Payola is Back

ABC News has learned the focus of a two-year-long payola investigation by the New York attorney general is turning to the nation's nine largest radio conglomerates. I posted on this back in July.

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer says evidence he has gathered clearly shows some of the radio conglomerates have participated in the illegal practice of accepting payments from record companies and middlemen for guaranteed air play for certain songs.

Spitzer and music industry officials told "Primetime" that millions of dollars in payments, gifts and trips are exchanged each year to get music stations to add songs to their weekly play lists.
Spitzer says record company documents obtained in the investigation of Sony Music and Warner, both which have settled with the attorney general, reveal payments for songs that became major hits, including Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" and John Mayer's "Daughters."

Other artists whose songs are named in the documents Spitzer has obtained include Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Maroon 5, Good Charlotte, Franz Ferdinand, Switchfoot, Michelle Branch and R.E.M.

Spitzer says much of the money went directly to corporate bottom lines, unlike payola scandals of previous decades when individual disc jockeys and program directors received the money.

The nine radio conglomerates that have received subpoenas from the attorney general are Clear Channel, Infinity (now CBS Radio), Entercom, Emmis, Citadel, Cumulus, Cox, Pamal and ABC.

ABC News

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