II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2058 

To promote transparency and reduce anti-competitive practices in the radio 

and concert industries. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2005 

Mr. FEINGOLD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To promote transparency and reduce anti-competitive 

practices in the radio and concert industries. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Radio and Concert 

5 Disclosure and Competition Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REGULATIONS. 

7 (a) MODIFICATION OF REGULATIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

10 Communications Commission shall modify its regula-
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1 tions under sections 317 and 507 of the Commu2 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 317 and 508), to 

3 prohibit the licensee or permittee of any radio sta4 tion, including any employee or affiliate of such li5 censee or permittee, from receiving money, services, 

6 or other valuable consideration, whether directly or 

7 indirectly, from a record company, recording artist, 

8 concert promoter, music promoter, or music pub9 lisher, or an agent or representative thereof, unless 

10 the licensee or permittee discloses at least monthly 

11 the receipt of such money, services, or other consid12 eration to the Federal Communications Commission 

13 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) and 

14 the public in a manner that the Commission shall 

15 specify. 

16 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Commission in modi17 fying its regulations as required under paragraph 

18 (1) may create an exception to the prohibition de19 scribed under paragraph (1) for— 

20 (A) transactions provided at nominal cost; 

21 or 

22 (B) paid broadcasting disclosed under sec23 tion 317 of the Communications Act of 1934 

24 (47 U.S.C. 317), if the monthly disclosure de-
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1 scribed in paragraph (1) includes the proportion 

2 of total airplay considered paid broadcasting. 

3 (b) PLAYLIST.—The monthly disclosure by a radio 

4 station licensee or permittee required under subsection (a) 

5 shall include a list of songs and musical recordings aired 

6 during the disclosure period, indicating the artist, record 

7 label, and number of times the song was aired. 

8 SEC. 3. ARM’S LENGTH TRANSACTIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu11 nications Commission shall modify its regulations under 

12 sections 317 and 507 of the Communications Act of 1934 

13 (47 U.S.C. 317 and 508), to require that all transactions 

14 between a licensee or permittee of any radio station, in15 cluding any employee or affiliate of such licensee or per16 mittee, and a record company, recording artist, concert 

17 promoter, music promoter, or music publisher, or an agent 

18 or representative thereof, shall be conducted at an arm’s 

19 length basis with any such transaction reduced to writing 

20 and retained by the licensee or permittee for the period 

21 of the license term or 5 years, whichever is greater. 

22 (b) RECORDS.—A record of each transaction de23 scribed under subsection (a) shall be— 

24 (1) made available upon request to— 

25 (A) the Commission; and 
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1 (B) any State enforcement agency; and 

2 (2) subject to a random audit by the Commis3 sion to ensure compliance on a basis to be deter4 mined by the Commission. 

5 (c) EXEMPTION.—The Commission may create an ex6 emption to the record keeping requirement described in 

7 subsection (b)— 

8 (1) for a transaction that is of a nominal value; 

9 and 

10 (2) for a radio station that is a small business, 

11 as recognized by the Commission and established by 

12 the Small Business Administration under section 

13 121 of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations, if the 

14 Commission determines that such record keeping 

15 poses an undue burden to that small business. 

16 SEC. 4. COMPETITION REGULATIONS. 

17 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall 

19 modify its regulations under sections 317 and 507 of the 

20 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 317 and 508), 

21 to accomplish the following: 

22 (1) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—To prohibit the 

23 licensee of any radio station, including any parent, 

24 subsidiary, or affiliated entity of such licensee, from 

25 using its control over any non-advertising matter 
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1 broadcast by such licensee to extract or receive 

2 money or any other form of consideration, whether 

3 directly or indirectly, from a record company, artist, 

4 concert promoter, or any agent or representative 

5 thereof. 

6 (2) RADIO STATION CONCERTS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—To prohibit a licensee 

8 or permittee of a commercial radio station, or 

9 affiliate thereof, from— 

10 (i) engaging, receiving, making an 

11 offer for, or directly profiting from concert 

12 services of any musician or recording artist 

13 unless the licensee or permittee does not 

14 discriminate, in whole or in part, about the 

15 broadcast of non-advertising matter, in16 cluding any sound recording, by that par17 ticular artist upon whether or not that art18 ist performs at the radio station affiliated 

19 concert; and 

20 (ii) engaging or receiving concert serv21 ices of any musician or recording artist un22 less the licensee or permittee provides the 

23 musician or recording artist with com24 pensation for such services at the fair mar25 ket value for the performance. 
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1 (B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of sub2 paragraph (A), the term ‘‘fair market value’’ 

3 shall include such factors as— 

4 (i) the rate typically charged by the 

5 musician or recording artist for a concert 

6 of the size being put on for the station; 

7 (ii) the expenses of the musician or 

8 recording artist to travel to, and perform 

9 at, the concert location; and 

10 (iii) the length of the performance in 

11 relation to the standard duration for a con12 cert by the musician or recording artist. 

