Although a flood of protest music emerged from the Vietnam era, music about the war on Iraq is seldom heard on mainstream radio today.

Gabby Parsons, music director of progressive rock station 105.5, said the lack of politically motivated music on mainstream radio is due to the rigidity of the corporate structure behind the business.

“Play lists are tightening, and it’s getting harder to get something new on the radio,” Parsons said. She said new songs must be played at least 200 times before the station gets an indication that most people recognize it, and only about five songs remain in heavy rotation for any given period.

“War-related music is a novelty, so it has a short shelf life,” Parsons said. “Stations don’t want to take up the valuable time and space from music people expect to hear.”

UW senior Melea Carvlin of Stop the War! blamed the dominance of Clear Channel Communications for the absence of protest music.

Jeff Tyler, vice president and market manager for Clear Channel radio stations in Madison, said he held his job with Clear Channel for 20 years and that the myth the corporation dictates all music programming is completely false.

“It is a gross misjudgement; we make decisions here based on the market in Madison. There’s not some 300-pound gorilla telling us what to play,” Tyler said. Tyler said that he also works with individual stations and analyzes sales transits of record stores, national trends and other radio stations to determine what to plan.

Mike Ferris, Clear Channel’s FM operations manager, also said that Clear Channel’s dominance over the radio market does not affect his work.

“The corporate guys don’t get in the way too much; the biggest myth is that Clear Channel calls us up and tells us what to do,” Ferris said. He said he has decided not to play certain protest songs because he did not feel they were “inspiring or compelling,” including songs by the Beastie Boys and System of a Down.

Ferris said that there is less protest music on the airwaves because there is more uncertainty today than in Vietnam about the direction and length of the war.

“We’re still in the early stages, and we just don’t know where we’re going yet,” he said.

WORT, a listener-based radio station, devotes entire programs to protest music. WORT volunteer Andy Heidt said community-based funding for the station has led to more protest music on the radio by demand.

“We have to be involved and engaged in the community so we can thrive,” Heidt said.

WORT plays the protest music of singer and songwriter Kristine Pettersen, who said that mainstream must be watered-down so it can sell its product. Clear Channel owns more than 1,200 radio stations across the United States.

Carvlin mentioned instances of Clear Channel employees organizing pro-war rallies as evidence of its political stance, but Clear Channel has denied that it holds any political beliefs as a corporation.