New York's chief law officer has subpoenaed many of America's largest radio conglomerates in his "payola" investigation of major artists and songs, reported to include Jennifer Lopez, REM and Glasgow band Franz Ferdinand.
State attorney general Eliot Spitzer claims some of the songs may have been given air time because of pay-offs by recording companies. He would not identify the major radio companies that have been subpoenaed or the artists and songs that he claims benefited from the pay-for-play practice for cash, trips and gifts.
"Probably many of the songs that were beneficiaries of the payola scheme would have succeeded without it, but certainly payola became part of the promotional structure and was integral to the game to get songs to the top," Mr Spitzer told the Associated Press.
He said the victims of payola were listeners who did not hear music based on objective criteria, including popularity, and artists who cannot get their big break because they had no player in the payola scheme.
Mr Spitzer is investigating the nine largest radio corporations in a scheme that involved Jennifer Lopez's I'm Real record and John Mayer's song Daughters, according to court documents filed by Mr Spitzer's office.