# Why is payola illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512 "2006-04-20T19:17:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/21 "2006-04-21T13:04:23Z")
Interesting. Is this in any way related to the [Internet Neutrality](http://www.aarp.org/research/press-center/presscurrentnews/internet_neutrality.html) issue, whereby network providers could give preferential treatment to some sites and attempt to “slow down” connections to others? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/22 "2006-04-21T13:11:13Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > If I don’t like Britney Spears Whoa! Whadaya mean, “if”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/23 "2006-04-21T13:49:57Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > So I went down to the barbershop and bribed the barber to cut my hair, and then I picked up my car from the mechanic, who I bribed to fix it. Then I headed off to work, where my boss bribed me $11/hr to work the rest of the day. False analogy. It’s one thing to pay for a service (as you indicate); it’s another to pay someone to give you favorable treatment. It’s unfair to both your customers and to smaller companies if your store chooses goods not because of quality, but because someone gave them a kickback to feature it. I’ll admit that our society considers come bribery more socially acceptable than other forms. But that doesn’t excuse preferential treatment on the basis of how much money you can pony up. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/24 "2006-04-21T14:00:29Z")
[NPR story I heard about payola last night.](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5353808) ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/25 "2006-04-21T14:35:14Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Whoa! Whadaya mean, “if”? > > 😃 Of course I don’t like Britney Spears. I, unlike most of America, have _good_ taste in music. Robin ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/26 "2006-04-21T14:40:16Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > False analogy. It’s one thing to pay for a service (as you indicate); it’s another to pay someone to give you favorable treatment. It’s unfair to both your customers and to smaller companies if your store chooses goods not because of quality, but because someone gave them a kickback to feature it. > > I’ll admit that our society considers come bribery more socially acceptable than other forms. But that doesn’t excuse preferential treatment on the basis of how much money you can pony up. I don’t really see your point here. Ever where people pay more for better service and it is not thought of a bribery. If I fly business class I get better treatment that if I fly economy. Bribary in my mind has to be more than just paying for a service. There has to be an underhandedness to it. Like paying someone not in normal chain. If I am working for a super market and I personally accept money to stock an item that is bribery. If I am working for a super market and I choose an item because the seller will pay my company a marketing fee it is not bribary just lower cost goods. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/27 "2006-04-21T15:31:13Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Payola leads to crappy music being foisted on the public. _American Idol_ leads to crappy music being foisted on the public, but no one wants to make AI illegal. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/28 "2006-04-21T16:02:46Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > _American Idol_ leads to crappy music being foisted on the public, but no one wants to make AI illegal. Hey **Otto** man, you may be on to somethin’ here! Where do we sign up? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/29 "2006-04-21T19:24:37Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > _American Idol_ leads to crappy music being foisted on the public, but no one wants to make AI illegal. I don’t need it to be illegal; I just want it to _hurt_ some. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/30 "2006-04-21T21:46:31Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I don’t need it to be illegal; I just want it to _hurt_ some. Well it _ **killin’** _ me. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512/31 "2006-04-22T13:04:09Z")
Those of us who saw Paul Simon’s induction at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tremember that he ENDORSED payola in his acceptance speech. He said he owed his career to Alan Freed, who told him and Art Garfunkel (they were calling themselves Tom & Jerry at the time) that he liked their song “Hey Schoolgirl” and would put it in heavy rotation on his radio show for a fee. They paid him the fee, Freed kept his word, and “Hey Schoolgirl” became Simon & Garfunkel’s first hit. Simon added wistfully, “I wish it was STILL that way.” Payola is illegal, and the people who engage in it are aware that it’s illegal, so they deserve whatever punishment they get if they’re caught. But on a moral; level, I just can’t get outraged about it. Big acts and acts on major record labels don’t HAVE to resort to payola. It’s small, struggling unknown acts or acts on small labels that have to resort to desperate measures to get some exposure and some radio airplay. Now, even a corrupt DJ like Alan Freed was no fool. If Simon & Garfunkel had no talent and their record was awful, he’d have been crazy to play their record at ANY price. Even corrupt disc jockeys generally took money to play records they genuinely believed were good. Did Freed extort money from Chuck Berry to play “Maybelline” on the air? Sure- but Freed knew how good “Maybelline” was and how popular it could be. He wouldn’t have played a record by astorian for a million bucks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-payola-illegal/353512.md?page=1)