Enforcement Bureau Warns Radio Broadcasters on Payola
FCC rules against payola bar radio broadcasters from receiving payment for more favorable airplay, even in the form of reduced fees for live performances at station-run concerts, warned the FCC Enforcement Bureau in an advisory Thursday. “Some radio stations appear…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
to be violating the FCC's prohibition on Payola by surreptitiously forcing musicians to choose between (1) performing for free (or for reduced fees) at station events or (2) losing out on valuable radio airplay,” said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in a post on X. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent a letter to Carr last week asking the FCC to look into the practice (see 2502040062). The advisory said the agency will hold stations that report to record-charting services -- and are thus more susceptible to payola -- to a higher standard on policing the activities of employees than it would a station with an all-news format. If the licensee of such a reporting station “does nothing more than require its employees to execute affidavits stating that they will not violate laws and regulations prohibiting payola,” that could fall short of the “reasonable diligence” the agency requires, the advisory said. Payola is also against the U.S. criminal code, so violating the rules “can subject the violator to criminal penalties of a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to one year, or both.” The FCC “notes that licensees play a critical role in preventing payola, and the Commission’s enforcement staff will consider investigating substantive allegations of payola that come to its attention.”