Payola 2005

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Posted in music on July 28, 2005

"In the music industry, the practice of record companies paying money for the broadcast of records on music radio is called payola, but only if the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast." [Wikipedia]

I didn't jump right on the Payola scandal because it didn't phase me. I thought it was common knowledge that big media worked together. The same people who own the record labels own the radio stations own the venues own the tv stations own the newspapers own the billboards own the movie studios own everything....

The minor detail of Sony getting caught paying bribes to radio stations and in turn paying a relatively small fine seemed interesting, but not shocking...so I was happy when I read what Coolfer wrote about it today and Stereogum did a good job highlighting some of the humor (Franz Ferdinand's connection to the scandal included).

And...
Payola is dead! Now what will we listen to?
Pay for Play; Why does radio suck?
A history of Payola
Payola at Wikipedia

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Posted on July 28, 2005 2:25 PM