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Hot FM Implicated in Payola?

> I know there have been several occasions where I've heard a
> song front and back announced by an outside voice that it
> was being played in exchange for consideration. Does that
> make it legal?

I think that's what the big deal is about, so I guess not legal at all... I've been hearing them do that for a couple years now though. I'm suprised they got away with it for as long as they did.<P ID="signature">______________

Eastern NC & Raleigh/Greensboro Board Moderator</P>
 
It is still 100% legal according to the FCC rules, until there is a rule change, it remains legal. Anything done under the current rules is legal and therefore above board. As long as there is disclosure the time was paid for, any radio station can air a political ad or a music commercial. Spitzer was unable to find enough evidence to go to court over all of this ..but he had enough internal Sony communication to force Sony to admit some kind of wrong doing. If this were to ever go to court, Spitzer knows that he doesn't have a leg to stand on ...this was never about "Payola" it was about grabbing enough headlines to run for Governor.

If I were the stations mentioned, I would be more concerned about the receipt of the laptop computers, big screen TV's and Play station ..and knowing exactly where they went ...
 
> It is still 100% legal according to the FCC rules, until
> there is a rule change, it remains legal. Anything done
> under the current rules is legal and therefore above board.
> As long as there is disclosure the time was paid for, any
> radio station can air a political ad or a music commercial.
> Spitzer was unable to find enough evidence to go to court
> over all of this ..but he had enough internal Sony
> communication to force Sony to admit some kind of wrong
> doing. If this were to ever go to court, Spitzer knows that
> he doesn't have a leg to stand on ...this was never about
> "Payola" it was about grabbing enough headlines to run for
> Governor.
>
> If I were the stations mentioned, I would be more concerned
> about the receipt of the laptop computers, big screen TV's
> and Play station ..and knowing exactly where they went ...
>

If you think taking a laptop, a playstation 2 + games, concert tickets and airfare/hotel by a radio station employee and his girfriend and falsifying documents by the record label who dished out the goods (fake name and SSN#) to appear said goods and services were given away to a station contest winner, is not payola, you need to give up your internship.

And if you think this was not about payola only a political ploy, then you don't know what has been going on in this business for the last decade.

If you were unaware of the details above then it would be my suggestion for you to do a little reading before you publish your next opinion.
 
> If you think taking a laptop, a playstation 2 + games,
> concert tickets and airfare/hotel by a radio station
> employee and his girfriend and falsifying documents by the
> record label who dished out the goods (fake name and SSN#)
> to appear said goods and services were given away to a
> station contest winner, is not payola, you need to give up
> your internship.
>
> And if you think this was not about payola only a political
> ploy, then you don't know what has been going on in this
> business for the last decade.
>
> If you were unaware of the details above then it would be my
> suggestion for you to do a little reading before you publish
> your next opinion.
>
Whoa, Charlie ...the question was about buying time for a song and disclosing the origin of the payment ...not the details of where the TV's and microwave ovens went ...
 
> > If you think taking a laptop, a playstation 2 + games,
> > concert tickets and airfare/hotel by a radio station
> > employee and his girfriend and falsifying documents by the
>
> > record label who dished out the goods (fake name and SSN#)
>
> > to appear said goods and services were given away to a
> > station contest winner, is not payola, you need to give up
>
> > your internship.
> >
> > And if you think this was not about payola only a
> political
> > ploy, then you don't know what has been going on in this
> > business for the last decade.
> >
> > If you were unaware of the details above then it would be
> my
> > suggestion for you to do a little reading before you
> publish
> > your next opinion.
> >
> Whoa, Charlie ...the question was about buying time for a
> song and disclosing the origin of the payment ...not the
> details of where the TV's and microwave ovens went ...
>

This is a most serious investigation and has been from the very begining, and is about to enter phase two.

This is now an FCC matter and based upon the documents filed in the NY Courts, the FCC will be investigating additional station personnel involvement with the local pd's named in those cases cited by Spitzer, which is supported by documentation from the various labels owned by Sony/BMG. The documentation is largely two-way email communication with the pd's and the record label reps.

In other words, you can expect a full-blown vertical/horizontal investigation by the FCC for all of the stations implicated. The FCC will expect and will undoubtedly receive full cooperation from all of those who were implicated by the Sony/BMG acknowledgement. Which means those implicated will be compelled to lay it all out on the table for however long it has been going on....names, dates, and who got what and when!

The end result will definately produce more names. The question that remains is how high will it go and will any stations lose their license in the process.

It will be interesting to watch how everything unfolds.
 
NY Times Article (was Re: Hot FM Implicated in Payola?)

content deleted by rockthisworld

Moderator's note: Per radio-info rules, you can't post articles in their full text. Feel free to post a link to the NYT article.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by rockthisworld on 07/26/05 09:27 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: NY Times Article (was Re: Hot FM Implicated in Payola?)

> (who has NEVER accepted one red cent from any record label,
> for what it's worth)

The funny thing is, I read the original article on FARK, and was about to add the comment, "where's MY payoff?" when I saw that Hot was implicated. Not even three blocks away.

The only thing I've received have been various promo doo dads. I can't even get Rounder to give us service.
 
Re: NY Times Article (was Re: Hot FM Implicated in Payola?)

Not even if they are properly credited and acknowledged? Wow, tough room.


Anyway, here's the link which contains the same article:


<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/business/26music.html">Link to NYTimes article (requires registration)<a>

KL

<a href="http://home.nc.rr.com/gttyson/lastradio.html">The Last Radio Station<a>
 
> Has anybody heard the local connection to this story before
> now?
>
http://www.mtv.c> om/news/articles/1506321/20050725/index.jhtml?headlines=true
>
>
> Link
>
> I know there have been several occasions where I've heard a
> song front and back announced by an outside voice that it
> was being played in exchange for consideration. Does that
> make it legal?
>

Just dropped in from Raleigh board. The Independent Weekly covered the story this week. Here are some tidbits:

"At WRHT 96.3 "The Hot FM" in Greenville, N.C., music director Blake Larson was fired the day after Spitzer released documents showing that Larson had raked in a $1,365 laptop, $900 in airfare and a PlayStation 2 from Epic, a Sony subsidiary.

(Neither WRHT nor its parent company, Archway Broadcasting, based in East Point, Ga., returned calls for comment, nor did Larson.)"

Full story:

http://indyweek.com/durham/current/cover.html

Also note:

"Payola would also seem to violate North Carolina law, namely the commercial bribery statute. While in New York, the state itself took up the case, those familiar with the statutes in North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's office said the decision to take action against alledged violators will be up to the district attorney of the county where the violation takes place to investigate. Other North Carolina radio stations were mentioned in the Sony correspondence, though not directly linked to pay-for-play arrangements: G105 in Raleigh, WEND in Salisbury, and WSTW in Wilmington, and several based out of state whose signals reach across the border, such as WFXH in Hilton Head, WFBC in Greenville, S.C., and WWST in Knoxville."
 
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