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Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on commercial radio in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S. law, , a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, but this must be disclosed on the air as being sponsored airtime, and that play of the song should not be counted as a "regular airplay". The term has come to refer to any secret payment made to cast a product in a favorable light (such as obtaining positive reviews). Some radio stations report spins of the newest and most popular songs to industry publications. The number of times the songs are played can influence the perceived popularity of a song. The term ''payola'' is a combination of "pay" and "-ola" a common suffix of product names in the early 20th century, such as Pianola, Victrola, Amberola, Crayola, or brands such as the radio equipment manufacturer Motorola.〔(http://www.etymonline.com )〕 Payola has come to mean the payment of a bribe in commerce and in law to say or do a certain thing against the rules of law, but more specifically a commercial bribe. The FCC defines "payola" as a violation of the sponsorship identification rule that in 2005-06 resulted in tens of millions of dollars in fines to cable corporations in New York. == History == "Payola, in one form or another, is as old as the music business." In earlier eras there was not much public scrutiny of the reasons songs became hits. The ad agencies which had labored for NBC radio & TV show ''Your Hit Parade'' for 20 years refused to reveal the specific methods that were used to determine top hits, only stating generally that they were based on "readings of radio requests, sheet music sales, dance-hall favorites and jukebox tabulations".〔 Only a general statement that hit status was based on "readings of radio requests, sheet music sales, dance-hall favorites and jukebox tabulations"〕 Attempts to create a code to stop payola were met with lukewarm appreciation by publishers.〔 Prosecution for payola in the 1950s was in part a reaction of the traditional music establishment against newcomers. Hit radio was a threat to the wages of song-pluggers.〔 Radio hits also threatened old revenue streams; for example, by the middle of the 1940s, three-quarters of the records produced in the USA went into jukeboxes.〔 Still, in the 1950s, independent record companies or music publishers frequently used payola to promote rock and roll on American radio; it promoted cultural diversity and disc jockeys were less inclined to indulge their own personal and racial biases. Alan Freed, a disc jockey and early supporter of rock and roll (and also widely credited for actually coining the term), had his career and reputation greatly harmed by a payola scandal. Dick Clark's early career was nearly derailed by a payola scandal, but he avoided trouble by selling his stake in a record company and cooperating with authorities.〔"The Jordan brothers: A Musical Biography of Rock's Fortunate Sons", by Maxim W. Furek. Kimberley Press, 1986.〕 Attempts were made to link all payola with rock and roll music.〔 "Even now after the payola scandals and the attempt to link all payola with rock and roll recordings, the music with a beat still dominates over 60 percent of The Billboard's Hot 100 chart. This isn't to say that rock and roll isn't fading, or actually evolving into pop music, but .... "〕 The amount of money involved is largely unpublished; however, one DJ, Phil Lind of WAIT (AM) in Chicago, disclosed in Congressional hearings that he had taken $22,000 to play a record.〔Richard Campbell et al, Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, 2004〕 Payola ''to DJs'' is less of a concern today, as they are rarely involved in choosing the songs. Modern radio is widely based on company-delivered playlists, often scheduling every song, commercial break, and DJ talk time, and most shows are pre-recorded well in advance of their broadcast. Especially with shows that are voicetracked from elsewhere where an off-air assistant may choose the playlists rather than the DJ themselves, local radio staff have little to no input on a playlist outside of special but rare segments where a local artist might be spotlighted, or contests where local artists are offered the opportunity to open a concert or music festival for more well-known acts. ===Congressional payola investigations=== The Congressional Payola Investigations occurred in 1959, after the United States Senate began investigating the Payola Scandal. Among those thought to have been involved were DJ Alan Freed and television personality and host Dick Clark.〔 The term Congressional Payola Investigations refers to investigations by the House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight into payola, the practice of record promoters paying DJs or radio programmers to play their labels' songs. Payola can refer to monetary rewards or other types of reimbursement, and is a tool record labels use to promote certain artists. Other forms of payola include making arrangements to purchase certain amounts of advertising in exchange for staying on a station's playlist, forcing bands to play station-sponsored concerts for little or no money in order to stay in a station's good graces, and paying for stations to hold "meet the band" contests, in exchange for air time for one of the label's newer, lesser-known bands. The first major payola investigation occurred in the early 1960s. Nationally renowned DJ Alan Freed, who was uncooperative in committee hearings, was fired as a result. Dick Clark also testified before the committee, but survived, partially due to the fact that he had previously divested himself of ownership interest in all of his music-industry holdings. After the initial investigation, radio DJs were stripped of the authority to make programming decisions, and payola became a misdemeanor offense. Programming decisions became the responsibility of station program directors. As a result, the process of persuading stations to play certain songs was simplified. Instead of reaching numerous DJs, record labels only had to connect with one station program director. Labels turned to independent promoters to circumvent allegations of payola. This practice grew more and more widespread until a 1986 NBC News investigation called "The New Payola" instigated another round of Congressional investigations. With the creation of Napster and other now illegal music sharing websites, the power of the independent promoters began to decline. Labels once more began dealing with stations directly. In 2002, investigations by the office of then- New York District Attorney Eliot Spitzer uncovered evidence that executives at Sony BMG music labels had made deals with several large commercial radio chains. In July 2005, the company acknowledged their improper promotional practices and agreed to pay a $10 million fine. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Payola」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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