James"Thunder"Early
02-09-2006, 12:39 PM
http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/0209payola.html
Radio conglomerates become target of 'payola' inquiry
Radio conglomerates become target of 'payola' inquiry
By Michael Gormley
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. | New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday he has subpoenaed many of the nation's largest radio conglomerates in his "payola" investigation of major artists and songs that he claims got air time because of payoffs by recording companies.
"A lot of the major songs have been implicated in this and it showed how pervasive the payola infrastructure had become," Spitzer told The Associated Press.
Warner Music Group Corp. agreed last year to pay $5 million to settle its part of the investigation, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed to pay $10 million.
A 1960 federal law and related state laws bar record companies from offering undisclosed financial incentives in exchange for airplay. The practice was called "payola," a contraction of "pay" and "Victrola," the old wind-up record player.
Spitzer is investigating the largest nine radio corporations in a scheme that involved Jennifer Lopez's I'm Real and John Mayer's song Daughters.
The companies that have received subpoenas control thousands of stations, including Clear Channel Communications Inc., Infinity which now operates as CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting Corp., Cox Radio Inc., Cumulus Broadcasting Inc., Pamal Broadcasting, and Entercom, Emmis Communications Corp. and ABC, according to court records filed by Spitzer.
Cox Radio and Cox Newspapers Inc., parent of the Dayton Daily News, are units of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises. Cox Radio operates four Dayton-area stations.
Radio conglomerates become target of 'payola' inquiry
Radio conglomerates become target of 'payola' inquiry
By Michael Gormley
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. | New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday he has subpoenaed many of the nation's largest radio conglomerates in his "payola" investigation of major artists and songs that he claims got air time because of payoffs by recording companies.
"A lot of the major songs have been implicated in this and it showed how pervasive the payola infrastructure had become," Spitzer told The Associated Press.
Warner Music Group Corp. agreed last year to pay $5 million to settle its part of the investigation, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed to pay $10 million.
A 1960 federal law and related state laws bar record companies from offering undisclosed financial incentives in exchange for airplay. The practice was called "payola," a contraction of "pay" and "Victrola," the old wind-up record player.
Spitzer is investigating the largest nine radio corporations in a scheme that involved Jennifer Lopez's I'm Real and John Mayer's song Daughters.
The companies that have received subpoenas control thousands of stations, including Clear Channel Communications Inc., Infinity which now operates as CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting Corp., Cox Radio Inc., Cumulus Broadcasting Inc., Pamal Broadcasting, and Entercom, Emmis Communications Corp. and ABC, according to court records filed by Spitzer.
Cox Radio and Cox Newspapers Inc., parent of the Dayton Daily News, are units of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises. Cox Radio operates four Dayton-area stations.