“My OM gave me a new twist on copyright law today, one I’d not heard
before, and one I’m not sure is 100% accurate.
“A local bar, called The Roadhouse, wanted to use the song by the
Doors to promote their establishment. Naturally I told them to do so
would be illegal. What they’ve done is take the karaoke version of the
song, with someone providing the slightly-altered lyrics, and supplied
us with that recording to use in their commercials.
“Of course, that by itself is still illegal. But my OM sez that, since the
bar pays BMI and ASCAP fees for the right to play music in the bar’s
jukebox, we’re OK to use the song for the spot. I’m not sure I agree.
Your take?”
Your OM is absolutely, positively, 100% wrong.
No question, without a doubt, completely wrong.
And it won’t be the only local bar that is sued for copyright infringement; it also will be the owner of your radio station.
I just came across an article I wrote for Radio & Records in June 1992.
“Radio is changing. The proposed new FCC rules allowing for greatly increased group ownership are likely to squeeze out smaller operators in favor of large groups with greater financial resources. And I suspect that the Golden Age of the local radio personality is largely a thing of the past.
“Big corporate entities tend to favor a systemized business approach that values creativity far less than standardization.
“The larger the company, the greater the impact of factors (e.g., financial, legal, political) outside the boundaries of programming; the greater the pressure to conform to the ‘corporate culture;’ and the more onerous the threat of even temporary failure to the individual manager.
“What does tomorrow’s radio promise today’s disc jockeys? Even smaller financial horizons for most; amazing income opportunities for a relative few. Most will continue to be treated as interchangeable, generic programming tools.
” ‘Economies of scale’ increasingly will be applied to air talent:
” 1. We can expect to see group owners create their own intracompany networks, broadcasting already proven personalities on sister stations in a multitude of markets. (This might prove especially effective over well-defined regional areas.)
” 2. We can expect a small but influential influx of new drive-time hosts who are eager & able to grab market share by combining forceful personalities with a strong feel for ‘show biz.’
“This is bad news for the multitude of mediocre ‘look how cute we are’ morning shows that dot the radio landscape. It’s good news for jocks who genuinely are able to reach & affect their listeners.
“There will be quite a few new little pots of gold for strong talents. But remember, for every six- (or 10- or 20-) station network that springs up around a strong drive-time show, there will be five (or 9 or 19) more disc jockeys looking for work elsewhere.”
Thank goodness none of those predictions came true…
One of the guest speakers at PD Grad School 2010 wasJeffrey Hayzlett, Chief Marketing Officer for Eastman Kodak.
If the CMO of a Fortune 500 company finds the time to use social media to keep abreast of what people are saying about his brand, perhaps some of us radio people could do the same for our radio brands?
Hayzlett is author of the current best selling business book, THE MIRROR TEST. It’s worth clicking on this link and grabbing a copy. (I already have mine, and I’ve made notes on almost every page.)
And if you haven’t already registered for the freeteleseminar I’m doing with Jeffrey on Thursday, you might want to sign up right now. Deadline is Wednesday, and this is a terrific freebie for you.
This is a well-intentioned attempt to sell by educating the consumer.
But a successful restaurant commercial gets the targeted listener to imagine eating the food. It immerses the listener in that particular restaurant’s dining experience.
This commercial doesn’t talk about the listener; it talks about “chefs along the Italian Mediterranean.”
Clearly the intent of this campaign is to reassure people that Romano’s Italian food doesn’t necessarily mean “heavy sauces” and “overpowering sauces.” But they don’t paint pictures of that message. They paint pictures of chefs along the Italian Mediterranean.
And the writing?
We’re told the chefs “expertly grill skewers of fresh seafood.” I suppose that would stand in sharp contrast to the rest of the world’s chefs, who incompetently grill seafood.
Grilling seafood actually isn’t difficult. Do those chefs grill seafood differently? In some special way? It certainly doesn’t sound like it.
Telling us the seafood is “expertly grilled” is like bragging that the tables at Romano’s are “expertly set.”
I applaud the attempt to sell by educating. But to educate, first you need to get the attention and the interest of the targeted listener.
