Matilda Jakovac
mj244121@ohio.edu
"Sympathy and Payola"
In 2018, during an ongoing feud between female rappers, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, Minaj stated on her radio show that Cardi B's claim to fame was "sympathy and payola." According to NewsWeek, the term payola quickly became a trending topic with more than 23,000 mentions on Twitter.
So what exactly is payola? According to Dictionary.com, payola is a secret or private payment in return for the promotion of a product, service, etc., through the abuse of one's position, influence, of facilities.
In other words, Nicki was claiming that Cardi's publicity team was paying to have the artist's music and image promoted.
.jpeg) |
| Photo courtesy of BBC |
Payola throughout the decades
If you're shocked at the idea that an artist could pay their way to the top of the music charts, you'll be disheartened to know that this isn't the first-time this kind of thing has happened.
As a matter of fact, payola has been in the music industry for quite some time and was made illegal in the U.S in 1960.
According to MusicThinkTank, "the first evidence of payola can be traced back to W.M Hutchinson, a rising song publisher, could not get famous singers of the time to sing his songs since the singers were so busy with other publishing companies. W.M. decided he would pay them some money to sing his song, plus the royalties."
Since then, stories of money being exchanged to promote musicians or help maintain their images in the eye of the public, have circulated throughout the music industry for decades.
The impact on music journalism
From a journalist perspective, payola is an issue for several reasons. The biggest problem is that it poses a threat to the integrity of the field of journalism.
According to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, "journalists should refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality or may damage credibility."
The Radio Television News Association Code of Ethics takes a similar stance by stating that "commercial endorsements are incompatible with journalism because they compromise credibility. In journalism, content is gathered, selected, and produced in the best interests of viewers, listeners and reader- not in the interests of somebody who paid to have a product or position promoted and associated with a familiar face, voice or name."
With that being said, it's clear that there's no room for payola in music journalism or in any other field of journalism for that matter. At a time when anyone can publish a story on the internet and call themselves a journalist, it's more important than ever that true journalists act independently... even if that means turning down a couple extra bucks in exchange for an artist's promotion.
Matilda, I like your blog this week. It was intersting to read about Payola. I never knew this was the term for what is described. I agree with you that it is a threat. Being paid to give good ratings is never a ethical thing to do and it should be avoided at all cost as a journalist.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe many people think that the music industry is in any way ethical; however, many young fans do believe that their favorite artists rise from impoverished backgrounds and earn their god-like status from producing quality work. The reality is that record companies push their chosen favorites on radio stations through the illegal practice of payola. Illegal yes, but a major factor for any artist's radio success.
ReplyDeleteI have never even heard of the term "payola" so this concept in general is interesting to me. I feel like I see all the time articles hyping up artists or hear about them on radio. It makes me wonder if music journalism has a lot of unethical publications by accepting gifts, fees, etc in exchange for positive press. It also makes me wonder, especially looking at Cardi B and Nicki Minajs background has some fabrications in order to create the brand of starting from the bottom, although from my investigations on Cardi B a lot on her background is accurate, but still raises the question about any musician. So honestly, I feel like a lot of the press in the music industry is unethical.
ReplyDelete