The battle over royalties continues between everyone’s favorite lobbying groups, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA, not surprisingly, would like radio stations to cough up more cash to major labels in exchange for the joy of broadcasting the new Puddle of Mudd single. The broadcasters contend that they provide a valuable service to the labels by playing their lousy music. So, who’s right? Thankfully, they commissioned a study to find out.

Sales vs. Spins, is based on data from Nielsen, which tracks music sales via SoundScan and monitors airplay through Nielsen BDS; and Pollstar, a Fresno-Calif.-based company that tracks concert sales. In a series of line graphs, the data shows that the when music airs on the radio, record sales go up. Music airplay and sales were analyzed for 17 artists covering all genres and varying levels of success such as Velvet Revolver, U2, Rascal Flatts, Linkin Park, Green Day, Bruce Springsteen, The White Stripes, Taylor Swift and Josh Groban.

“There is a direct correlation between the number of ’spins’ (plays on free, local radio) and the sales of albums or singles,” the report concluded. “It is this promotion – free advertising – that drives record sales and represents just one of the many ways local radio provides value to artists and contributes to their financial and commercial success.”

While it seems like there’s a pretty obvious connection between airplay and sales, as in someone hears a song and then feels like purchasing it, picking acts like the White Stripes and Green Day to prove that hypothesis seems dodgy, at best. When people hear a new Green Day song, there are also sales of their album? You don’t say!

Then again, maybe it’s not worth arguing about royalties right now, given that both organizations’ business models might not hold up after the next decade or so.

Study: Radio Airplay Increases Record Sales [Mediabase]