SPITZER EXPOSES PAYOLA SCAM AT WARNER MUSIC--- my, my, my---who woulda guessed {snicker)

NY POST ^ | November 23, 2005 | PAUL THARP

[Liz]

BACK-SCRATCHING BIZ: Lil' Kim, one of many artists whose popularity was rigged. WireImage

Eliot Spitzer.......unveiled a deal to halt bribery of DJs and rigging of ratings — schemes designed largely to hype mediocre acts, but also bigger names, in order to score higher returns.

Four months ago, he extracted a $10M settlement from industry leader Sony BMG to break up its payola ring involving DJs, radio station executives and crooked middlemen.

He's still probing the industry's two remaining mega-firms — EMI and Universal Music.

In his crackdown on Warner music — the industry's No. 3 label — Spitzer accused it of handing out cases of iPods and handfuls of $800 gift cards at top malls, paying cash bribes of up to $20,000 to DJs and stations, and giving away luxury VIP road trips with stars such as Madonna.

Among examples of payola: New York's Z100 collected $544.06 for a single day's plug of pop singer Jewel and dancehall star Wayne Wonder. On another day, Z100 got $90.35 for a promo of Lil' Kim.

Warner also was hit in the settlement for staging phony listener call-ins to radio stations across the nation, using youths and station trainees to request certain artists on Warner's rosters.

Investigators said Warner also paid up to $4,500 a week for its tunes to be played on so-called "syndicated music" shows, essentially advertorials for recordings from all labels......(schemes that) inflated ratings and number of "spins" played on the air, distorting the legitimate playlist rankings by Billboard and other ratings groups.

........Warner demanded stations give a minimum of two dozen plays a week for their artists, sometimes paying $300 a pop for bad acts that DJs hated.

Middlemen were also used by Warner to funnel cash payments to radio stations, often as much as $20,000.

[Pyro7480]

This is only part of the problem. The other part is the fact that so many people still eat up the pap the music industry feeds them.

[Khepera]

So this is why Bluegrass isn't more popular.

I shoulda known!

[Sthitch]

Among examples of payola: New York's Z100 collected $544.06 for a single day's plug of pop singer Jewel and dancehall star Wayne Wonder. On another day, Z100 got $90.35 for a promo of Lil' Kim.

Who in the hell came up with these numbers? Did they really negotiate down from $544.07 for the Jewel plug?

[Alberta's Child]

Maybe I'm missing something -- How does any of this amount to criminal behavior?

The music industry basically became a third-rate racket one FCC regulations were modified to allow these enormous media conglomerates to own newspapers, television and radio stations, and record labels. It's pretty much understood that radio stations play a disproportionate amount of music from the artists from the record label owned by the same corporation -- which is why all different forms of music these days sound like a single genre known as "sh!t music."

[Rodney King]

Who cares? Why is this even illegal? Why can't a radio station take money to play songs?

[mysterio]

I hope they nail Clear Channel to the wall for participating, too. Record companies involved in monopolistic payola scandals is not news. The companies getting busted for it is.

Makes me so happy that I think I'm going to rip my entire cd collection to mp3 and put the whole thing on limewire.

[NonValueAdded]

Victimless crime? OK, so the record companies pimp their stable and get them air time. But if their music suxor, people won't listen or buy the music (other than through the lemming effect). I suppose the real concern is a manipulation of the ratings used for the socialistic redistribution of fees collected by the monopolies set up by the artists themselves. The record companies take the settlements since they are minor blips in the stream of gravy and they pass along the charges. If anything, all Spitzer has done is to increase the cost of music with his "settlement" taxes - and of course, make his lawyer buddies a little richer. Why don't they try deregulation instead?

[Cacique]

ping

[Red Badger]

That wonderful Spitzer protecting us from EVIL BIG MUSIC.......He must reallly have too much time on his hands.........

[weegee]

Does Sony or WEA own much of Viacom's Infinity radio network or Clear Channel's radio network?

Those are the two biggest players in the radio game.

What I would like to know if why payola only applies to music. Why not ding CBS for FCC violations when they promote Viacom programming (Letterman, MTV) or books (Simon & Schuster) on their "news" programs?

And the FCC IS looking into "news" items created by industry (like the "new drug therapy" reports which are often canned by the pharmecutal industry and chock full of stock footage).

[Servant of the 9]

Eliot Spitzer.......unveiled a deal to halt bribery of DJs and rigging of ratings — schemes designed largely to hype mediocre acts, but also bigger names, in order to score higher returns.

Four months ago, he extracted a $10M settlement from industry leader Sony BMG to break up its payola ring involving DJs, radio station executives and crooked middlemen.

Last time I looked, these people were not public employees.
Why is this bribery?
Why is it illegal?

Incentives, often cash, are used in almost every industry to get shelf space and publicity.

So9

[BikerNYC]

The Federal Communications Commission issued regulations in 1960 that require both broadcasters and people who make promotional payments to disclose the deals to the public.

There may be evidence that payments were not disclosed, thus violating FCC regulations.

[calrighty]

I am pretty sure this has been going on since the 50"s
and Sam Goody Records.

[Alberta's Child]

If they violated FCC regulations then Eliot Spitzer has no business getting involved in the case. The FCC is a Federal agency, not a New York State agency.

It's kind of funny how Spitzer has come down from prosecuting Wall Street firms to prosecuting radio stations that very few intelligent people listen to anyway. The fact that a record label has to pay a radio station to play the music tells me that the music is such sh!t to begin with.

[Servant of the 9]

The Federal Communications Commission issued regulations in 1960 that require both broadcasters and people who make promotional payments to disclose the deals to the public.

One more thing that is none of the Governments business, like ticket scalping.

So9

[BikerNYC]

This is true. NY also has commercial bribery statutes, however, and this activity may also fall within them.

[BikerNYC]

One more thing that is none of the Governments business, like ticket scalping.

Tell it to the judge. It's usually the original sellers of tickets, like Madison Square Garden and the like, who have advocated for ticket scalping laws. In NY, these laws have been scaled back over the last several years.

[Liz]

Another dimension to paying for plays, and other payola schemes, is that it puts other artists who do not have the wherewithall to pay up at a disadvantage.