According to Jerry Del Colliano, of the NYU Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions Music Business Program, in an article from Inside Music Media, the radio industry is a prime candidate for a worker’s uprising.
The media industry is shifting significantly as employees across companies and platforms push for unionization, reflecting growing dissatisfaction with economic inequality, job insecurity from AI adoption, and workplace culture issues. The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and screenwriter strikes and growing discontent among radio professionals signal this broader trend.
Catalysts for Change
The SAG-AFTRA strike in 2020 over residuals and streaming compensation and the screenwriters’ work stoppage in 2019-2020 over pay reflect growing dissatisfaction among media workers. These actions follow a broader pattern of unionization in the private equity economy, with significant implications for all media, including the radio industry, where union rumblings have occurred for decades.
In addition to reports of mistreatment, the threat of AI and automation replacing jobs has fueled unionization demands. The stark contrast between CEO compensation packages and average worker pay and benefits, especially at large radio station consolidators like iHeart Media, Audacy (formerly Entercom), and Cumulus Media, has raised ire among employees as executives got lucrative contracts and pay raises while employees go without.
The Impact of AI on Job Security
The prospect of AI and automation taking jobs could add urgency for workers to organize. Companies like Futuri Media have begun marketing AI tools as cost-cutting solutions in the industry. This exacerbates employee concerns about job security.
Potential Union Targets
Given the current climate, giants like iHeart, Audacy, and Cumulus are potential prime targets for unionization efforts. In 2021, iHeartMedia’s podcast network moved to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGA East) in 2021, signaling a concerning trend for management. Workers also cite long-standing issues with iHeart’s management style driving unionization interest. Similarly, unstable business conditions and technology-driven changes at Audacy and Cumulus Media could spur a unionization push at those companies.
The Future of Media Unions
Though AI and automation are coming, humans remain irreplaceable in media. Unionization efforts at Starbucks and Apple retail stores provide a decentralized model for media employees to follow, organizing union drives locally as seen recently in Charlotte and Philadelphia. According to Del Colliano, rumors suggest other radio station groups may follow this hyper-local approach, which could force change at even the most resistant media owners. A prolonged SAG-AFTRA and screenwriter strike could have ripple effects on the broader media industry, potentially inspiring long-mistreated radio station employees to organize drives locally.
Conclusion
Rising unionization across the media industry cannot be ignored. Media companies must address worker concerns as the landscape evolves and strive for a more equitable and sustainable future. Now is the time to begin developing plans to communicate technology changes and their impact on workers. The threatening rant [NSFW] by actor Ron Perlman is a very real indicator of the level of angst and concern that work stoppages can create and why transparency is so important right now.
