Payola The term has come to refer to any secret payment made to cast a product in a positive light (such as obtaining positive reviews). Under US law, a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, but this must be disclosed on the air as being sponsored airtime, and that play of the song should not be counted as a “regular airplay.” The term gets its name as a take-off of the names of some early record-playing machines, such as Victrola or Rockola
Home / Questions / In the American music industry, what is the term given to the illegal practice of payment by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day’s broadcast?