Petteri Pyyny
23 Oct 2004 15:50
Famous for his notorious clashes against the biggest names in the business world, including the major insurance companies, financial institutions and mafia, New York's Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, is now targeting against the major record labels (that were previously known as "Big Five", but since BMG's and Sony's merger, just "Big Four"..).
Mr, Spitzer has served subpoenas to EMI, Sony BMG, Warner Music and Universal Music, asking them to hand over all contracts, invoices and documents that relate to the question behind the subpoenas: how do songs make their way to radio stations' playlists.
As getting airtime on radio stations is crucial for new artists and their songs, Spitzer's aim is to find out whether major record labels pay their artists' way to the stations' playlists. According to The New York Times, most labels circumvent legislation that prevents them to pay for radio stations, by employing third party promoters who pay fees for stations. Labels claim that promoters only pay the fees to get advance copies of their upcoming playlists, not for getting stations to play certain songs.
Source: BBC