An imbalanced link connects radio stations and superstars

Of the many narratives coming out of the civil trial between singer Taylor Swift and former radio host David Mueller, one has slowly weaved its way throughout: The relationship between the radio station and the artist is an important one, and there is likely an imbalance of power.

During his opening statements and through his line of questioning, Mueller’s attorney Gabe McFarland has depicted it as one where the popular megastar, such as Swift, holds the power over the station, which would scramble to keep the star in its good graces.

But the Swift team describes it another way. One where both the stars and their record labels have to work — even pay millions of dollars — to get their music on the station’s airwaves.

With so many big names out there, there’s a lot of competition.

“For better or for worse, the radio stations have the power over the artists,” testified Frank Bell, who had 37 years in radio before going to work with Swift as her radio promotions manager. He is one of those being sued by Mueller in U.S. District Court in Denver.

Both sides need the other — the station for music and the artist for an outlet to fans. And the relationship between Swift and KYGO was temporarily put in a rough place.

Swift alleges that Mueller groped her during a meet-andgreet before her 2013 concert at the Pepsi Center. Her management team told KYGO about the incident, saying their relationship was heading toward a grave place unless the appropriate action was taken. Mueller sued Swift, her mother and Bell, claiming they interfered with his employment. Swift countersued with claims of assault and battery.

McFarland has pushed a narrative that “appropriate action” was a thinly veiled way of saying the station needed to fire Mueller. Both Andrea Swift, who is Taylor’s mother and was part of her senior management team at the time, and Bell testified that they meant for the radio station to conduct its own investigation and reach its own conclusion of appropriate punishment.

Mueller, Andrea Swift and Bell all testified in court Wednesday for the third day of the civil trial at the downtown federal courthouse.

There are multiple meetand-greets before Swift’s concerts. The first one or two are for so-called VIPs, typically people in the local radio scene, such as on-air personalities, like Mueller, or program managers. Typically a radio station will be given VIP tickets. And as a way to support the stations, Swift also gives general meet-and-greet tickets to be handed out to fans or employees, Andrea Swift said.

Andrea Swift testified that during the VIP portion, both she and Taylor Swift typically mingle with the radio folks, talking and taking pictures. At the Denver VIP meet-and-greet, Andrea Swift said she recognized several folks from past events.

The mother testified that radio relationships were important to the Taylor Swift team. Douglas Baldridge, the lawyer arguing the case for the Swifts and Bell, asked Andrea Swift if they could get away with pressuring the station.

“They deal with too many artists and big artists,” she said.

Baldridge asked Andrea Swift if she thought KYGO could survive without her daughter’s music. She answered yes.

Andrea Swift said she’s been going with her daughter to radio stations since the singer was 15. She said she knew that a teenage girl who wrote and played her own songs would be a hard sell — especially in country music. So she took a young Taylor Swift to stations in person so the girl could prove herself.

For six months, they went to radio stations across the country, sometimes hitting three a day. And from her experience, she said there are times when a young female artist will be alone with a manager or on-air personality. That’s what partly motivated Swift’s team to call KYGO, she testified.

“What could happen to a young woman if she didn’t have a companion or someone to accompany her in these situations?” she said.

The trial continues Thursday.