[pic=Green Day before the 2012 iHeartRadio Festival]091513_rsz_green-day-rocker-billie-joe-armstrong-goes-ballistic-at-i-heart-radio-festival.jpg[/pic]Last Thursday, Clear Channel Communications and Warner Music announced a new licensing agreement. The deal will give major Warner artists, like Green Day, more playing time and radio promotion on Clear Channel's 850 broadcast stations. According to a New York Times article on the deal, the promotion that Warner artists will receive on Clear Channel stations will include "album previews, interviews, or other kinds of special broadcast segments, as well as appearances at events like the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas next week."

Here's a slightly more detailed outline of the deal and from the Wall Street Journal:

Warner Music Group will collect a percentage of on-air advertising revenue from the country’s biggest radio broadcaster [Clear Channel Communications, Inc.], a radical departure from the normal relationship between record companies and radio stations, which have never been required by U.S. law to pay labels and performers to air their music. In exchange, Warner Music, owned by Access Industries Inc., is allowing Clear Channel to pay for digital use of its material partly with a revenue-sharing scheme, instead of simply charging Clear Channel a fee for every play. Warner Music is betting that the deal will lead to more airplay for its artists in various ways and give it a competitive edge.


Speaking of the iHeartRadio festival, you may remember that Clear Channel is the main company behind the event. It seems as though there are no strained relations between the band and the company after their performance last year, which is a good thing. That said, we don't know how much say the band or its management had in this deal, if any. Either way, the deal will be great for Green Day, and give the band more exposure and help them recover from the gap in trilogy promotion.

One major flaw in the agreement that has been repeatedly pointed out is the fact that, in giving more airplay to major-label artists, it will be even harder for smaller labels to get their bands on the radio. But, with different types digital music services becoming more and more prevalent, up-and-coming bands will hopefully see more avenues to have their music heard.
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