Slovak Radio Stations Must Play More Slovak Music as of Friday

Bratislava, April 1 (TASR) – Slovak radio stations will have to include more Slovak music in their broadcasts as of Friday, with an amendment to the law on broadcasting and retransmission taking effect as of the same day.

Private radio stations will have to allocate at least 20 percent of their monthly broadcasting time to Slovak music this year, and the share will have to increase to at least 25 percent as of 2017. In the case of public service radio the share will have to be 30 percent at first and at least 35 percent later. At least 20 percent of the songs should be new, i.e. played within five years of their first public broadcast. Only radio stations whose focus absolutely rules out using these quotas will be exempt.

Meanwhile, only songs aired between 6 a.m. and midnight will be counted in order to prevent them from being broadcast at the least attractive time. Songs written by at least one author of music or lyrics with permanent residence in Slovakia and songs with lyrics in Slovak are considered to be Slovak.

Broadcasters of 16 radio stations had applied to the Broadcasting and Retransmission Council to be exempt from the obligations as of Thursday, March 31. The Council hasn’t yet decided on any of these applications. It will deal with them at its next session, which is set to take place on April 12.