3 Questions with Marc Mysterio About the Recent Radio Controversy

We ran the wire story about the incident earlier this week where Mysterio asked the station's program director for an apology read it here and now to kick off our new "3 Questions" series we caught up with Mysterio to delve a little deeper, get an update and see if he ever received that apology. We discover that sadly, the opposite happened. Here are the 3 Questions with Marc Mysterio

? 1) How did you find out about what this radio station did to your fan?: I just returned from Europe to my home in Montr�al last week, and learned that my song, 'One More Time', had amazingly on its own made the transition from mix show and club success to being added to top 40 radio stations daytime playlists and charts across America based on fan demand. I think that as a house/dance artist, we depend on our core followers long term and maybe have a bit more personal relationship with our fans since we are touring, mostly in clubs, where fans can come up to us, give us a hug, have a drink, etc.

This fan in particular, I had known for a few years and she had saw my tweet to go and request the song, which she did (and recorded herself as a joke that she could send on to me later). Anyways, the radio station flipped what she had said and she reached out to me on myspace. I was getting ready for a gig and I called her and she played me the whole conversation over the phone!

I then called the station and confronted this female host -- and I have no idea whom she is since this radio station doesn't even have a show schedule or hosts name's listed on their site -- and she told me to 'get over it and do what you got to do'.

The rest is history, and I have received so much support from fans all over the world, even Andrew Breitbart whom made it a breaking news story on his home page on breitbart.com! Nice to know that even conservatives are feeling house music too!

2) Since this story broke it has received quite a bit of attention. Were you surprised at how fast word has spread?

Very much so. I guess the real shocker was Matt Drudge and Breitbart picking up the story within minutes from when it hit the wires and had it as a breaking story on the ticker alongside Obama, The Crisis in Greece, etc. I've always received a lot of press, but it was mostly music oriented niche medias up until my last single which came out inn September of 2009, 'Tomorrow' by Marc Mysterio which featured the return of Samantha Fox which was a huge story covered by every global media and Sony eventually released it (and a US Release is on the way). So, I knew that the mainstream press was familiar with me and I knew immediately that I would not let this cowardly transgression stand. If we, as artists, do not protect and stand up for our fans that take the time out of their days to actually call a radio station and request our records, whom will?

That is probably the single most important thing I learned from Samantha Fox is that you must always back your core fans and can't think about how a radio station or host will react since they are your family on the road, and after radio stops playing your records, they will be there supporting you at your live gigs 25 years later.

I guarantee that had I not stood up for this fan, she and others would never call in to a station to request my record, or that of any other artist they like.

So, I did this for the fans and my fellow artists as well.

3) Has the radio station issued you an apology yet or conversely retaliated in anyway (like pulling your music)? No, they have not apologized. The radio station pulled the art work from the site and I'm assuming the record for their system. However, if you go to yes.com, a realtime log, you can see that it was still charted for this week based on actual recent plays versus what they have changed their site to: [http://www.yes.com/#KHTC?chart - we confirmed that his song was still on this chart on Wed but was missing from the station's website chart.] It's a small outfit up there, and I believe this broadcast company only owns this one station. It's kind of ironic that this has played out like this since I actually spoke with the P.D. there on Friday Afternoon whom was interested in picking up my Internationally Syndicated Radio Show, Radio Active with Marc Mysterio, kicking off in September. I have worked with, been a guest on or interviewed on air on radio stations around the world from BBC, NRJ across Europe in to Russia and Scandinavia and, of course, across North America and have never seen such Bush League Antics. Its really sad because at first, I figured that this was just a rookie radio host on the overnight on a new station and was even complementary of the program director for charting and adding the song in the wire story, however, I think that the station's actions in a.) pulling the song; b.) not apologizing; c.) not commenting to date on this really speaks for itself.

I appreciate all the support that I have received from not only fans, but also other radio jocks, stations, and industry folk that have commended me -- some publically via twitter -- for doing the right thing and assuring me that this would never occur on their station, as well as to all the morning hosts across America that spoke about this on Tuesday Morning.

One thing that should be made clear is that this practice is not one that is normal in radio and callers should continue to call in and request their favorite artist's tracks on whatever station they like best, including KHTC. I don't harbour ill-will towards them, they just need to apologize and do the right thing.

House music is about love and inclusiveness, not hate or conflict. The lyrics of 'One More Time' talk about celebrating and dancing for free, just one more time! To bring back the great times and re-live the best moments of our lives, just 'One More Time'.

That's why artists such as myself, David Guetta, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell (swedish house mafia), and Tiesto have all come to America is to share love and positive messages about inclusive music that we can all love, and I hope that a if there is a positive to be drawn from this, that it brings more exposure to house music and that it has truly arrived in the mainstream and we can't let our fans be bullied around!