Variety puts a hit on LAT coverage of Sony payola

The payola nighmare that Elliot Spitzer rained down on Sony Music last July and Warner Music last month is being freshened up in twin stories in both Sunday’s Los Angeles Times and today’s Daily Variety. The LAT says two sources that cooperated with Spitzer’s investigation told the New York AG that Columbia vice president, Charlie Walk and Sony Music’s U.S. label group CEO Don Ienner condoned payola.

Variety’s music guy Phil Gallo notes with a cocked eyebrow that this is “a rare case of the L.A. Times relying solely on anonymous sources” and goes on to call into question the veracity of the report.

After the Times broke the story the Ienner allegations over the weekend, Gallo today writes that

On Sunday, sources conflicted as to the veracity of the Times’ findings. Sony Music had no comment. Two execs with knowledge of the investigation, told Daily Variety that neither Ienner’s or Walk’s name appeared in any of Spitzer’s reports. Another source suggested Ienner could become a fall guy.

Leaving aside the amusing notion that the trades are now faulting other news organizations for relying on anonymous sources, all this does raise interesting questions about the futures of both Ienner and Walk, the latter of whom was named president of Epic Records just last week.

Note to employees of Sony Music: Forbes.com has a clever page where you can download, print and cut out an Elliot Spitzer Halloween Mask – perfect to surprise Don with in the men’s room or in the Sony commissary! Try it out and report back to us via anonymous tips how Don liked it, and how much severance pay you’re getting!

P.S. Not a word about Walk or Ienner on Billboard.com. Odd, no?

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