The word payola refers to the illicit practice of paying a DJ or a radio director by a publishing company (ASCAP, BMI, SIAE etc.) or record labels in the music business world in exchange for the airing of the songs they produce.
The name derives from the union of English words "pay" and, alternatively, "pianola" (a name for a electric piano) or "victrola" (a famous brand of sound reproduction, RCA Victor).
This practice, which has always been in use since the birth of commercial radio, was not considered illegal until 1960, when US DJ Alan Freed was indicted, starting with an ASCAP legal transaction, for accepting $ 2,500 from BMI , a sum that, according to disc jockey statements, meant to be a reward of gratitude and that it would not have minimal influence on programming. Freed paid the bail but the scandal destroyed as much his career as that of many other rock & roll.
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