The radio executive who claimed that Republic Records uses broadcast favoritism has reportedly resigned. Rob Farina, who was the vice president of programming and content for Rogers Media, sent out a letter to all other Canadian broadcasters on Friday (Nov. 6) requesting that they boycott the record label and their artists. It was mailed to Canadian broadcasters Corus, Newcap and Cojeco amongst others.
The main argument that Farina presented involved The Weeknd and Ariana Grande, whom he claimed received more unfair promotional advantages with Bell Media through Republic Records. In the letter Farina demanded for the removal of Republic artists from the radio playlists on a deadline, which was that Monday (Nov. 9) by 5 p.m. The matter was settled by that Saturday (Nov. 7) and Farina said to Billboard, "It never went there. The issue was resolved swiftly. We have no further comment."
Farina had only recently joined Rogers Media as the VP of programming and content and he was reported to be a very well-versed creative broadcast and digital media executive. He came to Rogers Media as the co-founder of Black Box, which was an LA based music consultancy that worked exclusively with their artists on career development.
He also worked at Astral Media before Black Box as the EVP of content and platforms and was responsible for all of their programming, digital operations, marketing and promotions for upwards of 84 stations and brands. Amongst these were Virgin Radio and Boom. Farina also monitored Orbyt Media, which was the largest umbrella company of radio programming, services and digital content.
Numerous music industry sources informed Billboard that in the wake of the scandal Farina stepped down from his position at Rogers Media this past Tuesday evening (Nov. 10) although the companies apologized to one another. It has yet to be reported the exact reasons behind his resignation.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
