I know it's not a big surprise that the Hollywood cartels pay off radio stations to get their Boy/Girl band of the moment into heavy rotation, but it is against the law.

From the NY Times:

The Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company, has agreed to pay $12 million to settle accusations that executives paid radio programmers to play songs, according to a settlement announced yesterday. It is the largest settlement yet in an investigation by the New York attorney general that has shaken the music business.

...

Last year, the authorities settled with Warner Music Group for $5 million and Sony BMG Music Entertainment for $10 million in similar arrangements. In March, Mr. Spitzer sued one of the nation's biggest radio broadcasters, Entercom Communications, accusing it of trading airplay for money, after settlement discussions faltered.

...

The documents say Universal twice paid for hotel accommodations in Miami for Donnie Michaels, then the program director of WFLY-FM in Albany, in exchange for his addition of songs by Brian McKnight and Nick Lachey to his station's playlist. In April 2004, Universal provided Mr. Michaels — by then a programmer at WHYI-FM in Miami — with a New York hotel room and New York Yankees tickets. The company booked the room under a false name and used a false Social Security number to conceal the transaction, the document states.

I'm sure the payola legilization act will be coming out of Congress any day now.