Caribbean Creatives July - Sept 2012 | Page 10

C continued from previous page A R I B B E A N C R E A T I V E S Governments in developed countries have made strides in this area by implementing quota restrictions on radio stations. Legislation requiring French radio stations to play 40% of local music came into effect on January 1, 1996 and an opinion poll showed that 83% of the population approved of the government’s decision. Even the Australian policy-makers, according to Code of Practise 4 of the Australian Broadcast Act 1992, have seen LCRs as being instrumental in, “...promoting the role of broadcasting services in developing and re?ecting a sense of Australian identity, character and cultural diversity, by prescribing minimum content levels of Australian music.” (The Music Council of Australia, 1992) The Australian model is broken down to supplement the areas in their music industry in need of development. The requirement for local content varies according to the genre. According to 4.3 (a) of the Code of Practise 4, ?ve categories of music are granted a certain percentage of airplay. In other words, stations must play at least X% of rock and Y% of local jazz. Speci?cally, the requirement for mainstream rock is 25% while the classic rock, mainstream contemporary and country genres have a requirement of 20%. These requirements are applied to meet the needs of the listening Australian society. LCR in the Caribbean can be modeled upon the Australian policy and legislation so that higher levels of LCR can be achieved over a period of time. With an already small market, coupled with the high export of royalties, legislation mandating that a portion of the music played to be of local content is critical for redressing the imbalance in content. Furthermore, radio content would not only aid with royalty collections, it is also an avenue to showcase local talent and encourage production, as Mason notes, “...it can be established that radio airplay has a clear effect on the production and consumption of music and as such, requirements for the broadcast of local music can be used as an ef?cient means of stimulating and maintaining local musical practice.” (Mason, 2003) Although quotas can increase the local content played and increase the amount of royalties distributed locally, the radio stations need to be monitored such that compliance is assured. One may question whether quotas for local radio in a digital world are a worthy venture; while a relevant question, radio is not a thing of the past in t ??? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????1 I???????????????????????????????Q?????????????????? ?????????? ????????I?????Q????????Q??????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q??? ???????5????=?????????????Q???????????Q??????? =QP??????????????????????????????????????????????Q???????????????????????Q???????????Q???????QQP??????????? =QP???????%?? ?????????? ???????M???????? ?????????????????A???????%????? =M @??????????????????????????????????????????????????%?????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????=?????????????????????????????????????1 I??????)???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q???????? ?????????I????? ?????E?????????????9???????????????????????9?????????? ?????????? ??????????????????!??????1?????????????5??????????()A??????????M???????L???????M??????????????????()??????????????????????????????????????????e?????????????1 I????????????????????????????????????????????????%?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????I???????? =QP?????? ??5???????? ?????????M??????????E???=????????5???????Q???????????Q????????I?????A????????????Q???????????????????????Q???????????Q???????=???????????%??? ???????q1????? ?????I????????????????I?????????Q????????????5???????A??????? ??????????????Q????????I??????t?9??????????????A???5???????????????????????????????????????????????????I??????=?????????((??()??????????????????????????()Y????????)???M???????????((0