"payola" means a bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record). It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
payola
(US, Philippines) A bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record).
peɪˈoʊləDocumented since 1930s1930sSilenthistoricalCurrent186 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026＋ Add a definition
Etymology timeline
Born ~1938 · 1 year of recorded use20th centurySee decade cohort →
Seen in the wild
BlueskyMay 2026
Discovering music, like when you'd overhear someone talk about a band, or see the last half of a video on MTV, then go searching for it, was a lot more rewarding than relying on a streaming services payola "Discover"…
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BlueskyMay 2026
The Spotify TOS Trap: How Platforms Avoid Public Law Justice for Payola https://musictechpolicy.com/2026/05/03/the-tos-trap-how-platforms-avoid-public-law-justice/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_content=muz4now%2Fmagazine%2FS…
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Firecrawl: Payola - Wikipedia
Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as sponsored airtime.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola#cite_note-:0-1) The number of times the songs are played can infl…
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Firecrawl: In An Ever-Changing Music Industry, Cash For Hits Remains A ...
Freed's pioneering career as a champion of rock and roll was marred by the revelation that he'd accepted "payola" — money from labels to play certain records. **Hulton Archive/Getty Images** **hide caption** **toggle…
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Firecrawl: Payolas - Wikipedia
For the legal term, see [Payola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola "Payola").
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Definitions
Global
#1·Apr 27, 2026Global
(US, Philippines) A bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record).
Origin: Perhaps a , equivalent to. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents
"payola" means a bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record). It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
For ESL learners
"payola" is informal English meaning a bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record). It is mainly used in North American English. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "a bribe given in exchange for a favor" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "payola" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing.
Heard in the wild
“Discovering music, like when you'd overhear someone talk about a band, or see the last half of a video on MTV, then go searching for it, was a lot more rewarding than relying on a streaming services payola "Discover" feature”
— Bluesky· May 2026“The Spotify TOS Trap: How Platforms Avoid Public Law Justice for Payola https://musictechpolicy.com/2026/05/03/the-tos-trap-how-platforms-avoid-public-law-justice/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_content=muz4now%2Fmagazine%2FSongwriting&utm_medium=mastodon #Songwriting”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as sponsored airtime.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola#cite_note-:0-1) The number of times the songs are played can influence the perceived popularity of a song, and payola may be used to influence these metrics.”
“Freed's pioneering career as a champion of rock and roll was marred by the revelation that he'd accepted "payola" — money from labels to play certain records. **Hulton Archive/Getty Images** **hide caption** **toggle caption** Hulton Archive/Getty Images Radio DJ Alan Freed in the 1950s.”
“For the legal term, see [Payola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola "Payola").”
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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Semantically related
- drugola69%
(US) A bribe, in the form of recreational drugs, given to a disk jockey to play a record.
- pay to play64%
Any kind of charge to engage in an activity.
- pay to play63%
(by extension) To incur a cost to participate in an activity; especially, in a corrupt way.
- plugola61%
(informal, chiefly, US) Undeclared or illicit publicity or product promotion, especially on radio or television.
- pay-for60%
(US, politics) Something which is used to pay for a bill, such as an increase in taxes.