Montgomery and Moe showed that it would be efficient for labels to pay for airplay ( Montgomery & Moe, 2002 ). This is not surprising given the impact airplay can have on sales, at least in the old music industry ( Dertouzos, 2008 ). However, direct undisclosed payments to influence radio programming (called Payola, a combination of pay and Victrola) are prohibited by law. Hence, labels developed strategies to circumvent the law by using independent promoters or naming payments “consultant fees”. The bottom line is, there will always be efforts in whatever form to get exposure through a promotion channel if it could increase profits or benefit an artist's career. This principle prevails, as for instance in form of Last.fm’s Powerplay or Jango’s Airplay program, where artists can simply pay for plays. Or Blogola , where influential bloggers receive anything from free products, to tickets and money in return for featuring a specific artist on their...
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