cover of episode The Great American Payola $candal Part 2 | 21

The Great American Payola $candal Part 2 | 21

2024/8/6
logo of podcast Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry

Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry
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Alan Cross: 本期节目探讨了美国payola丑闻的演变，从1960年立法禁止公开贿赂，到payola转入地下，变得更加隐蔽和复杂。随着音乐产业的扩张和公司化，电台播放竞争加剧，payola问题更加严重。20世纪70年代，RICO法案的出台使得唱片公司不再直接贿赂电台，而是通过独立唱片推广人进行。"The Network"是一个由约30名独立唱片推广人组成的松散联盟，他们控制着大量的电台播放权，使用金钱、毒品、礼物等手段贿赂电台，并通过各种手段掩盖payola行为。电台将payola收入伪装成促销费用，逃避监管。尽管并非所有人都参与其中，但payola对音乐产业的影响深远。20世纪80年代，独立唱片推广人逐渐掌握更多权力，并提高收费，唱片公司失去了控制。政府调查虽然多次进行，但收效甚微，payola问题持续存在。21世纪初，payola丑闻再次出现，索尼BMG、华纳音乐集团、环球音乐集团和EMI均卷入其中。尽管有反payola法律，但payola依然存在，只是更加隐蔽，通过各种手段掩盖交易，例如伪装成维护费用、赠送礼物等。独立推广人依然活跃在音乐产业中，对电台播放拥有强大的控制力，甚至可以阻止某些歌曲的播放。payola问题涉及到艺术家、经理人、唱片公司和电台等多个方面，难以根除。

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The podcast discusses how payola, the practice of bribing radio stations to play certain records, was made illegal in 1960 but continued to evolve and persist in the music industry.

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In 1960, after months of testimony and investigation, it was made illegal for anyone to bribe a radio station or any of its employees to play a record…payola was forbidden under punishment of jail time and a fine of up to $10,000…

This, it was hoped, would keep the marketplace even and fair and no one—not a label, an artist, or anyone promoting that artist—would be able to jump the queue to get a record played on the radio…only songs with true merit would make it to the public…no more pay-for-play!...

Yeah, nice try…

If one thing was learned from the great American payola scandal, it was that radio airplay was essential to making money from a record…and if promoters could no longer walk into a radio station with a bag of cash, a case of booze, some drugs, a couple of hookers, or the promise of gifts (such as expensive watches), then they needed to get creative…

There had to be less obvious ways of tipping the scales in their favour…and there were…

After those initial hearings and the laws passed in their wake, payola never went away…instead, it went underground, toughened up, and became even more sleazy…

As the music industry got bigger and became more corporatized through the 1960s and 70s, the competition got more intense…the amount of money to be made from music involved got exponentially larger…and it got a lot rougher.

**Show contact info: **

X (formerly Twitter): @AlanCross)

Website: curiouscast.ca)

Email: [email protected])

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