Two guys I know who were both DJs at a Clear Channel station here in San Diego (one is still there, the other is at another station) have both told me that there is definitely payola in the radio industry. They said that many times the station was given "priveleges" or "special treatment" for playing certain songs. That's just wrong.

I also agree with Tony regarding how the stations are programmed. You call up a station and request a song and they tell you they can't play it because it's not in their current playlist. Yet they'll play some new song once an hour. I even faxed in my requests once during the "all request lunch", and they pick one person's choices to play during the hour and win a prize. Well, they picked mine, and when the DJ called me back, they asked if I could choose a different Oingo Boingo song because mine wasn't "popular" enough. They also told me they wouldn't play another band I requested because they weren't "popular" enough.

And people wonder why I don't listen to radio anymore.