FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has sent a letter to iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman inquiring how the company plans to ensure the 2025 iHeartCountry Festival will comply with federal payola requirements.
Carr asks Pittman to provide “the Commission with a real-world example of how such events are put together—including artist solicitation and compensation—and the procedures that are in place to ensure compliance with the relevant statutes and regulations regarding sponsorship identification and to ensure that the concerns raised in the Enforcement Advisory are being appropriately addressed.”
Pittman was given ten days to reply to eight questions ranging from which artists will be performing at the festival, any compensation received, whether their performance at the festival will affect their airplay, and why they would peform for free or reduced fees at this event and other similar iHeart events.
Dear Mr. Pittman:
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau recently issued an Enforcement Advisory regarding a concerning trend in the radio industry. In particular, it appears that certain owners of federally licensed radio stations are effectively compelling musicians to perform at radio station events or festivals for free (or for reduced compensation) in exchange for more favorable airplay. When unreported, these schemes can violate federal “payola” laws. Indeed, as the FCC’s Enforcement Advisory states:
In issuing this Enforcement Advisory, we remind broadcast licensees that a practice known as “payola” is not only a violation of the United States Criminal Code, but may also subject broadcasters to sanctions under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act). In particular, this Enforcement Advisory addresses payola in connection with the covert manipulation of radio airplay by a broadcast station licensee or broadcast station personnel based on an artist’s agreement to participate in a broadcast station’s promotion or event, often without receiving any compensation or expense reimbursement for the appearance.
The FCC is continuing to focus its enforcement efforts on the issues addressed in the Enforcement Advisory. To the extent that radio industry executives believe that the FCC has looked the other way on “payola” violations in recent years, I want to assure you that this FCC will not be doing that. It is within this context that I am writing you today.
Specifically, it has come to my attention that the iHeartCountry Festival ’25 will be held in Austin, Texas, on May 3, 2025 (the Festival). As iHeart finalizes its approach to this particular music festival, I want to ensure that it does so in a way that complies with federal payola requirements.
It would be particularly concerning to me if, on the heels of the FCC’s Enforcement Advisory, iHeart is proceeding in a manner that does not comply with federal “payola” requirements. Indeed, I want to know whether iHeart is effectively and secretly forcing musicians to choose between, one, receiving their usual, ordinary, and full scale compensation for performing or, two, receiving less favorable airplay on iHeart radio stations.
This upcoming iHeart event provides the Commission with a real-world example of how such events are put together—including artist solicitation and compensation—and the procedures that are in place to ensure compliance with the relevant statutes and regulations regarding sponsorship identification and to ensure that the concerns raised in the Enforcement Advisory are being appropriately addressed.
Accordingly, in order to further the Commission’s ongoing consideration of these issues, please provide responses to the following questions:
1. Please provide a list of all of the musicians, artists, and acts that are scheduled to appear at the Festival, including those that are confirmed, tentative, or invited. Please indicate any compensation (financial or otherwise) that each of these musicians, artists, and acts will receive for participating in the event.
2. For each of the musicians, artists, and acts identified in response to question 1, please indicate what their ordinary or usual, typical, and full scale compensation would be for a performance. In other words, outside the context of this Festival or similar events, what would be the normal compensation for a performance like the one they are giving at the Festival.
3. Please state whether or not any musician, artist, or act will receive better or worse airplay on iHeart radio stations based on their participation in the Festival or the compensation they receive for performing at the Festival. In answering this question, please explain how iHeart’s position has been conveyed to musicians, artists, and acts and how iHeart plans to ensure the relevant outcome.
4. Please explain why iHeart believes that musicians, artists, or acts perform for free or for reduced fees at the Festival and at iHeart events similar to the Festival?
5. Please provide a list of any musicians, artists, or acts that were invited to appear or perform at the Festival but declined to do so. To the extent you have such information, please indicate why they declined to appear.
6. Please discuss iHeartMedia’s corporate policy regarding payola and its sponsorship identification obligations, including how such policies are conveyed to individual stations and station employees.
7. Please discuss the extent to which iHeartMedia shared the Enforcement Advisory with its station licensees and company personnel prior to the date of this letter, including any special trainings that were conducted in response to the Enforcement Advisory.
8. Please discuss any specific training given to any iHeartMedia employees (including station personnel) that are involved in the Festival concerning compliance with the Commission’s rules, including all procedures and policies in place for the Festival to ensure compliance with the sponsorship identification requirements and to avoid the covert manipulation of radio airplay as discussed in the Advisory.
Thank you very much for your attention to this important issue. Please respond to these questions within 10 days. Doing so will help the FCC ensure that licensees operate in compliance with their federal obligations.
Sincerely,
Brendan Carr
