The Plan As the radio team begins to take shape, so too does the strategy. A prominent jean manufacturer has agreed to give away hundreds of jeans to radio stations who will use them for contests in exchange for your marquee artist appearing in their ads. This artist will appear at dozens of radio station events (all travel picked up by the label). There will be various subtle remixes of the single (the song that is pulled from the album to go to radio), so that stations can have the one that works best for them (again the label picks up the tab). A video will be made, in part to send directly to stations so that they may have a visual image of the song, but also because radio stations want to know, that should a record begin getting airplay, that a video will be available to be aired and thus drive even more demand for airplay (the label pays for a video). The label’s sales staff pushes as many records into the marketplace as possible in order to assure the radio stations that when they play the song their listeners will be able to find the record in stores (the cost of getting records into stores is huge, and, of course, the label pays for this). You , as president of the label, approve all of these expenses, and explain/justify them to your corporate parents. While the dollar figures are exponentially larger for this artist, these costs and this plan is not radically different from ones you’ve approved in the past. You feel like you are properly setting the record up. As the date to bring the record to radio and attempt to get the song “added” to the stations’ playlists approaches, you begin another of your scheduled conference calls with the rest of the radio team. This team is comprised of the members of your radio staff, who are employees of the label, as well as five or six consultants hired by the label who have relationships and expertise in the radio format(s) which you are trying to reach. Right or Wrong? After dialing into the conference you realize that it is only you and the head consultant on the phone. The head consultant states that the radio campaign is at the make-or-break stage. That while some stations are reacting well to the sound of the song and the other promotional activity taking place, sufficient numbers of stations are not reacting strongly enough to cause the record to succeed in a major way; i.e. succeed in a manner that would result in airplay and thus sales that would recoup some of your investment, and allow the artist to succeed. You listen attentively, and ask what can be done. She states that certain stations need a push. A monetary push. Very quickly she gives you an address (no name), and tells you to send twenty-five American Express gift checks in $10,000 intervals to this address. As you don’t say anything, she continues. She tells you that these gift checks will be used to push those stations that are on the edge, over—so they will begin playing the record. She tells you that this is done all the time, and that because they’re AmEx gift checks, they’re untraceable. You tell her that you’ll get back to her and hang up the phone. You are now faced with a decision. You know that payola (the act of paying for a song to be played on the radio) is illegal. You also know that not only have your corporate parents mandated that this record be a success, but that many of your employees have mortgages and kids, and that the success or failure of this record will determine whether or not you will be able to continue paying them. Last, but not least, you’ve promised the artist that you would do all that you could to make the record a success, and thus revitalize her career. Making the record a success is certainly contingent upon the song being played on the radio. What are your ethical obligations in this situation? What do you do?

The Plan

As the radio team begins to take shape, so too does the strategy.  A prominent jean manufacturer has agreed to give away hundreds of jeans to radio stations who will use them for contests in exchange for your marquee artist appearing in their ads.  This artist will appear at dozens of radio station events (all travel picked up by the label).  There will be various subtle remixes of the single (the song that is pulled from the album to go to radio), so that stations can have the one that works best for them (again the label picks up the tab).

A video will be made, in part to send directly to stations so that they may have a visual image of the song, but also because radio stations want to know, that should a record begin getting airplay, that a video will be available to be aired and thus drive even more demand for airplay (the label pays for a video).  The label’s sales staff pushes as many records into the marketplace as possible in order to assure the radio stations that when they play the song their listeners will be able to find the record in stores (the cost of getting records into stores is huge, and, of course, the label pays for this).

You , as president of the label, approve all of these expenses, and explain/justify them to your corporate parents.  While the dollar figures are exponentially larger for this artist, these costs and this plan is not radically different from ones you’ve approved in the past.  You feel like you are properly setting the record up.

As the date to bring the record to radio and attempt to get the song “added” to the stations’ playlists approaches, you begin another of  your scheduled conference calls with the rest of the radio team.  This team is comprised of the members of your radio staff, who are employees of the label, as well as five or six consultants hired by the label who have relationships and expertise in the radio format(s) which you are trying to reach.

Right or Wrong?

After dialing into the conference you realize that it is only you and the head consultant on the phone.  The head consultant states that the radio campaign is at the make-or-break stage. That while some stations are reacting well to the sound of the song and the other promotional activity taking place, sufficient numbers of stations are not reacting strongly enough to cause the record to succeed in a major way; i.e. succeed in a manner that would result in airplay and thus sales that would recoup some of your investment, and allow the artist to succeed.

You listen attentively, and ask what can be done.  She states that certain stations need a push.  A monetary push.  Very quickly she gives you an address (no name), and tells you to send twenty-five American Express gift checks in $10,000 intervals to this address.  As you don’t say anything, she continues.  She tells you that these gift checks will be used to push those stations that are on the edge, over—so they will begin playing the record.  She tells you that this is done all the time, and that because they’re AmEx gift checks, they’re untraceable.  You tell her that you’ll get back to her and hang up the phone.

You are now faced with a decision.  You know that payola (the act of paying for a song to be played on the radio) is illegal.  You also know that not only have your corporate parents mandated that this record be a success, but that many of your employees have mortgages and kids, and that the success or failure of this record will determine whether or not you will be able to continue paying them.  Last, but not least, you’ve promised the artist that you would do all that you could to make the record a success, and thus revitalize her career.  Making the record a success is certainly contingent upon the song being played on the radio.

What are your ethical obligations in this situation? What do you do?