payola
noun
pay·o·la
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Definition of payola
: undercover or indirect payment (as to a disc jockey) for a commercial favor (as for promoting a particular recording)
Examples of payola in a Sentence
These radio disc jockeys accepted payola to play particular songs.
payola in the music industry
Recent Examples on the Web
Even trash disposal hasn’t escaped political payola. — Jane Ferguson, The New Yorker, "Why Lebanon’s People Are Turning on Their Politicians," 12 July 2019 If $13 billion a year in payola can’t appease Quebec, the cause is probably beyond salvaging. — Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, "Green Politics and Global Instability," 22 Jan. 2019 When embarrassing information or legal threats don’t work, people with power and financial means often turn to old-fashioned payola. — Ben Widdicombe, Town & Country, "How Much Does It Cost to Keep Your Name Out of the News?," 18 Jan. 2019 Let’s spend a moment on the payola theory, just for fun. — Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, "Netflix Invests in Obama’s Celebrity," 25 May 2018 Sure, the Los Angeles Times and other papers can still pull off exposes such as the freeloading scandal in Bell or the payola bonanza involving the developer of a Harbor Gateway project. — Steve Lopez, latimes.com, "The staggering body count as California newspapers founder, and democracy loses," 14 Apr. 2018 Still alive are such other Karma Bracket payola scandal mentions as long-time NBA G League programs, Kentucky and Duke. — Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, "Mad, Mad March: Retrievers and other underdogs have their day -- Bill Livingston," 19 Mar. 2018 Combined with the fact that the station was often out of control because of the alcohol and drugs that record companies supplied as an untraceable form of payola, Varelas, by now 19, decided to leave for a gig at KONO. — Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express-News, "Low-power San Antonio radio station KCJV keeps rare 45s from fading away," 15 Dec. 2017 Not just by the payola thing, but by his need for attention. — Jacob Bernstein, New York Times, "Production of a Lifetime: Whitney Houston and Clive Davis," 30 Sep. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'payola.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for payola
payola
noun
English Language Learners Definition of payola
chiefly US, informal
: money that is paid to someone for illegally helping to sell or advertise a product
: the illegal practice of giving or receiving payola
See the full definition for payola in the English Language Learners Dictionary
payola
noun
pay·o·la
| \ pā-ˈō-lə
\
\
Legal Definition of payola
: a secret or indirect payment (as to a disc jockey) for a commercial favor (as for promoting a particular record)