Pay for play (still alive and well)

ABC News is reporting that hundreds of radio stations are being investigated by the FCC for payola. ("The illegal practice of record companies paying money for the broadcast of records on music radio is called payola, if the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast.")

"We have people in suits coming in with documents rather than cash payments under the table to a DJ," [New York Attorney General Eliot] Spitzer told ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross.

And who are the artists being plugged?

The usual suspects: Jennifer Lopez, John Mayer, Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, R.E.M., Maroon 5, Good Charlotte, Switchfoot, and Michelle Branch.
[Okay, I admit to only knowing the first five.]