Sony BMG, yesterday admitted to participating in Payola schemes and agreed to a 10 million dollar settlement. Payola, in case you don’t know is when record labels pay radio stations to play their artists songs on the radio, regardless of their qualty or if the song is even popular. This settlement is a good thing for music fans because it could be the start of a revolution in what we hear on the radio everyday. I don’t know about you but me personally I can’t even listen to the radio anymore…all the shit they play nowadas is straight garbage. Walk wth me for a minute and let’s take a look at Hot97′s playlist as it stands right now:

1.     Dear Summer      Jay Z      Rocafella     
2.     Pon De Replay      Rihanna     Rocafella/ Def Jam    
3.     We Belong Together     Mariah Carey     Def Jam    
4.     So Seductive     Tony Yayo f/ 50 Cent     Shady/ Aftermath/ G Unit    
5.     Let Me Hold You     Bow Wow f/ Omarion     Sony    
6.     Dreams     The Game     Shady/ Aftermath/ G Unit    
7.     Diamonds (rmx)     Kanye West f/ Jay Z     Rocafella    
8.     Welcome To Jamrock     Damian ÒJr GongÓ Marley     Tuff Gong/ Ghetto Youths    
9.     Make Her Feel Good     Teairra Mari     Rocafella    
10.   Pimpin’ All Over The World     Ludacris f/ Bobby Valentino     DTP/ Def Jam

Notice anything? Of the top 10 songs, 9 of ‘em are backed by major labels. As a matter of fact, 8 of the 9 songs are backed by two of the same major labels, Shady Aftermath and Rocafella. Now both of these labels fall under the Interscope umbrella and unless you live under a rock you”ll know that Interscope is the largest, richest and most powerful label in hip hop. So knowing that, do you think it’s a coincidence that these are the 10 most played songs? Fuck No. Sony is just the first in a list of Record companies that are being targeted by NY Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, and the same result will probably ome in each case. Everybody in the industry knows this shit goes on and has been going on for years, its just nobody ever gave a fuck cuz everybody was winning from the deal. Everybody except us, the poor motherfuckers who have to listen to So Seductive 17 times a day.

Posted by eskay on Tuesday, July 26th, 2005 at 9:45 pm under:
News