Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as sponsored airtime. The number of times the songs are played can influence the perceived popularity of a song, and payola may be used to influence these metrics. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) treats payola as a violation of the Sponsorship Identification Rules, which require any broadcast of paid material to include a disclosure. The term payola, coined by entertainment magazine Variety in 1938, is a combination of "pay" and "-ola," the latter of which is a suffix of product names common in the early 20th century, such as Pianola, Victrola, Amberola, Mazola, Crayola, Rock-Ola, Shinola, or brands such as the radio equipment manufacturer Motorola.
History Before the 1930s, there was little public scrutiny of the reasoning behind a song's popularity. The advertising agencies that sponsored NBC's radio/TV show Your Hit Parade refused to reveal the specific methods that were used to determine top hits. Only general and vague statements were offered; that determining top hits was based on "readings of radio requests, sheet music sales, dance hall favorites and jukebox tabulations." Early attempts to stop payola were met with silence by publishers. Prosecution for payola in the 1950s was, in part, a reaction of the traditional music establishment against newcomers. The emergence of hit radio had become a threat to the wages of song pluggers and publishers' revenue streams. Attempts were made to link all payola to then-ascendant rock and roll music, a result of independent record labels and music publishers frequently using payola to promote rock and roll records on American radio. While the amount of money involved remains largely unpublished, Phil Lind of Chicago station WAIT disclosed in Congressional hearings that he had taken US$22,000 to play a record.
U.S. investigations and aftermath The first U.S. Congressional Payola Investigations occurred in 1959. The investigations were carried out by the House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight into payola, and prompted by a parallel investigation in the US Senate. DJ Alan Freed, who was uncooperative in committee hearings, was fired as a result. Dick Clark also testified before the committee, but avoided repercussions, partly because he had divested his ownership interest in music-industry holdings. Following the investigation, radio DJs were stripped of the authority to make programming decisions, and payola became a misdemeanor offense. Programming decisions became the responsibility of station program directors. However, this had the result of simplifying the process of payola: instead of reaching numerous DJs, record labels only had to persuade the station's program director. Labels could circumvent payola allegations by utilizing independent third parties (see below). In 1976, inner-city urban soul DJ Frankie Crocker was indicted in a payola scandal, causing him to leave New York radio, where his influence was greatest. The charges were later dropped, and he returned to New York, working as a VH-1 VJ. Following the creation of music-sharing websites in the late 1990s, the power of independent promoters declined, and labels returned to dealing with stations directly.
Modern day In recent years, 'payola' has taken on a new form, about the alleged practice of paying streaming services, like Spotify, to recommend an artist more. Payola is also widely used as an insult on Stan Twitter.
Modus operandi Payola is used by record labels to promote their artists, and can be in the form of monetary rewards or other types of reimbursement. This can include purchasing advertising, requiring bands to play station-sponsored concerts, or paying stations to hold "meet the band" contests. In exchange, the band gains a place on a station's playlist or a lesser-known band of the label may gain airtime.
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