2nd Music Settlement by Spitzer

[SOURCE: New York Times 11/23, AUTHOR: Jeff Leeds]
Warner Music Group, the nation's third-biggest record company, has reached a settlement with the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, to resolve accusations that it made payoffs to persuade radio programmers to play certain songs. Mr. Spitzer said that Warner executives had obtained play time for songs through "deceptive and illegal" practices, including making payoffs in the form of personal electronics and tickets to the Grammy Awards, the World Series and the Super Bowl. Warner executives also tried to land their artists on playlists by paying for a station's daily operations, Mr. Spitzer said. He cited examples of the record company's covering the cost of painting a station logo on a promotional vehicle, the production of a station "jingle," and the costs of hiring a voiceover talent. Warner, which counts acts like Green Day and Twista on its artist roster, also provided an array of "promotional" items for use in listener contests and giveaways, a practice company executives described as "an industry standard." Spitzer criticized the Federal Communications Commission, which he said had displayed a "disappointing" lack of action in dealing with the radio broadcasters under its jurisdiction since the New York inquiry became public. The agency announced shortly after Mr. Spitzer's first settlement that it would start its own inquiry. Despite e-mail messages and other evidence that appear to point to widespread violations of the federal law, Mr. Spitzer said broadcasters did not seem worried about the prospect that the FCC could impose its toughest penalty, revoking a station's license. "Because the notion of license revocation is so clearly discounted, nobody is terribly concerned about the consequences of the FCC's involvement," Mr. Spitzer said. "That's too bad, because what's at stake here is the airwaves. Why the FCC is not responding is a little mysterious to me." FCC Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein has pressed for deeper involvement, saying the agency "needs to act on this evidence and conclude as soon as possible" its own inquiry. Commissioner Adelstein said the practices Mr. Spitzer illuminated appeared to reflect "the most widespread and systematic abuse of FCC rules in the history of American broadcasting." An FCC spokesman declined to comment on the status of the investigation, but said "three months is not a long period for investigations."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/23/business/media/23payola.html
(requires registration)

* Statement from FCC Commissioner Adelstein:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-262338A1.doc

* Warner Payola: Be Warned
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] Here's some free advice for big media companies: Don't routinely break the rules in your search for ever bigger profits.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6286827?display=Opinion&refer...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)