SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe claims FM radio hurts music sales, fails to set trends, and profits enormously to the tune of $17 billion a year while failing to fairly compensate musicians and labels. The US based Huppe made his case at a New Music Seminar by presenting three key points in history where he claimed FM radio either had no impact or hurt music sales: The 1920s-1940s when the dawn of radio allegedly stalled the sales of records following the the launch of the phonograph; the 1970s UK when commercial radio first hit and had a “negligible impact on music,” according to a University of Texas study by Stan Liebowitz; and a more recent example of Cumulus radio’s introduction in New York City last year of NASH-FM country radio, which he claimed had no increase on country music sales.