13 (C) LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS.—The 

14 provisions of this paragraph shall not— 

15 (i) prohibit consideration for the con16 cert services being made in the form of 

17 promotional value, cash, or a combination 

18 of both; or 

19 (ii) apply to— 

20 (I) a radio station that is a small 

21 business, as recognized by the Com22 mission and established by the Small 

23 Business Administration under section 

24 121 of title 13, Code of Federal Regu25 lations; 
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1 (II) in-studio live interviews and 

2 performances; or 

3 (III) concerts whose proceeds are 

4 intended and provided for charitable 

5 purposes. 

6 (3) RADIO AND CONCERT CROSS-OWNERSHIP.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—To prohibit a licensee 

8 or permittee of a radio station, or affiliate 

9 thereof, from owning or controlling a concert 

10 promoter or venue primarily used for live con11 cert performances. 

12 (B) WAIVER.—The Commission may waive 

13 the prohibition required under subparagraph 

14 (A) if— 

15 (i) the Commission determines that 

16 because of the nature of the cross-owner17 ship and market served— 

18 (I) the affected radio station, 

19 concert promoter, or venue would be 

20 subjected to undue economic distress 

21 or would not be economically viable if 

22 such provisions were enforced; and 

23 (II) the anti-competitive effects 

24 of the proposed transaction are clearly 

25 outweighed in the public interest by 
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1 the probable effect of the transaction 

2 in meeting the needs of the commu3 nity to be served; and 

4 (ii) the affected radio station, concert 

5 promoter, or venue demonstrates to the 

6 Commission that decisions regarding the 

7 broadcast of matter, including any sound 

8 recording, will be made at arm’s length 

9 and not based, in whole or in part, upon 

10 whether or not the creator, producer, or 

11 promoter of such matter engages the serv12 ices of the licensee or permittee, or an af13 filiate thereof. 

14 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF TRANSACTIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon petition by a musician, re16 cording artist, or interested party, the Commission shall 

17 review any transaction entered into under section 3 or sec18 tion 4. 

19 (b) COPY OF PETITION.—A copy of any petition sub20 mitted to Commission under subsection (a) shall be pro21 vided by the person filing such petition to the licensee or 

22 permittee, or musician or recording artist, as applicable. 

23 (c) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—If the Commission, after 

24 reviewing a petition submitted under subsection (a) finds 

25 a transaction violated any provision of this paragraph or 
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1 section 3, the Commission shall publicly, after all parties 

2 have had a reasonable opportunity to comment, disclose 

3 its finding and grant appropriate relief. 

4 SEC. 6. PENALTIES. 

5 The regulations promulgated under sections 2, 3 and 

6 4 shall set forth appropriate penalties for violations includ7 ing an immediate hearing before the Commission upon the 

8 issuance of a notice of apparent liability or violation, with 

9 possible penalties to include license revocation. 

10 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

11 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Commission 

13 shall issue a report to Congress and the public that— 

14 (1) summarizes the disclosures made by licens15 ees and permittees as required under section 2; 

16 (2) summarizes the audits conducted by the 

17 Commission as required under section 3(b)(2); 

18 (3) summarizes the cross-ownership waivers, if 

19 any, awarded by the Commission under section 

20 4(3)(B); 

21 (4) evaluates ownership concentration and mar22 ket power in the radio industry in a manner similar 

23 to the most recent in the discontinued series of FCC 

24 reports, ‘‘Radio Industry Review 2002: Trends in 

25 Ownership, Format, and Finance’’; and 
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1 (5) describes any violations of section 2, 3, or 

2 4, and penalty proceedings under section 6, and in3 cludes recommendations for any additional statutory 

4 authority the Commission determines would improve 

5 compliance with regulations issued under this Act. 

6 SEC. 8. LICENSE REVOCATION. 

7 Section 312(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 

8 (47 U.S.C. 312) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and in10 serting a semicolon; 

11 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

12 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(8) for violation of or failure to follow any reg15 ulation established in accordance with section 2, 3, 

16 4, or 6 of the Radio and Concert Disclosure and 

17 Competition Act of 2005.’’. 

18 SEC. 9. INCREASED MAXIMUM PENALTIES. 

19 (a) PENALTIES FOR DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS TO

20 INDIVIDUALS CONNECTED WITH BROADCASTS.—Section 

21 507(g)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

22 508(g)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘$50,000’’. 

24 (b) PENALTIES FOR PROHIBITED PRACTICES IN

25 CONTESTS OF KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, OR CHANCE.—Sec-
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1 tion 508(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

2 U.S.C. 509(c)(1)) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘$50,000’’; and 

5 (2) by inserting ‘‘, for each violation’’ before the 

6 period. 

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