There is no more staunch supporter of Australian music than Glenn Wheatley. Himself, a musician; bass player in legendary 1960’s – ‘70’s rock band The Masters Apprentices, Wheatley went on to manage superstars including John Farnham, Delta Goodrem and the Little River Band.

For much of his working life, he has also been deeply involved in radio. He was a founding director of EON FM (later Triple M) Melbourne. He currently has a significant stake in Sea and Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast which, together with his venture capital partners, he purchased from SCA last year.

With a vested interest in both the Music and Radio industries, who’s side is Glenn Wheatley on in the current dispute about internet streaming?

“I do have a foot in both camps,” he acknowledges. “I gratefully receive my Master’s Apprentices PPCA royalty cheque each year, but I am absolutely on the side of my radio interests. I’m firmly in that camp.”

Like most other regional stations, streaming of exact simulcasts at his stations have ceased which means Sunshine Coast listeners can no longer choose to listen online. “Its’ a great disappointment to me that we stopped streaming,” laments Mr Wheatley. “I’m a firm believer in mobile and I think that mobile phones are the modern day transistor radio and people are using them to listen. I certainly do. I just don’t think we should be paying twice.”

And there’s the rub. Why should a station be charged one royalty rate for the right to broadcast to a listener who happens to be listening on FM and a different rate if that same listener, who like Mr Wheatley, now chooses to listen to the same broadcast online or through a smart phone?

I get a little bit offended with (PPCA head) Dan Rosen when he talks about  The wealthy radio owners

Like CRA CEO, Joan Warner, Mr Wheatley doesn’t accept the PPCA argument that just because the internet is a different delivery system, it requires a different royalty system than the one already in place.
“What concerns me about the PPCA ‘s approach is I’m afraid this is the thin edge of the wedge. Once this [proposed royalty scheme] is accepted then who knows where its going to end up?

“The point that they [the PPCA] are missing, is that if they think we are going to earn more revenue by streaming, they’ll share in it! We are already paying a royalty and they are going to share in it… so, I don’t see why there is an extra fee and royalty that they are looking to get,” says Mr Wheatley.

While metro stations may be in a better position to take on additional costs, many regional stations are struggling. “I get a little bit offended with (PPCA head) Dan Rosen when he talks about ‘The wealthy radio owners,’” says Mr Wheatley. “Hang on Dan, that’s a very throwaway line. Some of these people are not that wealthy. They’re not making that much money. There’s a fine line here of real profitability and making a living out of these radio stations so I took a bit of offense to that throwaway line.”

What also concerns him is that there doesn’t seem to be a short term solution in sight. “It looks like we may be here for the long haul, which would be very disappointing.”

Mr Wheatley (left) was directly affected by a similar dispute between the radio and music industries in 1970 when commercial stations refused to play Australian and British artists. “I had a top ten song in the charts at exactly the same time with Masters Apprentices. The song was, of course, Turn Up Your Radio. Here we were in the top ten and we were taken off the airwaves. It was incredible!”

Which brings us to the next point. Radio was then, and still remains, a promoter and seller of music.

Mr Wheatley refers to an interview that Neil Young did about six months ago, “He was absolutely down on the record industry about this issue of pay for play on radio. His whole view was: ‘Radio’s the best promotion that we’ve got. Are you guys mad?’”

On the flipside, there’s evidence that streaming services like Pandora and Spotify inhibit music sales because their subscribers already have open access to millions of songs. There are reports that even iTunes Radio which displays a prominent BUY NOW button on every song they play isn’t getting much in the way of uptake.

While that may be of concern to record companies, of greater concern to artists is that they are seeing little or no royalties from cloud based streaming companies.

Music streaming is less of a concern to broadcast radio than it is to performing artists.

With his artist and management hat on, Mr Wheatley says, “I’ve seen nothing from streaming, and that means a lot. And the worst part about that is that the record companies are essentially, in most cases, shareholders of these streaming companies. That’s a fact!

“And secondly it’s the best kept secret in the world as to what the royalty rates actually are. Try and get it. Try and ask a question and get a straight answer. I’ve never been able to figure it out. All I know is that it’s a pittance. I’ve yet to see anything substantial at all coming in from PPCA in the way of royalties from streaming,” says Wheatley.

His sentiments were echoed by members of Pink Floyd. In an open letter published last year in USA Today, the band said, “Nearly 90% of the artists who get a cheque for digital play receive less than $5,000 a year. They cannot afford the 85% pay cut Pandora asked Congress to impose on the music community.”
 
Mr Wheatley says, “Music streaming is less of a concern to broadcast radio than it is to performing artists. I think the artists have got a real worry as to how they’re going to be fairly compensated for their work because arguably we are going to lose [physical and download] sales on the one hand and we are not going to get paid that much for streaming on the other. We’re going to lose on both counts.”

While Glenn Wheatley’s head is very much in the radio camp, his heart remains with the artists. “There are many acts coming through that I am committed to, who I feel for, because they are going to be caught up in this and it’s going to be even harder for us to break new talent.

“We don’t do as much for our local talent as we should. I think that we [the radio industry] owe it to local talent to support them a lot more. I’m passionate about that and prepared to stand by it,” says Mr Wheatley.