It has been all over the news this past week. Elliot Spitzer, currently New York State’s top cop and vying for the governors chair for the next election (a spot that will be vacated by Pataki), settled a deal with Sony/BMG for $10 Million in a massive payola uncovering. Many in the industry knew this was going on, time and time again artists music has been marginalized by the industry. But now this case of payola is about taking it to the next level, and against the radio stations, controlled mostly by Clear Channel, Radio One, and only a couple of other big names, and putting the final nail in the homogenization of public radio.The stage is set, Spitzer has handed crucial records over to the FCC. For 15+ years radio has been eaten up by the big radio conglomerates and force fed play lists, and now it has been proven that those play lists were tainted by promises of money, music tickets, equipment, hell the sky is the limit to the lengths that record companies went to get heave rotation of the best and worst artists.

Clear Channel has now been subpoenaed by Spitzer and one can only imagine what will be dug up (that is if there hasn’t been any evidence destroying). With the pressure that Spitzer is placing on radio and record companies, this could result in the breakup of radio as we know it. Once again real radio with real program directors could step to the stage and program their play lists without the payoffs. If not, more and more people will flock to digital radio (XM, Sirius) and abandon AM and FM.