Pulling the plug on corporate radio

High school student Robby Valderrama in today's San Jose Merc: Pulling the plug on corporate radio.

... When flipping through your favorite radio stations, do you realize that 75 percent of the music you hear is owned by four corporations? According to a recent Yahoo.com report, ``Sony BMG, Vivendi's Universal Music, EMI Group and Warner Music account for about three out of every four records sold around the world.'' Artists ranging from Chingy to Eric Clapton all record for one of these four groups.

Then you add the ``corporatization'' of radio. Companies like Clear Channel -- which owns Bay Area stations KMEL (106.1), KYLD (94.9) and others -- have a network of stations across the United States and can control what goes on playlists.

For groups like MFS and their fans, this all translates to one thing: They're getting shoved out of radio play by acts that are backed by big corporations. ...

Many have turned to Internet radio, visiting Web sites like Launch.com and Purevolume.com.

``The only radio I listen to is Launchcast radio,'' said Rodolfo Sclafani, a freshman at the University of California-San Diego. ``It gives variety.''