Suzy Bogguss News

(4/23/98) - It says something about the state of radio when a label has to pay stationsto identify on the air the songs and artists it plays. At least, that's the issue Nashville insiders are wrestling with, since Capitol Records announced a plan to pay eight CBS-owned radio stations to back-announce songs by Suzy Bogguss, Garth Brooks and Steve Wariner.

"Back-announce" is the once traditional practice whereby DJs announce the name of the artist whose song they just played. The practice has dwindled considerably over the years, creating an environment whereby many artists have hits on the radio yet no name recognition among listeners.

The current plan is for Capitol to pay the stations to announce Bogguss, Brooks or Wariner's names on-air immediately after playing their songs. Each artist will get four segments a day. The segments would be identified as "sponsored by Capitol Records," which skirts the legal issue, but many question the moral issue at stake. Will radio stations start demanding payment to back-announce and, ultimately, to play the records? Shouldn'tthey be back-announcing for free anyway?

Many Music Row executives have pointed to radio research that shows listeners want DJs to identify songs and artists, yet radio continues to abandon the practice. Some surmise that Capitol has opened this can of worms, not to legalize payola, but to simply bring the issue out into the open. Either way, the debate could only escalate the radio-label wars.