Radio’s New ‘Showola’

Top-tier artists chose to swap a big check for the exposure that comes with a radio giant – in the case of iHeartMedia, formerly Clear Channel Communications – running the festival, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In one case, EDM superstar Steve Aoki reportedly canceled three European gigs worth some $500,000 in order to jet to Vegas and perform one song, “Born to Get Wild” with Will.i.am, a source with knowledge of the matter told the paper.

A portion of his travel expense was paid, according to the source, but not enough to cover the cost of the trip. Payola may have been outlawed, but a no-pay-for-play model at radio fests seems to have taken its place in a practice the Journal dubs “showola.”

It’s apparently hoped by some artists that appearing for peanuts at holiday and summer fests will give them more leverage, airplay and promotion for their music at radio. While none of the Journal’s sources chose to be identified by name, artist managers and label reps interviewed by the paper said they still fear a loss of radio play if they don’t agree to perform at the big shows.

One manager said that declining too many “invitations” comes with a risk of the artist’s next single being buried by broadcasters. Conversely, many stars are more than eager to perform at radio fests, especially if they are televised or webcast, in order to promote new music.

The iHeartRadio Music Awards drew more than 5 million viewers in May, according to the Journal. A person close to the matter said that typically iHeartMedia offers to pay for artists’ travel expenses to its events, but even that is negotiable.

One unidentified headlining act was offered $150,000 to get to one of its festivals, but the artist required double that to cover actual costs and asked its label to kick in some of the difference. A payola crackdown a decade ago by then-NY Attorney Gen. Eliot Spitzer resulted in settlements and compliance agreements from the three major labels – Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. But they still have a lock on distribution of Top 40 singles, according to the paper, and their leverage with radio because they can afford to cover the costs to get their artists to the festivals.

“You could make a case that things were much better in days of payola,” one manager told the Journal. “Anybody could get on the radio for a couple hundred bucks.”