Listeners to Melbourne radio station 3AW's breakfast program should be warned that is it is illegal to steal music, regardless of what presenter Ross Stephenson would have you believe.
Stephenson shocked the music industry this morning when he took a call from a listener boasting how he had bought a bootleg copy of Bob Dylan's new album 'Modern Times' from a taxi driver in Brisbane who had downloaded it from "one of those sites". He then went on to tell listeners how easy it was to download the music.However, when Stephenson's attempts at the on-air download failed, he told listeners that because of some "record company trick" he was redirected to a site where he would have to "pay for the music".
The whole segment sounded like Ross Stephenson was blatantly endorsing something illegal - the theft of music and by doing so encouraging his listeners to commit a crime.
Denis Handlin, Sony-BMG Chairman and CEO for Australia (and the head of Dylan's label locally) told Undercover "It appears Ross got carried away and surely he does not endorse stealing music or any other property. It would be surprising if he did not now take the time on air to make the situation clear".
Stephenson's program is the highest rating radio show in Melbourne. The presenter is reported to also be the highest paid radio personality in the city, commanding a salary of around $1,000,000 a year.
Ross Stephenson was invited to make a statement for this story but failed to respond.
