RollingStone.com: News: Clear Channel Goes to Trial
But evidence in court documents suggests that Clear Channel -- which owns more than 1,200 radio stations -- aimed to severely damage its Denver competitors and the artists who worked with them. The most dramatic details are found in e-mails from Michael O'Connor, director of programming for Clear Channel's five FM stations in Denver. When the 2001 Styx/Bad Company tour selected House of Blues as its promoter, O'Connor instructed his radio underlings to 'crush' HOB and avoid mentioning the concert on its classic-rock stations. O'Connor added, 'Let's get our f**ksticks out.'
Testimony from managers at Roadrunner Records and Reprise also indicates that bands agreed to play Clear Channel venues because they feared losing airplay on Clear Channel stations if they signed with a competitor. Nobody in Particular, the Denver promoter, also accuses the company of paying artists sky-high tour salaries to kill competition.
If these claims are upheld -- the trial starts August 2nd -- other cases would likely follow, says John Solow, an antitrust expert and professor at the University of Iowa: 'It would open the door to lots of people saying, 'You did it to us, too!''
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