The Sound, the Fury

Interestingly, that anger has given birth to...trepidation. Stations are now adding fewer new songs to their playlists, out of fear that arbitrary choices might appear suspect. Even something as standard as T-shirt giveaways to listeners is turning out to require mountains of paperwork — because the clothing is acquired for free from the labels. ''Basically,'' notes Justin Riley, program director for KSII in El Paso, ''Spitzer is taking all of the fun out of this business.''

Or is he? With payouts that pale in comparison to the labels' potential profits reaped from payola, and no realistic threat of prison time, many wonder if the attorney general's efforts will have a lasting effect. After all, Spitzer's is hardly the first payola probe. Back in 1962, New York City DJ Alan Freed pleaded guilty to two counts of bribery. Among his indiscretions: accepting a co-writing credit (and royalties) for Chuck Berry's ''Maybellene'' in exchange for radio rotation. The OutKast producer likens the current scandal to an entire class cheating on a test. ''This is so pervasive...expelling [everybody] would be too harsh. [Spitzer's] just trying to say, 'All of you are going to get bad grades and you're going to have to pay for it.''' Adds Randall Himes, director of sound recordings at the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists: ''It morphs and comes back around. It's like trying to kill a cockroach.''

The musicians depicted in this photo illustration and other photos as well as those mentioned in this article have not been accused of wrongdoing. Their names have appeared in documents used by the state of New York to investigate their record companies.

WHAT THE RECORD COMPANIES WILL PAY
Here are the monetary settlements the four largest labels agreed to in order to avoid prosecution by the state of New York

EMI
$3.75 million
ALLEGED BENEFICIARIES
Gorillaz, Norah Jones, Rolling Stones

UNIVERSAL
$12 million
ALLEGED BENEFICIARIES
Lindsay Lohan, Ashanti, Godsmack

WARNER
$5 million
ALLEGED BENEFICIARIES
Jet, Michelle Branch, Josh Groban

SONY/BMG
$10 million
ALLEGED BENEFICIARIES
Beyoncé, Good Charlotte, Jessica Simpson