Sounds like how Jim Morgan, who was fired from WEZV, got his job with WVCO.
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This day in History: Dick Clark Survives the Payola Scandal en 1960
- Thread starter davideduardo
- Start date
He must have lost his butt on that one.
I don't know if a band's management juicing up a record promoter with some cash or drugs is 'stealing' from anyone, but I'm sure some of it happened at the recording industry level. I've read bios of bands during the 70s-90s who's fortunes waned when their A&R guy got fired, lost favor, or the record company for other apparent reasons decided to put their record on the back burner for someone else's record, or they decided to drop the band.
Drugs and cash under the table didn't always figure in, though. AC/DC was going to be dropped until one of their producers called an exec at Atlantic and reminded him that the first LP, although it didn't sell well, was quite cheap to make and they actually made a little money off of it. Motley Crue were going to get dropped before their breakthough album was finished, until a producer reminded the CEO at Elektra that the company still needed to pay its bills and bands like the Crue would make them money. Which they did.
So, although I don't know of any specifics where inside record company politics included handouts of cash, drugs, and other favors, the fact that inside record co politics seemed so competitive I wouldn't necessarily discount the fact that it probably happened. It wouldn't be payola, of course. But was similar in concept.
But it's still not considered Payola.
Again, those are internal within the record company and their promotions arm, not payola.
Payola is when radio station employees are coerced through something of monetary value, to play or report-playing of a particular song or album. Inside record company politics or shenanigans are not considered payola.
I was aware that it was the last Beatles concert although no one knew it at the time. I understand that they stopped touring after that because things got out of control and they could barely be heard! I've never heard anything about losing money!
I thought they stopped because the studio wizardry on Rubber Soul (their 1966 album) was difficult to impossible to reproduce in concert and their sound was only going to get more complex in the future.
I remember very well the payola scandal, growing up in NYC and listening to Alan Freed on 1010 WINS plus being a big fan ( at 11 years old ) of American Bandstand out of Philly.
I read books years later, written about Dick Clark, Alan Freed, etc.
Freed, left WINS in May 1958 following the "riot" that broke out at his RnR show in Boston, Freed felt WINS management did not back him and left WINS in disgust, some say he was fired but WINS said he wasn't - he ended up doing a nightly RnR radio show on 770 WABC ( before WABC became RnR ). WABC radio was owned by ABC and Clark also worked for ABC now, with his American Bandstand TV show. Freed was told by ABC to sign a paper saying he never took money for playing records. Clark was also told to sign a paper too . . . but it turns out the two papers were worded differently and that pissed off Freed . . . he felt Clark was being treated special.
Freed refused to sign and was let go by WABC ( ABC ) radio.
Freed stayed in radio going out to the west coast.
On May 19,1960, DJ Peter Tripp, from WMGM, ( The Curly Headed Kid in The Third Row ), DJ's Hal Jackson and Jack Walker from WLIB, DJ Tommy ( Dr. Jive ) Small from WWRL, the record librarian at WMGM and the PD at WINS along Alan Freed were all brought into the Elizabeth St. police station in Manhattan . . . this became known as the BIG PAYOLA BUST. There is a picture of them all at the police station in the book BIG BEAT HEAT.
As mentioned Freed felt Clark was being treated "extra special" . . . Freed was just a local guy and Clark a national guy . . . but in Freed's mind it wasn't right.
Over the years many felt Clark got off "easy" and Freed did not.
If you are interested there are two good books out there . . . BIG BEAT HEAT ( 1991), the story of Alan Freed written by John A. Jackson and ROCK, ROLL & REMEMBER ( 1976 ) written by Dick Clark and Richard Robinson.
Al
I read books years later, written about Dick Clark, Alan Freed, etc.
Freed, left WINS in May 1958 following the "riot" that broke out at his RnR show in Boston, Freed felt WINS management did not back him and left WINS in disgust, some say he was fired but WINS said he wasn't - he ended up doing a nightly RnR radio show on 770 WABC ( before WABC became RnR ). WABC radio was owned by ABC and Clark also worked for ABC now, with his American Bandstand TV show. Freed was told by ABC to sign a paper saying he never took money for playing records. Clark was also told to sign a paper too . . . but it turns out the two papers were worded differently and that pissed off Freed . . . he felt Clark was being treated special.
Freed refused to sign and was let go by WABC ( ABC ) radio.
Freed stayed in radio going out to the west coast.
On May 19,1960, DJ Peter Tripp, from WMGM, ( The Curly Headed Kid in The Third Row ), DJ's Hal Jackson and Jack Walker from WLIB, DJ Tommy ( Dr. Jive ) Small from WWRL, the record librarian at WMGM and the PD at WINS along Alan Freed were all brought into the Elizabeth St. police station in Manhattan . . . this became known as the BIG PAYOLA BUST. There is a picture of them all at the police station in the book BIG BEAT HEAT.
