FCC Says iHeartMedia Will Implement Compliance Plan After Payola Investigation

iHeartMedia has agreed to enter into a consent decree with the FCC to end an investigation into whether it provided artists with greater or less airplay depending on whether they performed for free or at a reduced amount at a company sponsored music festival last year in Austin.

iHeart will develop a compliance plan that includes the designation of a compliance officer, regular annual reports and a training program, among other steps. They also will establish a whistleblower hotline.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement, “Today’s 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.  Artists have every right to ensure that the radio industry complies with the payola and ‘showola’ regulations that protect them.”

The investigation started after Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) alerted the FCC on Jan. 30, 2025 of “a potential new payola practice where radio stations and networks offer more airtime for an artist’s songs if the artist performs a free show, with an implicit suggestion that declining to perform could result in reduced airplay,” per the agency.

The FCC issued an enforcement advisory the following month, and the investigation into iHeart continued.

Stations have to disclose payments or valuable consideration, as well as the identity of the person paying.

The FCC focused on artists’ performances at the iHeart Country Festival ‘25 in Austin on May 3, 2025.

The consent decree includes a provision in which iHeart “makes no admission of liability or violation of any law, regulation, or policy.”

“The Bureau and iHeart acknowledge that any proceedings that might result from continuation of the Investigation would be time-consuming and would require substantial expenditure of public and private resources,” per the decree.