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Glite Dictionary
payola

payola

4 9.9
Money paid to radio or TV people so they play songs to make them popular
  • noun
  • /peɪˈoʊlə/
  • Literature
: payola
  • So payola was when you used to pay radio stations to play records.
  • payola scandal
  • payola charges

I mean, there's all kinds of laws on the books about what people could like the payola scandal.

Examples

  • The report uncovered widespread payola practices among major record labels and radio stations.

  • And a payola operation... stretching back eleven years.

    Dreamgirls (2006)

  • So that started coming out that these record companies had a budget and they called it the payola scam, meaning they paid.

  • It was during the music payola scandal...

    Fiction book (2002)

  • With any creative industry, there's going to be the equivalent of the Payola scandal.

    Blog text (12)

  • Kickbacks, payola, and incentives to do business are a sign that you or your product can't sell on its own.

    Blog text (34)

  • Many artists have complained about payola because it gives unfair advantages to certain songs on the charts.

  • During the investigation, several DJs were accused of accepting payola to boost specific albums' airplay.

Synonyms

kickback
vspayola
28 8.3

An illegal payment that someone gives to get a contract or official job

is about paying media figures to affect recording popularity
payoff
vspayola
18 5.0

Money given secretly to influence someone in power

is specific to payments to broadcasters to boost recording popularity

Antonyms

transparency
139 3.7

Being clear so people can see or understand how something works

legitimacy
49 4.6

A state in which something is allowed by law or official rules

Surface Forms

payola singular
payolas plural

Morphology

payola = pay (semi-transparent) = pay + ola

The base 'pay' signals money, but the suffix '-ola' is a slang/formative that does not itself specify the precise illegal-bribery sense, so the full meaning is only partly predictable.

Etymology

The word payola comes from the simple word pay plus a slang ending -ola that American English used to make catchy new words in the 1940s and 1950s. It was first used for 'secret payments' to radio DJs to get songs played, so payola now means secretly paying radio people to make a record more popular.