On July 23, 2024, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the Federal Communications Commission to keep in place current limits on the number of commercial FM radio stations that one entity can own per geographic market.  Rachel Stilwell had co-authored an Amicus Brief in that case on behalf of the musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition.  With Co-author Cheryl Leanza, she argued on behalf of the musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition that the Biden-era FCC had acted within its authority to keep those local ownership limits in place, in part because it adhered to a public interest standard that requires the agency to consider the public interest in localism, viewpoint diversity and competition between local radio owners when deciding to allow further ownership consolidation. In short, she argued that the agency should consider the effects of further ownership consolidation on listeners and radio playlists rather than just considering the financial interests of large media companies.  The FCC had been sued by a number of media conglomerates and the National Association of Broadcasters, who argued that current restrictions on local AM/FM ownership harmed those radio station owners who wanted to grow their market shares even more than they already enjoyed. 

While the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeal struck down certain FCC restrictions on local television ownership, the court held that the agency did not act unlawfully when it kept the Local Radio Ownership Rule in place after having reviewed it to see if it was outdated. The Court explained:

"But more fundamentally, the FCC rejected Petitioners’ arguments not because it disagreed with their evidence about the rise of on-broadcast audio media, but because 'free over-the-air broadcast radio maintains a unique place' in which 'radio stations compete primarily with other radio stations for listeners.' Id. Notably, 'of the various options available in the broader audio marketplace, generally speaking, only terrestrial broadcast radio both is available without a paid subscription and does not require access to Internet service.' Id. at 12800-01. Under the deferential arbitrary-and-capricious standard, we decline to second-guess the FCC’s market definitions."

The musicFIRST Coalition is comprised of the Recording Academy, the Latin Recording Academy, American Association of Independent Music (“A2IM”), the American Federation of Musicians, SoundExchange, the Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (“SAG-AFTRA”), the Society of Singers, Inc., the Christian Music Trade Association, the Music Managers Forum, Rhythm and Blues Foundation, and the Vocal Group. Future of Music Coalition is a non-profit music advocacy think tank.  

Rachel stated, “I am pleased that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision by the Biden-era FCC to refrain from allowing monopolies of commercial FM ownership in our local communities.  While the FCC under the Trump administration has stated its intention of eliminating all ownership restrictions in commercial radio, today’s decision by the Eighth Circuit made clear that the Biden-era FCC did not err when it kept local radio ownership limits in place.  The musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition have argued for years that these limits are necessary in the public interest, and crucial to remain in place in order to preserve what is left of localism, viewpoint diversity and competition between local commercial FM broadcasters. We will continue to fight against local radio monopolies before the FCC."