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EMI has settled (Terms of Settlement PDF) with the state of New York over alleged radio pay-for-play violations, Billboard Radio Monitor reports. EMI will pay a $3.75 million fine (in the form of a charitable donation to New York State not-for-profit music education and appreciation programs) and agree to reform its radio promotion practices and have agreed to stop making payments and providing expensive gifts to radio stations and their employees in return for airplay.
EMI bribed radio station programmers with video games, vacations, airfare, hotel accommodations and tickets to concerts; picked up the tab for radio operational expenses and contest giveaways; engaged in fraudulent call-in campaigns to increase the airplay of particular songs; and used independent promoters–including Jeff McClusky, Bill McGathy and Michele Clark–to funnel illegal payments to radio stations (List of NY State Exhibits PDF).
The agreement comes a month after Spitzer’s office settled with Universal Music Group for $12 million. Spitzer cut similar deals last year with Sony BMG, which agreed to a $10 million settlement, and Warner Music Group, which settled for $5 million. Sources familiar with the situation say that the sizes of the settlements are based on market share. Spitzer has also filed a lawsuit against Entercom Communications Corp. for pay-for-play abuses.
Probes into the promotion practices of a number of radio conglomerates–including Clear Channel, Cox, Infinity, and Emmis–are ongoing.
All sectors of the media business will suffer from the weakened economy in 2008 and 2009, with a slump in local advertising particularly hurting newspapers and local TV, according to a new projection from Goldman Sachs.
Broadcast nets will experience…
The New York Times is shuttering its International Herald Tribune site; NYTimes.com will soon host the international news normally reserved for its sister website.
The move is not about cost savings, but rather about growth, NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller…
Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come…
Meet the Press, the show hosted by Tim Russert for 17 years before his death last June, is beginning to slip in ratings.
Last month, CBS’s Face the Nation pulled ahead of Meet the Press for the first time in two…
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.…
Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%, writes Retailer Daily.
Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:
Sales of food and…
