Private radio stations only broadcast 12.4% of music in Catalan, despite minimum standards.

BarcelonaThe transition year to meet the minimum of 25% Catalan songs on the radio is drawing to a close, but stations are still clinging to significantly lower percentages. The Platform for the Language has conducted a study according to which the country's seven main stations offer barely 12.4% of music in their own language. If measured in minutes, given that Catalan songs are often played at the end of the time slot to be cut off when the broadcast arrives, the figure drops to just 7.7%.

The 25% minimum was established more than twenty years ago, and since then, stations have systematically managed to breach it by requesting specific adaptations for each station that lowered the threshold, arguing that there was not enough Catalan for the styles they offered. In some cases, these limits ad hoc were reduced by as much as 2%. From then on, the Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC) determined that the pretext of limited supply was no longer applicable, given the explosion of Catalan-speaking bands and solo artists, and unanimously approved the repeal of the ability to make these annual adaptations. This occurred in November of last year, and the agreement stipulated that 2025 would be a transition year for radio stations to adapt to the new requirement.

In fact, some stations had requested a final adaptation from the CAC—before the body approved its elimination—and, according to the analysis by the Platform for the Language, some stations are not even complying with these percentages. According to the study, stations such as Los40 Classic only dedicate 4.1% of their airtime to songs in Catalan, and Kiss FM is the one that stretches the most, at 12.2%. The study also indicates that only 40% of the songs have been broadcast in their entirety. And it denounces that on some stations, Catalan songs are only broadcast during prime-time hours. To avoid this effect, the Council approved a criterion in 2004 according to which songs broadcast between 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. and between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. could count double.

At the beginning of the year, the private stations appealed against the decision, but their appeals were dismissed "because there are no circumstances to justify them," according to the various CAC resolutions. Furthermore, as the Platform points out, the Government and the Department of Language Policy have supported the elimination of exemptions and the enforcement of a precept emanating from the Language Normalization Law.

For this study, the Platform analyzed Los40, Rock FM, Kiss FM, Dial, Los40 Classic, Cadena 100, and Flash FM and is committed to expanding the program "shortly" to include other stations. Based on the data, most of the stations analyzed do not even meet the adaptation requirements they requested from the CAC (Central Council of Music). Only two exceeded the requested percentage: Kiss FM and Flash FM, although the latter—dedicated to dance, electronic, and urban music—is one of the stations analyzed with the least amount of music in Catalan.

Los40 Classic is the station that broadcasts the fewest songs in Catalan: only 4.1%, although it requested a 12% adaptation from the CAC (Central Council of Music), which the organization denied, setting a ceiling of 18.5%. The following stations also requested a 12% share and received an 18% share, but still fall short of either threshold: Dial (8.12%), Rock FM (8.54%), and Los40 (8.8%). Kiss FM did reach the minimum 12% share it requested (12.18%), but not the 18% required by the Consell (Consell). Cadena 100 requested a 12.5% share and was granted an 18.75% share, but has so far settled at 7.35%. Flash FM requested a 2% share, was granted a 13.5% share, and, according to data from Plataforma per la Llengua, has registered 5.52% of its songs in Catalan.

Million-dollar impact

One of the discussions in the industry is the impact that this systematic non-compliance has had on music. Last year, the Enderrock Music Yearbook stated that Catalan-language record labels, authors, and performers have lost more than €200 million in the last twenty years. The calculation took into account what radio stations pay to broadcast music from their antennas in the form of public communication rights, including copyright. This money goes to collecting societies—such as the SGAE—which then redistribute it proportionally. From there, the Yearbook calculated that if the 25% Catalan language requirement had been respected, record labels that publish in Catalan would have had to receive a quarter of this revenue. Analyzing the distribution methods of the main rights entities, the figures range between €218 and €264 million. Private radio stations reject this calculation.

Enderrock It also demonstrated that a lack of supply can no longer be used as a reason. While in 2004, 4,250 songs were released in Catalan, of which 1,913 were pop, rock, and urban, since 2018, the number of songs released each year has exceeded 8,000. In 2024, for example, 8,401 were released, of which 5,936 were pop, rock, or urban.