New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has accused US media regulator the FCC of "sneaking behind his back" and "undermining" his investigation into payola in American music radio.
It is not the first time Spitzer has criticised the FCC for their response to the incidents of 'pay-for-play' activity that the AG's office have seemingly uncovered. As previously reported, while the media regulator initially made some hard line statements about payola, they have been seemingly slow to react to the evidence Spitzer has unearthed regarding the acceptance of bribes by radio station executives in return for playlisting specific tracks. Now Spitzer has told the Associated Press that he has learned that the FCC is negotiating fines and 'behavioural changes' with the four major US radio groups which are, in his opinion, completely inadequate. He says the FCC initially planned to fine those radio groups guilty of payola $1.5 million - $3 million, but following lobbying from those radio companies the actual fines are likely to be closer to $1 million. Spitzer hopes to fine the guilty companies $20 million.
Regarding the FCC's demands of the radio groups, Spitzer told the AP that "the reach of what they're requiring them to forgo is inadequate", adding their response to the payola issue amounts to a "substantial evisceration of the negotiations we're involved in".
Spitzer reached settlements with SonyBMG and Warner Music worth $10 million and $5 million respectively for their participation in payola activities - his negotiations with Universal Music and EMI are said to be ongoing. Meanwhile radio company Entercom are preparing to fight Spitzer through the courts, claiming that the activity which Spitzer claims amounted to payola was actually allowed by US broadcasting rules.