Rob Kleckner reports: Just in from Pitchfork's Crimewatch: New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has forced Sony BMG Music Entertainment to stop paying radio stations for airplay. In case you didn't know, this practice known as payola, is illegal. "Our investigation shows that, contrary to listener expectations that songs are selected for airplay based on artistic merit and popularity, air time is often determined by undisclosed payoffs to radio stations and their employees," Spitzer said.
According to a press release from Spitzer's office, the payola occurred in several forms, including the following: "Outright bribes to radio programmers, including expensive vacation packages, electronics, and other valuable items; contest giveaways for stations' listening audiences; and payments for 'spin programs', airplay under the guise of advertising."
An email found during the investigation, from one executive at Epic to another, read: "At the end of the day, [David] Universal added Good Charlotte and Gretchen Wilson and hit Alex up for another grand and they settled for $750."
Another, from an Epic employee to a Clear Channel programmer looked like this: "WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET AUDIOSLAVE ON WKSS THIS WEEK?!!? Whatever you can dream up, I can make it happen."
You can't make this shit up, folks. To pay for their crimes, Sony has agreed to donate $10 million to non-profit charities and music education programs. Don Henley, of Eagles fame, commended Spitzer for "successfully addressing the pay-for-play problem. There is no question that payola hurts recording artists. The Recording Artists' Coalition is grateful to him and his staff for exposing the magnitude of the payola problem and for getting a major label to agree to change the way it does business."
In a statement, the label said: "Despite federal and state laws prohibiting unacknowledged payment by record labels to radio stations for airing of music, such direct and indirect forms of what has been described generically as 'payola' for spins has continued to be an unfortunately prevalent aspect of radio promotion. Sony BMG acknowledges that various employees pursed some radio promotion practices on behalf of the company that were wrong and improper and apologizes for such conduct. Sony BMG looks forward to defining a new, higher standard in radio promotion."
What does this mean for you, the music listener? Hopefully it's a sign we'll be hearing a lot less Good Charlotte on the radio. Fans of good music everywhere thank you, Mr. Spitzer. He can likely count on the New York hipster vote when he runs for Governor in 2006.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-07/26.shtml#sony
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