CRS Action

Heated Panel

This morning's TENNESSEAN reports on the happenings at a CRS panel organized by ALL ACCESS Country Editor JIM ASKER. The report comments that in addition to the new music being showcased in NASHVILLE as part of this week's CRS convention, one highlight of the conference tends to be a "no holds barred" discussion with Music Row record label executives and radio professionals.

This year seemed to be especially tense, entertainingly so, as the likes of UMG NASHVILLE Chairman LUKE LEWIS and CAPITOL RECORDS NASHVILLE Pres./CEO MIKE DUNGAN traded barbs with CUMULUS Sr. Format Dir. CHARLIE COOK.

God, I wish I knew as much about the record business as these guys know about the radio business.

LEWIS kicked things off when he declared that the industry should applaud secondary radio markets that can't afford research for their stations and whose programmers are instead left to play music they believe in. DUNGAN added that the reason radio programmers in large markets tie themselves so closely to audience research is that they simply fear for their jobs within large corporate radio companies.

At which point COOK interjected sarcastically, "God, I wish I knew as much about the record business as these guys know about the radio business."

Retorted DUNGAN: "We don't look at research, we just listen."

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