Does 'Showola' Need More Scrutiny?

Taylor Swift

The iHeartRadio Music Festival was not much of a payday for the headliners, including Taylor Swift and One Direction, reports The Wall Street Journal.

That's because most artists are willing to perform for next to nothing. They choose to forgo a big paycheck in exchange for a media blitz, hoping that the radio giant that runs the festival, iHeartMedia Inc. known until last week as Clear Channel—will keep playing their songs on its 800-plus stations.

Nearly a decade after the major record companies settled charges that they violated federal payola laws—which forbid radio stations from playing songs in exchange for payment without disclosing the arrangement on the airwaves—another, legal method has largely replaced yesterday's pay-for-airplay schemes. One veteran promoter calls it "showola."

WKTU NYC's Cubby Bryant with Ariana Grande

Artists have long played for peanuts at radio stations' holiday shows and summer jams to promote their records. But these cut-rate appearances have now become the main currency that record labels and promoters use to convince radio programmers to play their songs. That is, in part, because they have little else of value to offer, as the music industry's promotion budgets have shriveled.

Maroon 5

In accordance with federal law, iHeartMedia doesn't promise artists or labels airplay in exchange for their appearances. But artists and record labels fear a drop in airtime if they don't agree to perform, managers and label executives say. Artist managers say that they can typically make excuses to get a client out of an obligation with a broadcaster or station once or twice, but declining a third time means risking the possibility that the broadcaster might "bury" the artist's next single in overnight airplay, one manager said.

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