Broadcaster settles payola suit for 4.25 million

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Entercom Communications Corp., one the nation's largest broadcasters, will pay 4.25 million to end Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation of gifts -- or "payola" -- given by record companies in exchange for air play, Spitzer said Wednesday.
A lawsuit filed by Spitzer's office in March claimed Entercom solicited payments from record labels and traded air time for promotional items, personal trips and other gifts.
Spitzer, the governor-elect, also charged that Entercom took payments from record labels to play their songs on the overnight programs "CD Preview" and "CD Challenge" in order to manipulate the music charts.
The attorney general's investigation focused on Entercom's activities from 1999 to 2006, spokesman Brad Maione said.
Payola is the term coined in the 1950s when early rock music was hit with scandal. It is a combination of the words "pay" and "Victrola," the old wind-up record player.
Entercom, based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., will make a 3.5 million payment to fund music education and appreciation programs and pay 750,000 in costs to the state, Spitzer's office said. Entercom owns and operates 105 radio stations nationwide.
Spitzer's payola investigation has so far led to settlements with the four major record companies -- SonyBMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp., UMG Recording Inc. and EMI Music North America -- and CBS Radio Inc.
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