Editing Payola (section)

== History {{anchor|PScandal}} == <!-- This section is linked from the Rdr [[Payola scandal]] -->
Prior to the 1930s, there was little public scrutiny of the reasoning behind a song's popularity. The advertising agencies which 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".<ref name="jdun">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2e0RDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA738 |last=Dunning| first=John| title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio| date=1998| publisher=Oxford University Press| location=New York, NY| isbn=978-0-19-507678-3| section=Your Hit Parade | pages=738–740 | edition=Revised| access-date=2019-09-10}}<br>Only a general statement that hit status was based on "readings of [[Request (broadcasting)|radio requests]], sheet music sales, dance hall favorites and jukebox tabulations"</ref> Early attempts to stop payola were met with silence by publishers.<ref name="bb49">{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQ4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22War+on+Payola%22&pg=PT9|date=29 October 1949|title=Pluggers War on Payola|magazine=Billboard |volume=61|issue=44|pages=3, 13, 47|issn=0006-2510| access-date=2023-06-19}}</ref>

Prosecution for payola in the 1950s was in part a reaction of the traditional music establishment against newcomers.<ref name="tcow">{{Cite book|last=Cowen|first=Tyler |title=In praise of commercial culture|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2000|pages=164, 166|isbn=0-674-00188-5}}</ref> The emergence of [[Contemporary hit radio|hit radio]] had become a threat to the wages of [[song plugger]]s and publishers' revenue streams.<ref name="bb49"/> By the mid-1940s, three-quarters of the records produced in the United States went into jukeboxes.<ref name="tcow"/>{{relevance inline|date=February 2021}} Attempts were made to link all payola to rock-and-roll music.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=18 January 1960|title=Has payola cued a new inspirational wax kick?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4x4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Has+Payola+Cued+a+New+Inspirational+Wax+Kick%22&pg=PA6|magazine=Billboard|pages=6|issn=0006-2510|quote=Even now after the payola scandals and the attempt to link all payola with rock-and-roll recordings, the music with a beat still dominates over 60 percent of The Billboard's Hot 100 chart.}}</ref> In the 1950s, independent record companies or music publishers frequently used payola to promote [[rock and roll]] on American radio.

While the amount of money involved remains largely unpublished, Phil Lind of Chicago's [[WCPT (AM)|WAIT]] disclosed in [[Congressional hearing]]s{{when|date=February 2021}} that he had taken US$22,000 to play a record.<ref>Richard Campbell et al, Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, 2004</ref>

===U.S. investigations and aftermath===
The first U.S. Congressional Payola Investigations occurred in 1959.<ref name="clark" /> The investigations were carried out by the [[House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight]] into payola,<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE PAYOLA SCANDAL John Morthland provided a succinct description o |url=https://www.shsu.edu/~lis_fwh/book/brill_building/Payola%20Scandal2.htm |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=www.shsu.edu}}</ref> and prompted by a parallel investigation in the US Senate.<ref name="clark" />

DJ [[Alan Freed]], who was uncooperative in committee hearings, was fired as a result.<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 May 2018|title=FREED, ALAN|url=https://case.edu/ech/articles/f/freed-alan|access-date=2 February 2021|website=Encyclopedia of Cleveland History {{!}} Case Western Reserve University|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/11/22/archives/alan-freed-is-out-in-payola-study-disk-jockey-refuses-to-sign-wabc.html |title=ALAN FREED IS OUT IN 'PAYOLA' STUDY; Disk Jockey Refuses to Sign WABC Denial on Principle – Says He Took No Bribes |date=22 November 1959 |work=New York Times |access-date=4 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Alan_Freed |title=Alan Freed |date=17 March 1964 |work=Ohio Central History |access-date=4 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://case.edu/ech/articles/f/freed-alan |title=Freed, Alan |date=2 December 2017 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Cleveland History |access-date=4 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dailynews.com/2019/12/23/radio-how-a-disgraced-dj-made-his-way-to-southern-california-airwaves/ |title=Radio: How a disgraced DJ made his way to KDAY |date=23 December 2019 |work=LA Daily News |access-date=4 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>Curtis, p. 37.</ref> [[Dick Clark]] also testified before the committee, but avoided repercussions,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dick Clark survives the Payola scandal|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dick-clark-survives-the-payola-scandal|access-date=2 February 2021|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref> partly because he had divested his ownership interest in music-industry holdings.<ref>"The Jordan brothers: A Musical Biography of Rock's Fortunate Sons", by Maxim W. Furek. Kimberley Press, 1986.</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-24 |title=Payola: exploring the dark practice of bribing radio stations |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/payola-dark-practice-bribing-radio/ |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref> Labels could circumvent payola allegations by utilizing independent third parties (see below).<ref name="Howe">{{Cite news|last=Howe|first=Desson|title=Payola Probe Deepens|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/03/04/payola-probe-deepens/6aae7514-7d38-472c-9ee3-8c6e944b5658/|access-date=12 February 2021|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}}</ref>

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, hosting [[MTV]]'s video jukebox.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/568/1049/288359/|title=United States of America v. Frankie Crocker, Appellant, 568 F.2d 1049 (3d Cir. 1977)|website=Law.justia.com}}</ref>{{relevance inline|date=February 2021}}

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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wikström |first=Patrik |title=The Music Industry in an Age of Digital Distribution |url=https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/the-music-industry-in-an-age-of-digital-distribution/ |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=OpenMind |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Modern day ===
In recent years, 'payola' has taken on a new form, in reference to the alleged practice of paying streaming services, like [[Spotify]], to recommend an artist more.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pelly |first=Liz |date=2025-02-19 |title=Pay to get playlisted? The accusations against Spotify’s Discovery Mode |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/19/spotify-discovery-mode-payola-playlist |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davidson |first=Amy |date=2024-05-21 |title=Why is Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' taking over Spotify algorithms? |url=https://www.nme.com/features/music-features/espresso-sabrina-carpenter-spotify-streaming-3757741 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref> Payola is also widely used as an insult on [[Stan Twitter]].