[BC] NY Times: Payola

[charles hobbs]

By LORNE MANLY
Published: July 31, 2005
IN the fall of 2002, Celine Dion fans who listened to
radio stations owned by Infinity Broadcasting, the
country's second largest chain, were offered a chance
to meet the object of their adoration. 

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Peter Buchanan-Smith

 
Forum: Popular Music
The promotion, dreamed up by Epic Records, promised to
fly contest winners to Las Vegas to hear Ms. Dion
perform at Caesars Palace and even to give one lucky
soul a chance for some time alone with her.

What listeners were not told was the price the
stations paid for the honor of offering up an evening
with Ms. Dion. As a promotion executive at Epic wrote
in an e-mail message, Infinity had agreed to add Ms.
Dion's newest single, "Goodbye's (The Saddest Word),"
to the playlists of 13 stations. 

And so goes the latest version of payola, the illegal
trading of secret payments in exchange for airplay.
[...]

While satellite radio is expected to near 10 million
subscribers by the end of the year, that figure pales
in comparison to commercial radio's 230 million
listeners. 

"Radio is still the biggest single factor to get
something going," said Howie Klein, a former president
of Reprise Records.

Videos and club promotions can help create interest in
a song. But commercial radio reaches more people in a
shorter period of time, and that is the recipe for a
hit. "The record companies still haven't found a way
to get that word of mouth as quick," Mr. Klein added.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/weekinreview/31manly.html


		
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