As mentioned Freed felt Clark was being treated "extra special" . . . Freed was just a local guy and Clark a national guy . . . but in Freed's mind it wasn't right.
Over the years many felt Clark got off "easy" and Freed did not.
If you are interested there are two good books out there . . . BIG BEAT HEAT ( 1991), the story of Alan Freed written by John A. Jackson and ROCK, ROLL & REMEMBER ( 1976 ) written by Dick Clark and Richard Robinson.
Al
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We should be clear that payola laws in the US as laid out in federal law ONLY apply to broadcasting. The laws have not been updated to include digital streaming. There are a lot of indie record promotion people who specialize on digital streaming because there are no laws against payola on that medium.
I said in my last sentence upthread that it's not payola, but it's the same basic premise, though. And it involves what ends up getting played on the radio. That is where the two concepts are related. If Atlantic had dropped AC/DC in 1977 or 78, Back In Black may never have happened, much less been the massive, worldwide hit. Motley Crue may have never made it, either. Not earthshaking, but still, the musical landscape would have changed. What changes happen inside record companies affects radio.
That was my point.
No, it isn't.
No, it involves what the record company releases for sale or radio airplay. Payola is a transaction between a record pig and someone at the radio station in a position to play, or report what is played on a particular radio station.
Sorry, still not considered payola.
Not really. Your example is like a Lowes deciding which brands of kitchen faucets to carry and how many different models of each.
A home repair person has their choices determined by those decisions, but the plumber or handyman you hire is not being bribed to use Koehler instead of another brand.
Exactly. Back when there were brick & mortar music stores, the front windows in those stores were for sale. The placement of new music in that store was for sale. The marketing reps from the record labels bought that space because it sold records. And none of it was illegal or considered payola. They were buying (or renting) real estate. And by the way, those same people are buying airtime on radio stations now, and none of it is called payola.
Yet another example. Many if not most people do not know that placing in Supermarkets comes at a cost to suppliers. If you want Charmin on a front & center end aisle display, you give a discount on product or give extra free cases. Or if you want your catsup on the eye-level shelf with 18 inches of front or more, you also make it worth it to the supermarket chain.
Brands will also contribute in some way to price-item positioning in shoppers, direct mail and other advertising... even those "specials" that some shoppers actually sign up to get by email.
None of that is illegal. The store is just capitalizing on the value of its best "real estate".
So a band's manager or inside rep in a record company giving an A&R guy or exec drugs, cash or prostitutes to get his band's latest single sent out to radio for airplay isn't in any way similar to payola. It's more like placing bags of potato chips in the store, and on top of that, it's completely legal. Okay, got it.
I actually got the point you are making. But thank goodness everyone chimed in to let us know you weren't *technically* correct. Nobody here wastes an opportunity to condescend, I swear to God.
Bribes of drugs or illegal prostitution are a different and separate crime because the items given are illegal.
In this case, the definition is specific and clear: giving something of value to a licensed radio or TV station employee in exchange for promotion of a record, a show or other item without the implicit knowledge of management and inclusion in station logs is illegal. It involves doing something on the airwaves of a radio or TV station, so it comes under the authority of the FCC.
The on-air part of payola represents running paid for content without it being on the station log and full disclosure to listeners and this is the specific FCC part of the violation.
And a definition from Arnold and Porter:
Payola, also known as pay-for-play, is the illegal practice of paying commercial radio stations to broadcast particular recordings without disclosure to listeners of the pay-for-play, at the time of the broadcast. The Communications Act of 1934, as amended, prohibits payola. Section 317 of the Act requires that "[a]ll matter broadcast by any radio station for which any money, service or other valuable consideration is directly or indirectly paid, or promised to or charged or accepted by, the station so broadcasting, from any person, shall, at the time the same is so broadcast, be announced as paid for or furnished, as the case may be, by such person."
Section 508 extends this prohibition and the disclosure mandate to employees of a radio station, persons connected with the production or preparation of radio programs, third-party suppliers of radio programs, and persons who pay or agree to pay for the inclusion of material to a radio broadcast.
Sidebar: the Wikipedia article on Payola is one of the absolute worst wiki items I have ever seen. It is worse than worthless... it is highly inaccurate.
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As documented in my prior post, the FCC violation involves not putting paid content on the FCC mandated station log and not disclosing same to listeners, known as "sponsor ID".
The internal actions of a record company don't involve FCC logs and sponsor ID... they don't even come under the purview of the FCC.
Yes, all are forms of bribes. But different kinds of bribes fall under activity specific laws and regulations. Bribing a Senator is different than an individual bribing an auto dealer mechanic to undercharge on a repair. Or bribing a Border Patrol officer to look the other way to a group of immigrants.
And the specific FCC violation is not the bribe, it is the log and sponsor ID element.
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