Gazette, The (Colorado Springs): Stations apparently targeted by payola scheme

The electronic paper trail that pressured music giant Sony BMG into a $10 million civil settlement over a payola scandal includes evidence that at least one Colorado Springs radio station was offered pay-for-play incentives.

Another local station may have been the target of orchestrated requests for songs by the record company.

No criminal charges have been filed, but the Federal Communications Commission commissioner has called for an inquiry, which could lead to revocation of radio licenses if claims of illegal payments are substantiated.

E-mails, Blackberry messages and other documents released Monday by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer suggest KKMG (98.9 FM) was offered a free promotional trip to give away to listeners in exchange for playing Celine Dion's "I Drove All Night" during daytime hours. The e-mails were dated from January 2003.

The trip included two round-trip plane tickets to Las Vegas, a two-night hotel stay and tickets to Dion's performance at Caesars Palace.

A long list of radio stations were offered the promotional giveaway and a chance at a grand prize of lunch and blackjack with Dion. In exchange, stations were directed to play the recording three times a day during regular listening hours.

"OK, here it is in black & white and it's serious," one internal Sony e-mail said. "If a radio station got a flyaway to a Celine show in Las Vegas for the add, and they're playing the song all in overnights, they are not getting the flyaway. Please fix the overnight rotations immediately."

The "add" apparently meant an addition to the playlist.

Another e-mail lists how many times stations, including KKMG, had played the song during the previous week.

The Gazette was not able to confirm whether KKMG accepted a Dion junket. Asked about the promotion, Brenda Goodrich, general manager for local Citadel Broadcasting Corporation stations (including KKMG, also known as Magic FM), said, "I don't deal with those specifically."

Goodrich acknowledged that the station does accept promotional giveaways from labels, but she said it fully discloses the sources of those gifts on air and does not allow them to influence playlists.

"I know the integrity of this station," she said, "and I know that we don't make decisions on what music we play on Magic based on any sort of trips."

Goodrich said record companies provide the giveaways because it helps promote their artists.

"It's an exposure for them, too," she said of the labels. "Think about it. For a record company to give away a trip to Las Vegas to a listener to go see Celine Dion, you know what happens is that the jocks will talk, you know. You promote the trip, and you do that and that's just more exposure for the artist."

The documents released by the New York attorney general's office indicated that local rock station KILO (94.3 FM) was a target of a different kind of influence.

An e-mail from an associate at Epic Records, a Sony BMG label, indicated the label's employees should make an organized effort to call targeted stations, including KILO, and request songs from the label's artists.

"Here's the list of stations I'd like your team to start to hit with phones over the next week," the e-mail dated Dec. 13, 2002, read. "As we discussed, please be sure all callers are male, preferably under 25 (or sounding like it!), and that the bulk of the calls are made between 6 p.m. and midnight."

The e-mail listed KILO among 14 stations to be targeted by the campaign.

KILO general manager Lou Mellini said the calls would have had no effect on the station's playlist. Mellini said a committee of KILO employees makes the decisions on who gets airtime on the station, and they use weekly sales lists from Independent Records to help them make their decisions. The programming is set long before it airs, making requests futile.

"I don't care if you have 7,000 calls in one night about a song," he said. "We're not gonna play it."

The FCC is responsible for regulating communication and may investigate the scandal. The FCC commissioner, Jonathan Adelstein, is calling for an inquiry and possible revocation of radio licenses if illegal payments are confirmed, the Los Angeles Times reported. FCC officials could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Federal law requires that employees of broadcast stations, program producers, program suppliers and others who have accepted or agreed to receive payments, services or other valuable consideration for airing material must disclose this fact to the broadcast licensee airing the material.

Sony BMG's civil-case settlement, which included giving the $10 million to New York nonprofits for music education and appreciation programs, won't restrict the company from giving gifts to radio stations. Sony BMG may pay for listener giveaways and give station employees modest personal gifts, concert tickets and meals costing as much as $150 per person.

KKMG and KILO may have been targeted by the record label because they have traditionally been among the highest-rated stations in Colorado Springs; they have scored particularly high among the younger demographics most often sought by record companies.