Radio stations paid for airplay.
CBS will pay $2 million to New York charities and tighten up its policies for its radio stations' interactions with record labels, as part of a settlement with state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of an alleged pay-for-play case. CBS acknowledged wrongdoing by some employees but did not admit "any liability or violation of the law."
It is a violation of FCC regulations for any station or employee to accept money or favors from record labels. This is a result of widespread kick-back scams to promote air-play of rock-n-roll records in the 1950s, and was made illegal in 1960. Technically it was illegal before that because it represented an un-acknowleged commercial announcement. Called Payola [pay for play] in the trade. Many, but not all, radio station these days purchase their music CDs rather than accept free promotion copies.
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