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Subject: Former co-worker fingered in payola scam
Written By: MaxwellSmart on 05/05/06 at 6:53 pm
http://www.billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/search/article_display.jsp?schema=&vnu_content_id=1002155733&WebLogicSession=REh5mRJCACk92xVYeCOUiIJmGNgioXMcEO2sNOHVQzFTM17dYAVQ%7C845493234003207650/168887094/6/7005/7005/7002/7002/7005/-1
http://freepress.net/news/14258
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002155424
http://blog.sonymusic.com/sonybmg/archives/007074.html
The above links discuss New York Attorney General Elliott Spitzer's investigation of Entercom. Entercom is the nation's fourth- largest radio company. Spitzer's investigation alleges Entercom stations have been accepting cash and gifts from record companies in exchange for airplay. This is what we know as "payola." That's where my former co-worker and nemesis, Brad Davidson, now Vice President of Top 40 promotion at Sony/Columbia comes in.
I don't mind printing his name as the radio press has already made public his connection to the scandal.
Going back to my super-senior year at UMass, 1995-96, I was Music Director at the university radio station WMUA. As the last link to Sony points out, Davidson was our station manager. Davidson stepped on a lot of people to get where he is today, and I was the first one he stepped on. Davidson took it upon himself to contact Sony and make himself their representative for our station. I filed a complaint to our faculty supervisor and the university ombudsman that Davidson was usurping power. As General Manager, Davidson was in charge of the station's fiscal affairs. He had no business in the music end. That was up to the Programming Director and me. I was MD, and it was my job to appoint record reps. Things got ugly between Davidson and me on several fronts. Davidson led the Top 40/jock faction. I led the independent music/educational faction.
Davidson ran amok with power. Real big-fish-small-pond syndrome. Our faculty supervisor sat back and did nothing. Davidson ran over me first, and then ran over anybody who got in his way. Station meetings became angry showdowns between Davidson and me. Members started quitting in disgust. Davidson whisked his girlfriend into the Programming Director position in a Bush '04-style election. They vowed to get rid of me. When the matter finally got a hearing with university officials, they blocked Davidson and his Executive Committee from expelling me. However, they did nothing about Davidson's usurpation of power.
Brad Davidson graduated in 1997 and took his ill-gotten job with Sony. I had no interest in working for commercial radio or big record companies. They are all about business. I am all about music. I would hear from time to time news of Davidson's rapid ascent. I tried to burst the bubble of his booster-club back home. "He's ambitious, but he's dumb," I admonished, "Davidson has no sense of decency. That excels in corporate America. However, anybody that dumb is going to make a mistake." No one listened. They just chalked it up to sour grapes on my part. Now this from Billboard magazine:
In one of the more blatant bids for promotional monies, top 40 WKSE Buffalo PD Dave Universal sent an e-mail to Brad Davidson at Sony, asking
Subject: Re: Former co-worker fingered in payola scam
Written By: LyricBoy on 05/05/06 at 8:03 pm
What I never understood about payola is "why is it illegal"?
So Sony or some other company slips a DJ (or the studio) some dough to play their songs. How is this any different from Coca Cola paying to get its products placed in blockbuster movies?
Hey, if the songs suck, people will tune out.
Subject: Re: Former co-worker fingered in payola scam
Written By: MaxwellSmart on 05/06/06 at 7:13 pm
What I never understood about payola is "why is it illegal"?
So Sony or some other company slips a DJ (or the studio) some dough to play their songs. How is this any different from Coca Cola paying to get its products placed in blockbuster movies?
Hey, if the songs suck, people will tune out.
Well, my argument has always been that payola was not so bad when there was such a job as "disc jockey," and DJs had decision-making power over what they would play, and there were restrictions on the number of radio stations a company could own. Now it's just like the rest of the corporate swill out there. I wish you were right. I wish people would refuse to buy crappy cookie-cutter music such as Jessica Simpson and Backstreet Boys. However, when you limit not only consumer choice, but consumer expectations, corporations can turn out the most insipid garbage imaginable and the kids will lap it right up!
Radio stations can pay-for-play money as long as it is publically disclosed as being "sponsored" air time. Say for instance, "Tom's Rhinoplasty presents: Michael Jackson." The problem with undisclosed "payola" is it gives the party that can pay the most an unfair advantage over those who cannot pay as much. It would seem with today's corporate oligarchies controlling both the promotion and broadcast sides of the business that payola would be rendered obsolete. Yet it still goes on, as Sony, Entercom, and my nefarious friend Brad Davidson demonstrate!
Here is a handy little Wikipedia article on payola:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola
Subject: Re: Former co-worker fingered in payola scam
Written By: Satish on 05/08/06 at 9:29 am
What I never understood about payola is "why is it illegal"?
So Sony or some other company slips a DJ (or the studio) some dough to play their songs. How is this any different from Coca Cola paying to get its products placed in blockbuster movies?
Media outlets are regulated by the government in many ways. They're only allowed to air a limited amount of advertising each hour, for instance. This regulation is probably justified. It's to prevent the media from being swayed by commercial influences and to make sure the public is being served well by broadcasters.
If you think it's fair for the government to be regulating the media in this way, you ought to see why payola should be illegal.
Subject: Re: Former co-worker fingered in payola scam
Written By: Satish on 05/08/06 at 9:50 am
Well, I have to say this story is pretty discouraging. It's depressing to think that our cultural tastes are being surreptitiously controlled by corporate interests. Who knows, maybe there's a vast corporate conspiracy to brainwash people from an early age into believing what they want.
Subject: Re: Former co-worker fingered in payola scam
Written By: CatwomanofV on 05/08/06 at 1:10 pm
That is very interesting, Max. No wonder why I don't care for today's music.
Cat
Subject: Re: Former co-worker fingered in payola scam
Written By: Marian on 05/12/06 at 3:53 pm
Did you have to use the term "fingered" ;D