UK DJ TiinY Lost His Job for Payola
A UK radio DJ who goes by the name DJ TiinY has lost his job at Capital Xtra as a result of payola. You may be wondering what payola is. Payola is defined as “the act of undercover or indirect payment to a dj for a commercial favor or for promoting a particular recording. This isn’t new to the broadcasting game.
In fact, Producer J Beatz is the reason DJ TiinY’s ousting. J Beatz exposure resulted in the dj’s removal from his 7pm-9pm slot.
“I sent out my new track, and this DJ’s response shocked me! He’s asking for money to play songs! Can you believe it?! This DJ is on a big station too! What kind of Selecta is this?!?!?” a surprised J Beatz tweeted.
Furthermore, the producer pokes fun at DJ TiinY’s scheme.
DJ TiinY mentioned in the email, “If you want your track premiered on my Friday night radio show, there’s a charge of £200 for one track. This includes keeping the track in my radio playlist for 2 weeks.”
J Beatz added, “You are a fraud mate you are on big capital Xtra trying to charge people £200 to play a song you should be ashamed of yourself what kind of DJ are you! Has stormzy not being able to tour affected your pockets that much that you have stooped to these low levels? @DJTiiNY.”
Why DJ TiinY So Well-Known?
DJ TiinY, who’s also UK rapper Stormzy’s official tour DJ, admitted to the accusations on February 1 and apologized for his wrongdoing.
“Over the last couple of days I have very quickly learnt a much needed lesson,” he wrote in a tweet. “I had an amazing opportunity in radio, but I acted carelessly and irresponsibly, taking advantage of my position.”
The rest of his apology post reads: [Original text not provided]
“I take full responsibility for my actions and fully accept the consequences as a result. I am very sorry to everyone this has affected and to those I have let down.”
Other Music Execs Have Previously Touched on The Issue
Back in 2019, Quality Control Music co-founder Kevin “Coach K” Lee spoke out how much it runs a label to achieve successful radio promotion. He claimed that it costs six figures to succeed with a No. 1 radio hit.
“Everything costs money, it’s the way of life,” Coach K said at Revolt’s Hip Hop Summit at the time. “When you sign an artist, [they’re like], ‘so, when am I going to radio?’ To take a record that y’all see on the radio become No. 1, that’s $200,000.”
Paying for radio play is surely not new. Let us know what you guys think about paying artists paying their way to the top?
