- Britney Spears should not be punished by Clear Channel monopoly

To:  Clear Channel Communications

We, the undersigned, wish to ask Clear Channel Communcations to give artists a fair deal and not diminish their airplay on Clear Channel's monopoly of radio stations simply because the artist has chosen not to use Clear Channel's SFX Entertainment as a concert promoter. Britney Spears, one of the most popular artists of the 21st century, has suffered diminishing airplay on Clear Channel's stations ever since she chose Concerts West to promote her fall 2001 arena tour. There seems to be no apparent lack of demand for Spears, as her CD "Britney" was certified for sales of 4 million copies by the RIAA within a month of its initial release, making it the 4th highest selling album of the year. Spears' songs also show up regularly on nightly radio station countdowns and MTV's Total Request Live. There's clearly an audience for her music and the country's largest radio conglomorate should accordingly give her a fair amount of radio airplay.

Lest one think this demand is simply that of Britney fans wanting to make Britney more popular, here are some mainstream media mentions of congressional hearings dealing with this matter. Salon.com has also extensively reported on Clear Channel's corrupt business practices, including accepting bribes known in the industry as "payola" for increased airplay of certain artists (Keep in mind that Britney Spears' label is the small, independent Jive Records, which lacks the clout of Sony or Virgin Records). http://www.salon.com/ent/clear_channel/

-LA Times February 2002 :

--Last month, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Mission Hills) urged the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission to probe reports that Clear Channel punished stars, such as Britney Spears, by refusing to play their songs on Clear Channel radio stations because the musicians declined to hire the company as their tour promoter.


-Forbes.com March 2002 :

--In a January letter to the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, Berman called for a probe into Clear Channel after allegations by competitors that the broadcaster and concert promoter had limited airplay of stars like Britney Spears who do not use its concert services.

We insist Clear Channel comply with Rep. Berman and rethink their practices. Punishing an artist for using a different company limits their freedom of choice and makes Clear Channel appear to be a monopoly.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The - Britney Spears should not be punished by Clear Channel monopoly Petition to Clear Channel Communications was created by concerned fans and written by Tony S. .  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc.  For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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