Major Broadcasters Settle Payola Probe With $12.5M And Promises to Indies

Four major radio broadcast groups have apparently agreed to pay $12.5 million in fines and provide 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for indie music to settle an FCC probe of recent payola charges.  The national probe was triggered by an investigation last year from the NY State Attorney General’s office. Sources named Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Entercomm, and Citadel Broadcasting are all in the final stages of agreeing to the settlement.

Indie label trade group The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) received the commitment from the four broadcasters for free airtime. In addition to the shows aimed at non-major label product, the broadcasters and indie labels also apparently negotiated  "rules of engagement" that will guide how label representatives and radio programmers interact.

No details of the pact or guarantees that the shows would be run in desirable time slots have been revealed thus far.