Essay On Payola Scandal

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The Payola Scandal, the scandal that uncovered the corruption of the underlying bribery by large music corporation to radio disc jockeys. Payola was the trade between disc jockeys and large music producers of payments for air time on the radio. The music industry in the late 1950s was an expanding industry that was taking America by storm until the payola scandal left American feeling betrayed by the disc jockeys on the radio. After a rather large and influential investigation done by the Federal Communications Commission, payola was not only found in the radio industry but also in popular game shows on television. The investigation led to many favored disc jockeys being charged with many counts of commercial bribery and given a vast amount of fines. After finishing the investigation the country was shocked to find out…show more content…
He made was known for his broadcasting in rhythm and blues and collected a wide audience of white and african american teenagers. He then worked more with early rock and roll and continued to rise in popularity. He was abusive where as Dick Clark, another disc jockey who seemed to be deeply involved, was clean and polite. Dick Clark was never charged or penalized for being mixed in with the scandal. Whereas, Alan Freed was charged with 26 counts of commeritional bribery, was fired from WABC, was sentenced to one year in jail, and was fined $10,000. Alan Freed unfortunately passed away a short five year after the scandal. Alan freed may have been extra publisitized but there were 335 other disc jockeys from around the country who had accepted $263,000 in what they called consulting fees. Another disc jockey who was deep in the payola scandal was Phil Lind who was from chicago, he had accepted $22,000 for air time for one single record. Payola is a very controversial subject and has many in the industry have found methods of getting around the

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