Dialogue: Radio quotas will stop lazy, prejudiced programming

An industry-managed and regulated quota system for New Zealand music is a viable proposition for radio stations, writes MIKE CHUNN*.

With the release of a discussion paper from Broadcasting Minister Marian Hobbs' office, the Government has announced its intention to seek New Zealand music quotas for radio.

At last, the disparate, spasmodic views of those for and against will be forged into a working model. In other words, it all starts now. The two extreme points of view on music quotas for radio can be forgotten.

Those who reject quotas outright claim that New Zealand's deregulated market prohibits quotas.

Deregulation finds a city such as Auckland with more than 25 radio stations, whereas Sydney has only 12. Hence the competition is fierce and quotas mean playing with fire.

But a radio frequency in Sydney will cost you more than $100 million if you were to secure one. Radio frequencies in New Zealand were sold for a mere fraction of that, some for a dollar.

The opposing pro-quota view finds some claiming that New Zealand music by its mere existence deserves airplay no matter what.

I'm sorry, but no one deserves a hearing just because they wrote a song. The issue of New Zealand music on radio is not about warmongering, it's about cooperation.

First and foremost, a radio frequency is a natural, limited resource of our country. When we buy land, we cannot ravage it as we see fit. Buying land carries with it a responsibility. Town planning acts and the Resource Management Act enforce these responsibilities.

In a similar fashion, the purchase of a radio frequency should carry with it a cultural obligation to reflect the culture of the people to whom it broadcasts. This is common sense.

And when a radio station broadcasts about 8000 songs a month, as most do, it should include a fair number of New Zealand songs in that total. There's your quota.

This is even more important when foreign interests own our radio frequencies. In this country, Canadians, Australians, Americans and Irishmen own more than 90 per cent of the radio frequencies broadcasting.

As the director of New Zealand operations for the Australasian Performing Right Association (Apra), which collects broadcast royalties for music writers, I know exactly what New Zealand music is played by which radio station.

There are a large number of enlightened radio programmers and managers out there who grew up listening to and enjoying New Zealand music. They are on the lookout for good New Zealand music to play on their radio station.

There are also some radio programmers out there who have a prejudice against New Zealand music. They believe it is risky to play it and muster weak excuses to ignore it. Any form of quota is intended to target them. They know who they are.

Marian Hobbs' discussion document suggests an industry-managed and regulated quota system, as operates in Australia. It is a workable model.

There is every chance that radio bosses and programmers will put their heads together and establish a system for self-regulation. And it can work because there are enough enlightened and committed individuals in the radio industry to see that it will work.

Ms Hobbs has indicated that if the radio industry is incapable of putting this together, a statutory solution will be considered. I don't think we will need it.

While the initial quota level stipulated by Ms Hobbs of 10 per cent across all formats is easily achievable at present, there will be mild hysteria about the mention in her discussion document of a move to a 25 per cent quota in five years.

This should be considered a challenge we would all relish the thought of achieving.

But it is not just down to radio. Record companies, live venues, local authorities, Government agencies and the media must all play their part in expanding the popular music industry.

This year, more than 600 bands from secondary schools entered the smokefreerockquest, an astonishingly high number. There is a huge, vibrant pool of talent combining their skills, their imaginations, their commitment and their dreams to achieve musical excellence. Why let it come to nothing once they leave school?

A self-regulated quota of New Zealand music on local radio is achievable. It will stop lazy and prejudiced radio programmers from taking the easy way out and programming Anglo-American pop fodder and old retro hits as though we were all citizens of Phoenix, Arizona.

It is the start of a Government-led commitment to a vibrant pop-music tradition and we must all relish its potential.

Our young people are writing and performing it. It's not Chopin or Brahms. It's in your street. It's here. And it's now. Let's not fight it.