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payola

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pay⋅o⋅la

  [pey-oh-luh]
Use payola in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
a secret or private payment in return for the promotion of a product, service, etc., through the abuse of one's position, influence, or facilities.
Origin:
1935–40, Americanism; pay 1 + -ola
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Payolas at Amazon
Low prices on new & used music. Qualified orders over $25 ship free
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pay·o·la   (pā-ō'lə)   
n.  

  1. Bribery of an influential person in exchange for the promotion of a product or service, such that of disc jockeys for the promotion of records.

  2. A bribe or a number of bribes given to an influential person in exchange for a promotion of a product or service: "I do not mean to imply that most Wall Street analysts typically receive payola for touting particular stocks" (Burton G. Malkiel).


[Probably pay(off) + -ola, suff.; see crapola.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
payola [peˈolə]

  1. n.
    a bribe. (Originally a bribe paid to a disk jockeyby record producers to get extra attention for their records.) : The announcer was fired for taking payola.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

payola 
"graft" (especially to disc jockeys from record companies to play their music), 1938 [in a "Variety" headline, "Plug payolas perplexed"], from pay off "bribery" (underworld slang from 1930) + ending from Victrola, etc. (see pianola).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: pay·o·la
Pronunciation: pA-'O-l&
Function: noun
: a secret or indirect payment (as to a disc jockey) for a commercial favor (as for promoting a particular record)
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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