Posted on 05/11/2006 2:47:13 PM PDT by misterrob
The New York state attorney general has levied a $12 million fine against Universal Music Group for payola.
This is the largest fine so far in the war between Eliot Spitzer and the music industry, surpassing the $10 million that Sony had to pay and the $5 million for Warner Music Group.
But Universal home of many overnight stars including several rappers whove come and gone would be the place for this. The company has had enormous success, but at the same time encountered lawsuits from middle-men distributors claiming inflated sales numbers double dipping at the cash register, so to speak.
Now we have some proof of whats going on there, thanks to memos supplied as evidence by Spitzers office. Many of the acts are those youve never heard of. But others are illustrative of how Universal (which includes Island/Def Jam, Motown, Interscope and other labels) tried to force bad music down our throats.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I had this same question a while back. The best answer that I got (and that I agreed with) was that payola is illegal because it breaks the terms of the FCC license.
In other words, it would be fine for Serius or XM to take payola. In the case of "terrestrial" radio stations however, there is a legal agreement between the broadcaster and the U.S. Government (the valid representative of the owners of the RF spectrum) that the RF resource wouldn't be used for covert advertising.
How come girl with beautiful red hair end up dying it? First her, then the girl from That 70's Show. Isn't there anyone around to tell them how stupid they are?
They are not allowed to pay radio stations for particular artists to be pushed
That little Eliot Spitzer sure is a busybody.
Not that we have many freedoms left to worry about, but this commie / fascist Spitzer is the single most dangerous man in the USSA. He even outdoes his mentor, Rudy. McCain is a distant 3rd.
I only know this girl from magazine covers. But, I liked her a lot better before she looked like Malcolm In the Middle.
"Well, I didn't know she sang (or at least had a record label.)"
Unless you're a girl between the ages of 11-15, it would be a miracle if you knew any of her songs. It's that kind of music.
Daddy Spitzer made his millions in Manhattan real estate, but shockingly, Wonderboy never seems to launch a probe into that industry. Go figure!
It gets deep into monopoly laws as well.
You have the major record labels working together not only to fix the prices on all cd's, but to pay off radio stations to play the music they want played.
So basically, you get a lot of crap shoved down your throats and no talent acts like Jeniffer Lopez who can't sing to save her life getting massive radio play by bought off radio station program directors and djs.
It's something like this: since the RF spectrum (radio waves) are limited, the goverment (FCC) gives license to private broadcast stations to setup and transmit their content on those frequencies. In return, the broadcast station is supposed to operate "in the public's interest", e.g. no profanity (called "wardrobe malfunctions" these days), have a certain amount of socialist content (Sunday morning do-gooder infomercials), etc.
With that in mind, selling the airwaves the government licensed to you to the highest bidder (payola) is not considered fair play. IOW, you can't sub-lease the frequency that the FCC leased to you.
They are wealthy enough that they surround themselves with "yes" people. After awhile, all sense of reality is thrown out the window.
This girls 15 minutes is going on 13 and 1/2. She's now trying to beat Paris Hilton in the spoiled attention whore contest. By age 30, she's going to look 40. And since her career is based on being a cutsie girl, I'd say her career is about done.
she's still too thin, chain smokes, and burning the candle at both ends with drugs, booze, and slutting around.
This isn't going to end well. Within 5 years, she'll be on Oprah blaming everyone, but herself, for her hitting rock bottom.
She's had weight issues for awhile now. Her family ife is insane, I think her dad is still injail, and last year, when the "Herbie" movie came out, Disney actually digitally altered her chest to make it appear smaller in that movie. Can you imagine what that does to a teenage girl's self-image? Someone needs to get her some help, but nobody wants to upset their cash cow.
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.
--Hunter S Thompson
Best pictures of Lindsay are here:
http://www.randomimage.us/19976.html
http://www.tgpprofessional.com/celeb186/
http://static.flickr.com/51/106622798_86ec3738e2.jpg?v=0
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