... because the consumers are dishonest. "Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced the second settlement in the music industry’s "pay-for-play" probe. Warner Music Group Corp., the third largest record company in the United States, has agreed to abandon the industry-wide practice of providing radio stations and their employees with financial incentives and promotional items in exchange for "airplay" for Warner’s recordings. [...] The financial benefits provided in exchange for airplay, also known as "payola," took several forms: • Direct bribes to radio programmers, including airfare, electronics, tickets to premier sporting events and concerts; • Payments to radio stations to cover operational expenses; • Radio contest giveaways for stations' listening audiences, including flyaways, concert tickets, iPods, gift certificates and gift cards; • Hiring independent promoters to act as conduits for illegal payments to radio stations; • Purchasing "spin programs" to artificially increase the airplay of particular recordings. The Assurance of Discontinuance summarizing the Attorney General's findings alleges that the illegal payoffs for airplay were designed to manipulate record charts, generate consumer interest in records and increase sales." -- http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2005/nov/nov22a_05.html In related news, RIAA president Cary Sherman congratulated Warner for its ethical behaviour in agreeing to stop bribing radio stations. -- Marcello Perathoner webmaster@gutenberg.org