iHeartMedia has agreed to beef up its anti-payola compliance policies to resolve a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigation that questioned whether the radio giant offers artists additional airplay in exchange for free performances at its events.
The consent decree, announced on Thursday (July 9) and reviewed by Billboard, does not include any financial penalty or determination that iHeart is involved in payola — the illegal practice of trading radio plays for undisclosed payments. iHeart maintains that artists choose to perform free or low-cost gigs for exposure, and that these concerts have no effect on airplay.
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To settle the investigation launched by the FCC last year, iHeart has agreed to create a new internal plan for complying with anti-payola laws, including setting up trainings for employees and establishing a whistleblower hotline. A senior corporate manager at the company will become its new compliance officer and report to the board. And for three years, iHeart will file regular reports to the FCC disclosing all artists who’ve performed at company events, the amount of compensation received and the airplay stats for their music before and after each concert.
FCC chair Brendan Carr said in a statement that the agreement “adds significant new protections and offers the FCC greater transparency to ensure that artists retain their right to decide when and where they will perform.”
“The FCC is committed to ensuring that artists — especially up-and-coming ones — get a fair shake intheir dealings with the broadcast industry,” added Carr. “Artists have every right to ensure that the radio industry complies with the payola and showola regulations that protect them.”
iHeart released its own statement reiterating that the company “does not promise artists additional airplay if they perform at an iHeart live music event, or less airplay if they decline an invitation.”
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“We take our compliance with the Sponsorship Identification Laws very seriously,” said iHeart. “We already have practices and procedures in place to address them, and we appreciated the opportunity to work with Chairman Carr and his staff to develop industry-leading approaches to augment our existing procedures to ensure continued compliance in connection with our live events. We were pleased to reach this resolution and thank the chairman and his staff for their time, focus and commitment.”
The FCC’s iHeart probe began in early 2025 after U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent the commission a letter flagging concerns that “free radio shows” had become a new form of payola in the music industry. Traditionally, this term has referred to labels and publishers paying radio stations for increased plays. Congress began regulating the controversial practice in the 1960s, and major record labels paid high-profile payola settlements to the New York Attorney General’s office in the early 2000s.
In a February 2025 letter to iHeart, Carr asked for information to determine whether “certain owners of federally licensed radio stations are effectively compelling musicians to perform at radio station events or festivals.” As an example, he singled out the May 2025 iHeartCountry Festival in Austin.
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