Universal Music Settles Payola Probe

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Universal Music Group Recordings Inc. has agreed to pay $12 million to settle a payola case that claimed the company provided vacations, electronics and other bribes to increase radio play for their artists, according to a statement from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.


The bribes and gifts reportedly were used to gain airplay for songs that included records by Nick Lachey, Ashlee Simpson, Brian McKnight, Big Tymers, and Lindsay Lohan, Spitzer said in papers filed in state Supreme Court with the settlement. The company, which has corporate headquarters in Santa Monica and New York, agreed to pay the cash to charity along with $100,000 to cover the cost of the investigation and to adopt reforms.


The company didn’t admit guilt, but acknowledged “various employees and independent promoters acting on behalf of the company” engaged in the illegal practice, the filings said.


UMG, whose labels include Geffen A & M; Records and Island Def Jam Music Group, has a nearly 26 percent share of the world market.

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