For some reason we cannot get ride of payola

Over the last couple years people have been whispering about payola in the record industry. They have been talking about getting around the rules with independent music promoters. This way the money goes through other people's hands.

It seems that old fashion payola is still going on. Gifts and money still buy spots on playlists. I guess this should not surprise me. There is too much upside for corruption not to creep in. Having a hit single is still worth a lot of money.

I have read a lot about the long tail. I am not sure what theory would say about payola. Stores can have a lot more songs, but there are still a limited number of ways to get in front of audiences. Someone will always be able to cash in on delivering the audience.

All of this makes me sad. I want music directors and radio programmers to pick the songs that will get the best audience. I want them to pick the songs that will make them money because people want to listen to them. Anything else is cheating. Even if I do not like the songs the rest of the public wants to hear. I still want it to be picked for reasons other then the promoter has a lot of money.