Today in History: American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, was fired from WABC-AM radio over allegations he had participated in the payola scandal on this day in 1959. Payola occurs when a disc jockey is paid by record companies or music publishers to play certain recordings, and for some reason this is considered scandalous. Payola is one of those things like insider trading, gambling and the college admissions scandal that really shouldn't be illegal. A play on radio is effectively a commercial for that music or musician. And paying for commercials is, quite obviously, fairly common. Is it really so outlandish that some in the industry want to "buy" spots? Payola actually helped a lot of new artists get airplay. Without payola, we would never have heard of Chuck Berry.
Payola also has a long history. "The first documented instances of payola date from England in the 1860s. The publishers of sheet music paid vaudeville artists to sing and popularize their songs. Payment of these fees was a normal marketing procedure for publishers and a significant source of income for performers; payola occasioned no political scandal. Prior to the payola scandals, payola had been an accepted and legal business practice used to promote new products for many decades. In the case of rhythm and blues, the independents lacked the reputations and marketing power to place their artists through name alone, and were forced to rely on payola." Tyler Cowen
No comments:
Post a Comment