payola
bribe
Learn about this topic in these articles:
association with disc jockey
- In disc jockey
…or gifts (commonly known as payola). This widespread practice of commercial bribery was given national exposure by a federal investigation in 1959. As a result, payola faded for a while, but in the mid-1980s new exposés revealed that the practice continued to exist in many quarters.
Read More
history of radio broadcasting
- In radio: The rise of Top 40 radio
The radio “payola” scandal of the late 1950s (in which deejays and others took bribes to tout certain records) saw many lose their jobs; the practice went underground, to reappear several times in subsequent years.
Read More