payola
an illegal payment
TRANSLATION
das Schmiergeld
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"According to Billboard Magazine 'The cancer of payola cannot be pinned on rock and roll'. Billboard stated payola was rampant during vaudeville of the 20s, and the big band era of the 1930s and 1940s"
(Webinfo on History of Rock.Com)
(Webinfo on History of Rock.Com)
Did you
know?
Payola was the paying of cash or gifts in exchange for airplay.
"Payola" is a contraction of the words "pay" and"Victrola" (LP record player), and entered the English language via the record business. The first court case involving payola was in 1960. On May 9, Alan Freed was indicted for accepting $2,500 which he claimed was a token of gratitude and did not affect airplay. He paid a small fine and was released. His career faltered and in 1965 he drank himself to death.
Before Alan Freed's indictment, payola was not illegal, however, but commercial bribery was. After the trial, the anti-payola statute was passed under which payola became a misdemeanor, penalty by up to $10,000 in fines and one year in prison.
During the infamous "Payola Trial" of the 1970s, the services of prostitutes as well as cash payments were employed to promote new records.
Today you can use payola as a synonym for bribery; there must be lots of it about here are quite a few more:
allurement, bait, boodle, buyoff, compensation, contract, corrupt money, corrupting gift, enticement, envelope, fee, fringe benefit, gift, goody, gratuity, gravy, grease, hush money, ice, incentive, inducement, influence peddling, kickback, lure, perk, present, protection, remuneration, reward, sweetener, sweetening, take, tip
"Payola" is a contraction of the words "pay" and"Victrola" (LP record player), and entered the English language via the record business. The first court case involving payola was in 1960. On May 9, Alan Freed was indicted for accepting $2,500 which he claimed was a token of gratitude and did not affect airplay. He paid a small fine and was released. His career faltered and in 1965 he drank himself to death.
Before Alan Freed's indictment, payola was not illegal, however, but commercial bribery was. After the trial, the anti-payola statute was passed under which payola became a misdemeanor, penalty by up to $10,000 in fines and one year in prison.
During the infamous "Payola Trial" of the 1970s, the services of prostitutes as well as cash payments were employed to promote new records.
Today you can use payola as a synonym for bribery; there must be lots of it about here are quite a few more:
allurement, bait, boodle, buyoff, compensation, contract, corrupt money, corrupting gift, enticement, envelope, fee, fringe benefit, gift, goody, gratuity, gravy, grease, hush money, ice, incentive, inducement, influence peddling, kickback, lure, perk, present, protection, remuneration, reward, sweetener, sweetening, take, tip
