with a part of its rhetoric with the imposition of a JA$15 million fine for accepting bribes to play Music on Free-To-Air Radio Stations, otherwise known as payola as stated in The Jamaica Observer article entitled “Broadcasting commission pushing for hefty fines for payola”, published Friday, June 24, 2011 by MARVEL GORDON Observer writer, The Jamaica Observer.

The Jamaica Gleaner makes it a bit more obvious, declaring that payola is now a criminal offence as stated in the article “Payola To Be Made A Criminal Offence”, published Thursday June 23, 2011, The Jamaica Gleaner. The RJR News Online Report is a bit more stoic in its declaration of the new rules from the Broadcast Commission entitled “Broadcasting Commission recommends $15M payola fine”, published Tuesday June 21, 2011 10:25pm, RJR News Online.

This News is a follow-on, West Indies Cricket Style of what was reported previously as to the Broadcasting Commission intentions as stated in the article “Broadcasting Commission wants payola a criminal offence”, published Saturday, November 13, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

Guess this officially ends the debate on payola being illegal and unethical as presented in the argument in the article “Payola in Jamaica: Illegal and unethical or standard practice?” published Sunday, April 17, 2011,The Jamaica Observer. One can now tick “all the above” on the test sheet, with a JA$15 million Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the Radio Station Managers and Disk Jockeys, who now have to more carefully peruse what is being selected before it goes on Air as well as have stringent guidelines as to how it gets on Air.

This is in addition to being careful not to play songs that are sexually explicit or violent content, which also attracts a hefty fine as stated in my blog article entitled “Increase Fines and Taxation for the Music Industry”. My blog article entitled “Jamaican Music Industry 2 Years post-Ban - How Artiste and Booking Agents Launder Money” chronicles the current problems that are plagueing the Music Industry as a whole.

The Criminalization of Payola was part of a raft of measures being implemented by Dr. Hopeton Dunn, Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission, along with DSO (Digital Switch Over) and getting Free-To-Air Broadcasters to pay Spectrum Licenses for their used Broadcast Spectrum as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers, 100MBps Broadband and the Broadcasting Commission - Redemption Song”.

It is hoped that the Disk Jockeys will comply, or they not only will find themselves out of a job, but their Radio Station may be sanctioned to the tune of JA$15 million.

Whether musicologist Dennis Howard accepts it or not, Payola is affecting the Music Industry despite his arguments to the contrary in the article “Payola does not affect Music quality says Dennis Howard”, published Monday, Stephen Jackson, April 04, 2011, The Jamaica Observer, as evidenced from the proliferation of unknown talent thus far unearthed by Digicel Rising Stars and other Reality Television programs on Television Jamaica, a local Free-To-Air Television Broadcaster.

Speaking at a recent seminar hosted by the BCJ (Broadcast Commission of Jamaica), musicologist Dennis Howard spoke, quote: “To blame payola for decline in Music is to take the easy way out. It presupposes that good artistes don't engage in payola. Technology has liberated the listeners from the clutches of top 40 Radio and of the bad artistes. I myself don't listen to Radio. I listen to CDs and Youtube (internet site). Payola is not the major dis-function in the industry. (Youths) are totally immersed with technology and cellphones. They do not rely on broadcast Media to determine what they listen to. It puts traditional Media on the bottom end. Youtube, Facebook, Last-fm and Outaroad.com are major areas of choice.....The gentech nation (youths) is making their own choice.”

Dennis Howard is partially right, as most Millennials [ages 18 to 28] and Generation X’ers [ages 29 to 45] do indeed consume their Digital Music and Videos from the Internet as the article “DIGITAL MUSIC SALES UP - Marley dominates local ringtone charts”, published Friday, April 08, 2011 BY STEVEN JACKSON Observer staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer provides him with some support.

But contrary to his words, Millennials and Generation X’ers do listen to the Free-To-Air Radio for the latest hits. It is upon hearing them, that the young uns’ (myself included!) scour the Internet to download for free from KickassTorrents and The Pirate Bay that which is the hottest tune on the Airwaves as I had observed and chronicled in my blog article entitled “UWI and Piracy - The Real Pirate Bay” and the follow-up “UWI and Piracy - Release the Kraken”.

These musings of mine are based on my anecdotal observation of Millennials and Generation X’ers on campus while doing my Degree in Electronics and Chemistry (2005 to 2009) at the University Of The West Indies.

Note: for free, including streaming for Free, DropBox and YouTube Style!!

Even the CD, Blu-Ray and DVD as a storage format for Music is a bit behind times, with most MP3 and MP4 Players being SSD (Solid State Drives), with these formats serving as backups only as stated in my blog article entitled “Netflix & the Death of Blu-Ray - Rise of the Machines meets Chicken Run”!

Plus Millennials and Generation X’ers are not the target market that Reggae and Dancehall Artiste go after via the greased palms of payola, but Sound Selectors and Disk Jockeys for clubs, who can promote their tunes in the Dancehall Venues and Nightclubs after having heard it on the Free-To-Air Broadcast Media that is Radio. It is at that point, also, that the Millennials and Generation X’ers decided to download the Music and share with friends.

As old fashioned as Free-To-Air Radio Broadcasters may be, teetering on the brink of extinction in the face of a growing panoply of free Media Music streaming options as my blog article entitled “Broadcasters, Radio and DSO - What will be the Fate of Radio after DSO”, its resonance with those who frequent the Dancehall Venues and Nightclubs to listen to the popular Reggae Tunes and the latest Dancehall Rhythms is still strong.

It is STILL the first point of contact between Reggae and Dancehall Artiste and their Fans. Digital Distribution, folks, as CD gather dusts in Music Stores and Record Shops all about the island, with Sound Selectors opting only for 45’s and CD’s if the Reggae and Dancehall Artiste only distributes in that format!!

But Dr. Hopeton Dunn, Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission stood his ground on his point of the effect of payola on up and coming talent, quote: “People who are creating good quality Music do not get the opportunity to get on Air. This practice has to stop. We feel that payola is a criminal practice (and are recommending) stiff fines up to $5 million should we be able to catch any participant in this bad practice. We are of the opinion that the great majority of Media are honest professional persons but because this issue has not been tackled it has been accepted as the norm and the way to go”.

Broadcasters, both Radio and Television, in complying, unwittingly know that they wield a strange double-edged sword in the form of Reality Programs such as Digicel Rising Stars, Dancing Dynamites and Digicel Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall, which gives a window to unearthing those very same people that payola prevents from making it on Air.

Thus by cutting through the petty politics of a Disk Jockey’s allegiance to those who Show Me the Money (TV Series 2006) and Pay to Play with these hefty fines, it puts Free-To-Air Broadcasters on the Road to Damascus (2004) to their eventual regularization and DSO (Digital Switch Over) by 2015AD.